Georg Pfäfflin (Georg Pfaefflin) (November 3, 1908 in Bösenlustnau in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

– April 3, 1972 near

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

dean and

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of the

Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg () is a Lutheran member church of the Protestant Church in Germany in the German former state of Württemberg, now part of the state of Baden-Württemberg. The seat of the church is in Stuttgart. It ...

in Germany.

Biography

GeorgHochschulbibliothekszentrum des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Köln: ''Pfäfflin, Georg.''
Retrieval January 16th 2025 was the second of the seven children of the Lutheran clergyman Friedrich Pfäfflin and his wife Anna, née Breidenbach. Friedrich Pfäfflin was parish priest at the Luther Church in

Cannstatt Bad Cannstatt (), also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer Stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart' ...

and became known as the author of a German-language translation of the Bible (1939). Georg Pfäfflin's marriage to his wife Ursula, née Bossert (born March 27, 1913 in

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 ...

; † April 3, 1972 near Göttingen) took place in Stuttgart in 1936. She was heavily involved in community work and in the Müttergenesungswerk during her marriage. Ursula Pfäfflin was the district representative of the Evangelical Women's Aid. In 1966 she was elected to the Evangelical State Synod for the Open Church group with the most votes in the Württemberg regional church. After studying theology in Tübingen and Erlangen, Georg Pfäfflin was vicar in Sulzbach an der Murr and youth vicar in Stuttgart, assistant at the practical theological seminar 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 ...

and vicar and youth pastor in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

. From 1936 to 1942 he was a foreign pastor in the German-speaking community of

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. On the return journey the couple was interned in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, but they finally returned home in August 1942. After his return, Pfäfflin became pastor in Waldenbuch from 1942 to 1945; he was introduced to the pastorate on July 11, 1943. Here Pfäfflin made the Protestant church available to

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Christians for church services. During the war Pfäfflin and his wife took part in rescuing persecuted Jews, and they gave shelter to the Jew Elfriede Friedemann, alias Ella Braun. After the end of the war, he was appointed pastor at the Magdalenenkirchengemeinde in Stuttgart (1946–1952). In 1950 he was invited to travel to the USA for 90 days as an exchange priest as part of a reconciliation program run by the American government. Afterwards he visited his former parish in Peru. He was dean in

Aalen Aalen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Oole'') is a town located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is ...

(1952–1967). Here he carried out the parish service with great commitment, built community centers and renovated churches. When he said goodbye to Aalen, the newspaper Schwäbische Post paid tribute to him: ''A distinguished personality in intellectual life is leaving Aalen''. In the last phase of his professional activity, Pfäfflin worked as dean in Bad Cannstatt from July 2, 1967 – 1972. Here in the city of Stuttgart, his grandfather and father had already worked as pastors. When the family was on a trip to Hamburg on Easter Monday 1972, Georg Pfäfflin, his wife and two of their eleven children were killed in a traffic accident on the motorway. The funeral took place on April 7, 1972 at the Steinhaldenfriedhof (main cemetery) in Stuttgart. The funeral service was held in the town church in Bad Cannstatt, in which regional bishop Helmut Class gave the eulogy.

Honors

* The town of Waldenbuch commemorates the work of Georg Pfäfflin with the column (Stele) number 10 on Marktstrasse. * The Evangelical Church Community of Waldenbuch has named its community center the Georg-Pfäfflin Community Center. * The Evangelische Steigkirchengemeinde, Auf der Steig 25, 70376 Stuttgart, commemorates Ursula Pfäfflin's great commitment to community work with the Ursula Pfäfflin Kindergarten. * Pfäfflinstrasse (Pfäfflin Street) in 70378 Stuttgart is reminiscent of the work of the Pfäfflin family.

Literature

* Georg Friedrich Pfäfflin: Mein Vater Georg Pfäfflin (My father Georg Pfäfflin), November 3, 1908 – April 3, 1972. A picture of life for the 100th birthday, Tübingen 2008. * Official Gazette of the City of Stuttgart (April 13, 1972): Article on the funeral service of Dean Pfäfflin, Stuttgart. * Stuttgarter Zeitung: On the death of Dean Pfäfflin, April 5, 1972 * HNA Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine, April 4, 1972 Lower Saxony page: Four dead and six seriously injured on Easter Monday

External links

Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg: ''Georg Pfäfflin.''
Retrieval January 16, 2025
Volkstrauertag: Erinnerung an das Wirken von Pfarrer Pfäfflin (Remembrance of the work of pastor Pfäfflin).
Retrieval January 16, 2025

Retrieval January 16, 2025 * ttps://www.alt-waldenbuch.de/koerber_siedlung/ Stadtpfarrer Pfäfflin und Kooperation mit der katholischen Gemeinde (cooperation with the catholic church.Retrieval January 16, 2025
Julius von Breidenbach (Nr. 63 in: geadelte_juedische_familien-ahnenforschung_bayern).
Retrieval January 16, 2025

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfäfflin, Georg 1908 births 1972 deaths People from Stuttgart 20th-century German Lutheran clergy German Lutheran theologians 20th-century German people