Georg Carl Benjamin Ritschl (1 November 1783 – 18 June 1858) was a German evangelist

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and composer in

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

Biography

Carl Ritschl was born to Georg Ritschl von Hartenbach and Regina Christina Emminghaus in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

. His father was a priest and professor at the Erfurt Ratsgymnasium. He acquired instruction in voice, keyboard and organ with the organist

Johann Christian Kittel Johann Christian Kittel (18 February 1732 – 17 April 1809) was a German organist, composer, and teacher. He was one of the last students of Johann Sebastian Bach. His students included , , Johann Wilhelm Hässler and Christian Heinrich Rinck ...

, the last student of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

. He graduated from the gymnasium at the age of fifteen. Ritschl continued studies in theology in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

and, at the age of nineteen, earned his degree in autumn 1802. In 1804, still too young for a spiritual appointment, he began tutoring at their home the children of Johann Joachim Bellermann, the director of the Gymnasium of the Grey Friary. Ritschl was also a member of the music community in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. At Berlin's

Cölln Cölln () was the Twin cities, twin city of Old Berlin (Alt-Berlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fischerinsel, Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River ...

isches Gymnasium, associated with the Grey Friary, Ritschl instructed students in voice and religion. In 1804 he became a member of

Carl Friedrich Zelter Carl Friedrich Zelter (11 December 1758 15 May 1832)Grove/Fuller-Datei:Carl-Friedrich-Zelter.jpegMaitland, 1910. The Zelter entry takes up parts of pages 593-595 of Volume V. was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music. Working in his ...

's choral society, for which he wrote several

lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er. After he earned his Ph.D. from the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt () is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after German reunification. Therefore ...

in 1805, he was appointed a collaborator (1807) and a subrector (1809) at the Cöllnischen Gymnasium. Finally, in 1810 he was appointed third preacher at Berlin's

St. Mary's Church St. Mary's Church, St. Mary the Virgin's Church, St. Mary Church, Saint Mary Church, or other variations on the name, is a commonly used name for specific churches of various Christian denominations. Notable uses of the term may refer to: Albania ...

, but he also retained a number of his students from the Grey Friary and the Cöllnisches Gymnasium. After becoming a second preacher at St. Mary's, he acquired in 1816 additional responsibilities as an assessor, later as a councilor, from the newly established

Consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of the Province of Brandenburg. On 25 September 1810, he married Juliane Meudtner, the daughter of a police commissioner (''Polizeikommissar''). They had five children before Meudtner died in 1820. On 18 June 1821, Ritschl married his second wife, Auguste Sebald, an accomplished singer, whose father was a court justice and a co-founder of the

Sing-Akademie zu Berlin The Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, also known as the Berliner Singakademie, is a musical (originally choral) society founded in Berlin in 1791 by Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, harpsichordist to the court of Prussia, on the model of the 18th-centu ...

. Ritschl became a member of the Singakademie that same year. In 1822 the Theology faculty at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

granted him an honorary doctorate. In 1827 Ritschl was appointed General Superintendent in

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

for the old-Prussian

Ecclesiastical Province of Pomerania The Pomeranian Evangelical Church (; PEK) was a Protestant Landeskirche, regional church in the Germany, German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, serving the citizens living in Hither Pomerania. The Pomeranian Evangelical Church was based on the t ...

, earning the title of bishop. This office was bound with the activities of the President of the Pomeranian Consistory and the preachers at the . For twenty-seven years, he held this office in a time when the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, and

united Protestant A united church, also called a uniting church, is a denomination formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestant Christian denominations, a number of which come from separate and distinct denomination ...

doctrines were at loggerheads, due to the establishment of the

Prussian Union of churches The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in P ...

in 1817. During this debate, Ritschl stood on the side of the crown and sought a middle ground, but he still could not prevent a schism between the Lutherans and the Prussian Union. The "schismatics" established their own "old Lutheran" church in Prussia. From September 1829 to May 1830, Ritschl took a leave of absence from his duties in the Province of Pomerania and, on a plea from the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

government, travelled to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

in order to help lay the groundwork for the Evangelical-Lutheran church in Russia. While living in Stettin (after 1945 renamed Szczecin), Ritschl worked with the composer

Carl Loewe Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (; 30 November 1796 – 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, tenor singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs ("Balladen") were well enough known for ...

to nurture the city's musical life. Weekly musical evenings (''Gesangsabende'') were held in Ritschl's rectory. Ritschl retired on 1 October 1854. He lived his final years in Berlin, where he died on 18 June 1858 at the age of seventy-five.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritschl, Carl 1783 births 1858 deaths People from Pomerania German Classical-period composers German male classical composers 19th-century German musicians 19th-century German male musicians 19th-century German Lutheran bishops