Der nationale Grundtvig und seine Wirkungsgechichte

Om nationalitet og kirke hos. Grundtvig og i hans virkningshistorie med henblik på naboforholdet mellem Tyskland og DanmarkAf Jens Holger SchjørringForholdet mellem Tyskland og Danmark har været bestemt af et dybtliggende modsætningsforhold, der blev væsentligt forstærket gennem krigene i det 19. århundrede og fik yderligere næring som følge af Tysklands andel i de to verdenskrige i vort århundrede. De modsætninger, der lå bag krigene, fandt på begge sider af grænsen udtryk i fjendebilleder, der i flere tilfælde har vist sig at være dybt rodfæstede og at besidde forbavsende livskraft. Det hermed skitserede perspektiv er såre velkendt både nord og syd for grænsen.Det er formentlig lige så alment anerkendt, at Grundtvig har haft væsentlig indflydelse, dels i kraft af det syn på Tyskland, han gav udtryk for i sin egen levetid, dels i kraft af den rolle, den grundvigske arv siden hans død har spillet for dansk national identitet med særligt henblik på forholdet til Tyskland. Men netop fordi forholdet har haft stor betydning, kan der være grund til at undersøge det nærmere for at overveje, om forholdet nu også er helt så enkelt som det ofte fremtræder.Når det gælder Grundtvig selv, er der fremfor alt grund til at stille til overvejelse, om hans syn på Tyskland ikke er farvet af skiftende historiske omstændigheder inden for hans egen levetidDesuden er der anledning til at spørge, hvordan Grundtvigs kristelige og folkelige hovedtanker lader sig forene med et tilsyneladende permanent had til alt tysk. Hvordan kan Grundtvigs universalhistoriske syn og tankerne om folkelig frihed og national ukrænkelighed gå sammen med en tendens til dæmonisering af tyskhed slet og ret?Ligger der bag Grundtvigs udfald mod tysk militarisme og det tyske storriges trang til at underlægge sig nabolande som f.eks. det lille fredselskende og værgeløse Danmark en trodsig, hævntørstig reaktion mod den nedgang for det danske rige, som fandt sted inden Grundtvigs egen levetid ?De overvejelser, der fremlægges i denne kortfattede analyse, har som formål at nuancere billedet ud fra historiske kendsgerninger. Uden at ville bortforklare at Grundtvig i en række situationer, ikke mindst under krigene 1848-1851, udtalte sig særdeles drastisk om den nationale hovedfjende, er det vigtigt at fastholde, at Grundtvigs hovedærinde ikke var dikteret af nationalistisk snæversyn eller hævntørst over for landets fjender. Udgangspunktet var derimod hans bestræbelse på at vække forståelse for tankerne om folkeliv og national integritet. I kristeligt perspektiv må Grundtigs tanker om den danske kirke hele tiden anskues i sammenhæng med hans universal-historiske syn.Det er tanken hermed at føje nogle brikker til en større historisk mosaik, der belyses med større udførlighed i den afhandling, som Anders Pontoppidan Thyssen har skrevet til denne udgave af årbogen. Inden for rammerne af nærværende artikel tages et par aspekter af Grundtvigs virkningshistorie op for at supplere af det billede, der aftegnede sig ud fra Grundtvigs egne tanker. Det drejer sig om Grundtigs plads i det nationale modsætningsforhold, der prægede perioden mellem de to verdenskrige. På dansk side havde Valdemar Ammundsen, den første biskop i Haderslev efter genforeningen, på den ene side stor respekt for Grundtvig, men var på den anden side skeptisk over for den fare for nationalistisk snæversyn, Ammundsen ikke mente at kunne se bort fra, hverken historisk eller i samtiden. På tysk side havde den tysksindede nordslesviger Johannes Tiedje et lige så spaltet billede af Grundtvig. I forbindelse med sin udgivelse på tysk af et udvalg af Grundtvigs skrifter gav Tiedje udtryk for tanker, der i første omgang røbede beundring og tilslutning til Grundtvigs hovedtanker, men dernæst afspejlede en højreekstremistisk holdning til politisk-ideologiske problemer i samtiden ( omkring 1930). Man kan herudfra ane en del af forklaringen på, at Grundtvig fra tysk side siden Hitler-tiden ofte er blevet betragtet med modvilje.Med henvisning hertil anføres afsluttende nogle synspunkter, der er fremsat af den tyske kirkehistoriker Martin Greschat. Han er en af de betydeligste kendere af moderne kirkehistorie og har i særlig grad undersøgt den tyske protestantismes til tider skæbnesvangre rolle i forhold til samfundsudviklingen. I forlængelse heraf har han også redegjort for, hvorfor han ud fra tyske forudsætninger er på vagt overfor en forståelse af »folkekirke«, der ubekymret sætter sig ud over de dyrekøbte erfaringer, der blev indvundet under det nazistiske diktatur; samtidig har Greschat åbent indrømmet, at han skal overvinde en betragtelig skepsis, inden han kan komme til rette med Grundtvigs tanker, sådan som de indtil videre foreligger ham bekendt.Disse overvejelser har vi fra dansk side ikke råd til at være ligegyldige overfor. Der er grund til af såvel historiske som aktuelle årsager at gå ind i denne tysk-danske samtale med stor opmærksomhed

