Christoph Schlegel


Christoph Schlegel was a German Lutheran theologian.

Early life and education

Christoph was the son of Martin Schlegel, the Saxon court preacher and superintendent in Weißensee, and his wife Maria Faber, who was the daughter of Pastor Zachäus Faber. He received his initial education starting in 1618 at the Kreuzschule in Dresden. In the summer semester of 1627, he enrolled at the University of Leipzig, where he initially pursued studies in philosophy. He earned his Bachelor of Philosophy degree on March 22, 1628, and his Master of Philosophy on January 28, 1630. During his studies, he attracted attention for his poetry and was awarded a poet’s crown by Matthias Hoë von Hoënegg.
He then turned to theological studies, enrolling in the summer semester of 1631 at the University of Jena, where he especially attended the lectures of Johann Gerhard. On May 18, 1633, he continued his studies at the University of Wittenberg under Wilhelm Leyser and Johann Hülsemann.

Career

In 1633, he was appointed court preacher and tutor to the children of the widowed Princess Magdalene of Anhalt-Zerbst in Coswig. He assumed this role following his ordination at Wittenberg in 1634. Continuing his theological education, he earned a licentiate in theology from the University of Wittenberg on February 22, 1638.
On May 17, 1638, he moved to Breslau as a deacon at the Elisabeth Church, where he also became a consistorial assessor and a professor of religion and literature at the Elisabeth Gymnasium.
On November 10, 1644, he was appointed provost of the collegiate churches of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew. The following year, on October 14, 1645, he received his Doctor of Theology degree from the University of Wittenberg.
In 1647, he accepted a call as superintendent and senior pastor in Leutschau, Hungary. During this time, on August 14, 1651, Emperor Ferdinand III ennobled him into the Hungarian nobility, granting him the name addition “von Gottleben.” Subsequently, he adopted a coat of arms depicting a miner wielding a hammer. However, since he could not tolerate the climate in Leutschau and fell ill, he resigned from his position there in 1656.
He returned to his native region and spent some time as a private scholar in Lauban and Pirna. In 1660, he became senior pastor and superintendent in Herzberg, and on June 6, 1662, he took up the same position in Grimma, where he died a few years later.

Family

Christoph Schlegel was an ancestor of the poets August Wilhelm Schlegel and Friedrich von Schlegel. He was married twice.
His first marriage was to Magdalene Tilisch, daughter of Hieronymus Tilisch, a legal official in Breslau, and Magdalene Thiel. They had five children—two sons and three daughters.
After Magdalene’s death, Schlegel married Rosina Gloger on October 5, 1648, in Leutschau. She was the daughter of a merchant, Christoph Gloger, and Rosina Kretschmer.

Children from first marriage (to Magdalene Tilisch)

  • Christoph Gottlieb Schlegel
  • Magdalena Dorothea Schlegel
  • Christoph Schlegel Jr.
  • Maria Dorothea Schlegel
  • Unnamed daughter

Children from second marriage (to Rosina Gloger)

Work and literature

In addition to lay sermons, Schlegel authored several scholarly and theological works, including: