Christian Adam Dann (24 December 1758 – 19 March 1837) was a German

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 ...

pastor,

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 ...

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

writer and supporter of

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

Biography

Dann was born on 24 December 1758 in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

. His father Jakob Heinrich was mayor in Tübingen, court judge and member of the state parliament. After his childhood in Tübingen, he attended the Blaubeuren monastery school as a student and joined the Theological Abbey of Tübingen in 1777, where he became a student of

Gottlob Christian Storr Gottlob Christian Storr (10 September 1746 – 17 January 1805) was a German Lutheran theologian, born in Stuttgart. He was the son of theologian Johann Christian Storr (1712–1773) and the older brother of naturalist Gottlieb Conrad Christian ...

. He then worked for two years as a preceptor vicar in

Bebenhausen Bebenhausen () is a village (pop. 347) in the Tübingen district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Since 1974 it is a district of the city of Tübingen, its least populous one. It is located 3 km north of Tübingen proper (about 5 km northeast of t ...

and five years as a repeater at the Tübingen Abbey before he took his first job as a deacon in Goppingen in 1793. From 1794 he worked as a deacon in the

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. On the occasion of a funeral speech at the grave of the Stuttgart actor and comedian Carl Friderich Weberling (1769–1812), he criticized morality and theatre life in the city so violently in 1812 that King Friedrich I transferred him to the village of Öschingen near Tübingen after he rejected it he had to take over the dean's office in

Weinsberg Weinsberg (South Franconian: ''Weischberg'') is a town in the north of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It was founded around 1200 and is situated in the Heilbronn district. The town has about 13,000 inhabitants. It is noted for its win ...

. He then moved to

Mössingen Mössingen is a town in the Tübingen (district), district of Tübingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated north of the Swabian Jura, about 13 km south of Tübingen. Geography Mössingen is located on the northern edge of the ...

in 1819 before

King Wilhelm I Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany. ...

brought him back to Stuttgart in 1824. After his return, he was the first deacon at the

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

and from 1825 until his death he was a pastor in Stuttgart's Leonhardskirche. A sermon he gave in 1830 influenced Charlotte Reihlen the future founder of the Stuttgart Deaconess Institute so much that she converted to Pietism. Dann died at the age of 78 on 19 March 1837 in Stuttgart. He was buried in Department 5 at the Fangelsbachfriedhof in Stuttgart.

Animal welfare

Dann was one of the earliest Pietists to write about animal welfare.Ingesman, Per. (2016). ''Religion as an Agent of Change: Crusades – Reformation – Pietism''.

Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and Bibliographic database, databases founded in 1683, making it one of the oldest publishing houses in the Netherlands. Founded in the South ...

. p. 224. He authored two books (1822, 1832) defending the welfare of animals from a Christian framework.Rincic, Iva; Muzur, Amir. (2019). ''Fritz Jahr and the Emergence of European Bioethics''.

LIT Verlag LIT Verlag is a German academic publisher founded in 1980. Its managing director is Wilhelm Hopf. Its principal place of publication is Münster; further publishing offices are located in Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg, London, Zurich, and New York Cit ...

. pp. 42-43. Dann influenced Albert Knapp who founded the first German society for animal welfare in 1837. In Germany, Dann is known as the "Father of the German Tierschutzbewegung" (Father of the German animal welfare movement).Marie, M; Edwards, S; Gandini, G; Reiss, M; Borell, E. von. (2005). ''Animal bioethics: Principles and Teaching Methods''.

Wageningen Academic Publishers Wageningen Academic Publishers is a publishing company in the field of life sciences that publishes scientific journals as well as monographs, textbooks, and proceedings. The company was founded in 2002 as successor of Wageningen Pers. The company ...

. p. 48.

Selected publications

*''Bitte der armen Thiere, der unvernünftigen Geschöpfe, an ihre vernünftigen Mitgeschöpfe und Herrn, die Menschen''. Fues, Tübingen 1822 (2nd edition 1838). 'Plea of the poor animals, the unreasonable creatures, to their sensible fellow creatures and lords, the people''*''Nothgedrungener, durch viele Beispiele beleuchteter Aufruf an alle Menschen von Nachdenken und Gefühl zu gemeinschaftlicher Beherzigung und Linderung der unsäglichen Leiden der in unserer Umgebung lebenden Thiere''. Steinkopf, Stuttgart 1832. 'An urgent call, illuminated by many examples, to all people who can think and feel, for communal taking to heart and alleviating the unspeakable suffering of the animals living in our environment''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dann, Christian Adam 1758 births 1837 deaths 18th-century German Lutheran clergy 19th-century German Lutheran clergy Christian writers about animal rights and welfare German animal welfare scholars German animal welfare workers German Lutheran theologians People from Tübingen

Biography

Animal welfare

Selected publications

See also

References