David Erdmann (28 July 1821 - 11 March 1905) was a German

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

theologian and church historian.

Life

Christian Friedrich David Erdmann was born at Güstebiese (as it was then called), a village on the eastern bank of the

Oder river The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

a short distance inland and upstream from

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

. He studied

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and in 1845 became a member of the Berlin

Wingolf Wingolf () is an umbrella organisation of 35 student fraternities at 34 universities in Germany, Austria and Estonia. It has approximately 5,000 members. It is one of the oldest oecumenical organisations in Germany. It has a close friendship with t ...

(fraternity organisation).Gesamtverzeichnis des Wingolf, Lichtenberg 1991 He received a "Privatdozent" (teaching certificate) in 1853, and in 1856 became a full professor for Theology and Church History at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...

, also serving as a pastor. Between 1864 and 1900 he served as General Superintendent of the Ecclesiastical College for the

Prussian Union of churches The Prussian Union of Churches (known under Prussian Union of churches#Status and official names, multiple other names) was a major Protestant Landeskirche, church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of P ...

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. For this job he was based in Breslau (as Wrocław was then known). In 1865 he was also appointed a full honorary professor at the university there. Between 1882 and 1899 Erdmann was chair of the Chairman of the History Association of the Evangelical Church in Silesia. He retired in 1900.

Published output (not necessarily a complete list)

* Luther und die Hohenzollern, Breslau 1883, 2. Aufl. 1884 * Luther und seine Beziehungen zu Schlesien, insbesondere zu Breslau, Halle 1887

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdmann, David 19th-century Lutheran clergy Historians of Christianity 19th-century German Protestant theologians Academic staff of the University of Breslau Academic staff of the University of Königsberg German military chaplains 1821 births 1905 deaths German historians of religion