Johann Heinrich Schulz (1739–1823) was a German Lutheran pastor.

Life

From 1758 to 1761 Schulz studied in Halle (Saale) and later became a teacher in Berlin. In 1765 he was appointed preacher by the local landlords in Gielsdorf, Wilke, and Hirschfelde villages where he remained active for 26 years. For health reasons he refused to wear a

peruke A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's '' The Two Gentlemen of Ve ...

at the pulpit during sermons, which earned him the nickname "Zopfschulze" (Pigtail Schulz). He published books anonymously, including ''Versuch einer Anleitung zum Sittenlehre'' (1783), but authorship was, nevertheless, no secret, and he was well known in

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 constitu ...

's intellectual circles.

Trial

In 1791 he was suspended from office for violating the Religious Edict of King Frederick William II. At the Berlin Court of Appeal, however, summoned on 21 May 1792, it was decided that Schulz should not remain as a Lutheran, but as a spiritual preacher in office. On the very day of the decision, Frederik William II ordered Schulz's dismissal. The king had to announce the names of the judges who voted for Schulz and let them impose on penalties in the form of loss of benefits, which were repealed later. This interference with judicial independence is viewed as a step backwards compared to the progressive development since the

Miller Arnold case The Miller Arnold case () is a landmark 18th-century German court case and cause célèbre during the reign of Frederick II that raised issues relating to the concept of judicial independence. It is an example of the ' () of Frederick ...

in 1779. In 1798

Frederick William III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

allowed a review of the trial, which confirmed the earlier decision that Schulz had been in violation of the Religious Edict. The king secured Schulz a job in the civil service, where he served as inspector in the Royal Factory Department, and, according to other sources, as tableware clerk at a porcelain factory in Berlin. Schulz kept this job until his forced retirement in 1808.Thomas P. Saine, ''The Problem of Being Modern, or the German Pursuit of Enlightenment from Leibniz to the French Revolution'' (Detroit, MI: Wayne University Press, 1997) p. 308. He died in 1823.

Bibliography

* Sauter, Michael J. "Preaching, a Ponytail, and an Enthusiast: Rethinking the Public Sphere's Subversiveness in Eighteenth-Century Prussia." ''Central European History'' 37.4 (2004): 544-567. * Thomas P. Saine, ''The Problem of Being Modern, or the German Pursuit of Enlightenment from Leibniz to the French Revolution'' (Detroit, MI: Wayne University Press, 1997) * Gustav Frank, "Schulz, Johann Heinrich", ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB)'', vol. 23 (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1891), p. 745–747. (in German) * Johannes Tradt, ''Der Religionsprozeß gegen den Zopfschulzen (1791-1799): Ein Beitrag zur protestantischen Lehrpflicht und Lehrzucht in Brandenburg-Preußen gegen Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts'' (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1997) (in German) * Leopold Volkmar ''Religions-Prozess des Prediger Schulz zu Gielsdorf genannt Zopfschulz, eines Lichtfreundes des 18. Jahrhunderts'' (Leipzig: Philipp Reclam Jr., 1846)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schulz, Johann Heinrich 1739 births 1823 deaths 19th-century German Lutheran clergy German non-fiction writers German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German Lutheran clergy