Poul Georg Lindhardt in memoriam

Poul Georg Lindhardt in memoriamBy Jens Holger Schjørrin

Grundtvigs betydning for voksenundervisning i Tyskland

Grundtvig's importance for adult education in GermanyNorbert Vogel: Grundtvigs Bedeutung für die deutsche Erwachsenenbildung. Ein Beitrag zur Bildungsgeschichte. Verlag Jullius Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn 1994.Reviewed by Jens Holger Schjørrin

Center for Grundtvig-Studier – de første 20 år

Baggrun

Regin Prenter in memoriam

Obituary of Regin PrenterRegin Prenter’s name is chiefly connected with his textbook of dogmatics, which is the most important Danish textbook in that field, and which has been translated into several languages. Beyond that, Prenter’s name is associated with his achievement as a Luther scholar.It is, however, worth maintaining that also Grundtvig’s ’View of the Church’ occupied a prominent position in Prenter’s interpretation of Christianity. Grundtvig’s importance for Prenter did not clash with the fact that in his maturing years as a scholar in the 1930s he was internationally and ecumenically oriented. On the contrary, the inspiration that Prenter received from Karl Barth in Bonn and from Anglican theology (particularly from Michael Ramsey) in Lincoln in 1935 was closely linked to his understanding of Grundtvig.Over a period of 10 years from 1935, Prenter was a clergyman until he became a professor at the newly founded Faculty of Theology of Aarhus University. He abandoned his chair in 1972 when he returned to a clerical office which he held until his retirement.Prenter became increasingly antagonistic towards the leading circles in the Danish national church. In particular, the law about ordination of women roused his indignation; on the whole, his opposition to this law and his own High-Church standpoint in ecclesiastical politics caused him to confront the way of thinking which is traditionally regarded as the church policy inspired by Grundtvig.To Prenter it was entirely unacceptable that the majority in the national church, who claimed to continue the Grundtvig heritage of latitude and spiritual freedom, neglected at the same time what was inextricably associated with Grundtvig as an .old-church. theologian.Prenter’s understanding of the theology of the church service and his understanding of the sacraments may be seen in the light of this conflict, and it should be considered on this background whether Prenter’s theology does not present significant questions for us today.Thus, Prenter’s theology does not deserve to be looked upon as marginal, but should be included in a re-consideration of Danish ecclesiastical and theological tradition as a provocative, but fruitful viewpoint.J.H. Schjørrin

