Ernst, Karl Christian Ludwig

Protestant theologian

Born: 27.09.1834 in Drommershausen

Died: 21.11.1902 in Boppard

Ernst studied Protestant theology in Halle and Marburg and graduated with a doctorate. After attending the preacher's seminary in Herborn, he was vicar in Nastätten from 1857 and from 1861 pastor and seminary teacher in Herborn, where he founded the "Verein zur Pflege des christlichen Gemeinschaftslebens" in 1863. In 1870 he became dean in Herborn and in 1879 professor and director of the seminary. From 1882-97 he was Nassau's general superintendent in Wiesbaden.

Ernst's great contribution to Nassau's religious culture lies in his efforts, continued by Heinrich Maurer, to build a bridge between representatives of a revivalist movement, which originated in Wuppertal and Siegerland, and a more "folk-church" piety in Nassau, which formed around the centers of Herborn and Wiesbaden. The revivalist movement also led to the formation of independent congregations and communities, particularly in the Dill district.

The hymnal published under Ernst in 1894, for example, dared to build a bridge between the church and the community movement in the sense of mutual fertilization. At Ernst's suggestion, a reform of the study program at the Herborn preachers' seminary was carried out in 1878 with the aim of dividing the work between academic studies (university) and practical introduction to church life (preachers' seminary).