Hal Koch: Kirkehistoriker – demokrat – brobygger

: On May 25, 2012 Tine Reeh defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Copenhagen on the Danish church historian, Hal Koch (1904-1963). Koch was an important fi gure in modern Danish history, not only as a theologian, but also as a pioneering innovator in adult education and nation-building during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. I start out paying tribute to Tine Reeh’s accomplishments, not least for presenting a full-scale analysis of Hal Koch within the general framework of his time. At the same time some viewpoints in her account are questioned. Tine Reeh maintains that the German dialectical theology and its Danish parallel, Tidehverv, had a particular impact on Koch. She presents a detailed picture of Koch’s monographs on Origen, on the relationship between church and state in medieval Denmark, and on Grundtvig, seen in interaction with Koch’s position as Lutheran theologian and preacher. The analysis of Koch’s activity during the years of German occupation has rightly been given particular attention. Yet, it is misleading to perceive 1945 as the year of conclusion. In the post-war period Koch presented several examples of a remarkable reorientation. Accordingly it is more appropriate to consider him a bridge-builder between church and society than to push him into the narrow confi nes of academic school theology

Helge Grell in memoriam

In Memory of Helge Grell, 1925 - 2000By Jens Holger SchjørringHelge Grell’s life coincided with some decisive events in the history of research on Grundtvig and Grundtvig’s importance in theology and in the religious and national life in Denmark.When Grell took holy orders in 1940, the year of the occupation of the country by the German Wehrmacht, the depression and confusion over the loss of national independence led many Danes to search for a mobilization of new resources in the Danish people to avoid an internal breakdown. This found expression for example through De danske Ungdomsforeninger (Danish Youth Associations), a particular manifestation being Hal Koch’s famous lectures on Grundtvig and his work for Dansk Ungdomssamvirke (Federation of Danish Youth Associations). In the post-war years the discussion turning on Kaj Thaning’s interpretation of Grundtvig was the point of departure for much debate on the Grundtvigian heritage and in a wider sense the situation of the Danish national church. There was, in particular, Thaning’s protest against tendencies to allow a »pilgrim myth« to determine the understanding of the relationship between created human life and Christianity. Against this Thaning would stress the intrinsic value of created life with his programmatic emphasis on »Man first...«.The last decades of the twentieth century saw, with increasing strength, endeavours being made to apply an international perspective to the interpretation of Grundtvig.Helge Grell lived through all these phases, briefly outlined above, and each one of them came to determine in different ways his work as clergyman, as teacher in many different contexts, as lecturer in Grundtvig circles and participant in their activities, and as Grundtvig scholar. When Helge Grell’s life is considered within such an extensive framework, it becomes apparent that his many activities share an inner coherence. In retrospect, one senses an arch spanning the different aspects of his lifework and combining his practical activity with his work as a Grundtvig scholar. Likewise, when viewed in that light, there is an impressive unity in the books that Grell managed to finish in the last decades of his life, dealing partly with the relation between creator spirit and the spirit of the people, partly with Grundtvig’s travels to England and their significance, and finally with Grundtvig’s folk high school ideas and their realization after Grundtvig’s death.

Om Regner Birkelunds Grundtvig-disputats

Regner Birkelund defended his thesis “Freedom for the Common – An oppositional voice from the past” for the philosophical doctoral degree at Aarhus University on October 31, 2008. The thesis explores N.F.S. Grundtvig’s concept of freedom from an interdisciplinary perspective. Birkelund rejects simplistic interpretations in case they associate Grundtvig with either liberalistic or socialist ideologies. At the same time Birkelund examines a range of areas within Grundtvig’s writings such as his historical and philosophical essays on modern and contemporary society, his articles about education and school reform, his political writings and his contributions on the emancipation of women and female values and their relationship with the biblical sources of Christianity. Birkelund sets out to investigate the inspiration which Grundtvig gained from classical Greek culture. Adding to Grundtvig’s rootedness in ancient ideas Birkelund also wants to demonstrate that Grundtvig was a forerunner for a balanced interaction in contemporary society between the struggle for freedom and the concern for justice and the common good. The article presents a summary of the lectures of opposition held during the defense by Harry Haue, Dag Thorkildsen, Ole Vind and Jens Holger Schjørring

Forord

PrefaceBy the editor

Skrifter udgivet af Grundtvig-Selskabet

Works published by the Grundtvig Societ