Christoph Schlegel

Christoph Schlegel (also known as von Gottleben, von Gottlieben) (January 1, 1613 -July 2, 1678) was a German Lutheran theologian.

Christoph was the son of Martin Schlegel, the Saxon court preacher and superintendent in Weißensee, and his wife Maria Faber (October 3, 1586 – October 6, 1676), 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. In that same year, he was appointed court preacher and tutor to the children of the widowed Princess Magdalene of Anhalt-Zerbst (1585–1657) in Coswig (Anhalt). 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 (now Wrocław) as a deacon (midday preacher) 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 (now Levoča, Slovakia). 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 (now Lubań, Poland) 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.

Christoph Schlegel was an ancestor of the poets August Wilhelm Schlegel and Friedrich von Schlegel. He was married twice.

His first marriage (September 12, 1639, in Breslau) was to Magdalene Tilisch (1621–1646), 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 (1623–1682) on October 5, 1648, in Leutschau. She was the daughter of a merchant, Christoph Gloger, and Rosina Kretschmer.

• Christoph Gottlieb Schlegel (May 30, 1640 – June 19, 1697)
• Magdalena Dorothea Schlegel (July 10, 1641 – July 5, 1642)
• Christoph Schlegel Jr. (January 10, 1643 – November 16, 1691)
• Maria Dorothea Schlegel (November 23, 1644 – January 6, 1706)
• Unnamed daughter (stillborn on January 16, 1646)^[1]

• Rosine Magdalene Schlegel (April 13, 1650 – October 9, 1701)
• Polykarp Schlegel (January 16, 1652 – June 13, 1670)
• Anna Susanna Schlegel (March 30, 1653 – date unknown)
• Sophie Christiane Schlegel (April 3, 1655 – June 21, 1670)
• Ernst Friedrich Schlegel (August 13, 1657 – May 17, 1727)
• Jacob Reinhard Schlegel (August 9, 1662 – 1686)
• Gottfried Siegmund Schlegel (February 9, 1662 – November 18, 1727)
• Johannes Elias Schlegel (September 25, 1664 – September 20, 1718)^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

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

• A dissertation on human understanding (Leipzig, 1630)
• A theological disputation on the universality of grace (Wittenberg, 1638)
• A commentary on Psalm 110 titled The Royal Priesthood of Christ (published in Breslau, Leipzig, and London)
• A theological explanation of Matthew 27 (Hakeldama)
• A treatise on the miraculous conception of Christ (Breslau, 1638)

• Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexicon by Jöcher
• Zedler’s Universal-Lexicon
• Neue sächsische Kirchengalerie
• Presbyterologie des Evangelischen Schlesiens
• Pfarrerbuch der Kirchenprovinz Sachsen

1. Aus der Ehe Schlegel/Hertel kennt man: So. Christoph Friedrich Schlegel (* 26. Oktober 1676 in Grimma; † 1772 York County (Pennsylvania)), Wintersemester 1683 Uni. Leipzig, To. Magdalena Dorothea Schlegel (* 2. Mai 1678 in Grimma; † 22. Dezember 1743 ebenda) verh. mit dem Materialisten in Grimma Johann Georg Naumann, So. Johann Gottlieb Schlegel (* 3. September 1680 in Grimma), So. Gottfried Schlegel (* 23. Oktober 1683 in Grimma) So. Christian Reinhard Schlegel (* 11. Dezember 1688 in Grimma)
2. Aus der Ehe Schlegel/Widmarkter kennt man: So. Johann Christoph Schlegel († 8. Juli 1728 in Wien), So. Ernst Christian Schlegel wurde Rat in Batavia, So. Johann Heinrich Schlegel († Breslau), David Friedrich Schlegel († jung), To. Agathe Dorothea († 6. Februar 1684), Johann Philipp Schlegel († auf einer Reise nach Indien), So. Johann Balthasar Schlegel, wurde Sekretär in Weimar.
3. Aus der Ehe Neefe/Schlegel kennt man: So. Christian Gottfried Neefe (* 28. November 1676), So. Christian Gottlob Neefe (* 14. Februar 1678) Christian Gottlieb Neefe (* 1. September 1679), Johann Zacharias Neefe (* 4. September 1681), Christoph Gottpreis Neefe (* 23. September 1682), Anna Rosina Neefe (* 29. August 1684), Anna Susanna Neefe (* 2. Januar 1687), Susanna Eleonora Neefe (* 1. Februar 1691)
4. Aus der Ehe Schlegel/Höpner kennt man: So. Christoph Heinrich Schlegel (* 2. Oktober 1691 in Oederan; † 15. Mai 1771 in Schöneck) 1706–1711 kurf. sächs. Landesschule St. Afra Meißen, Uni. Leipzig, Privatlehrer Lübeck, 1719 Zucht, Arbeits- und Armenhausprediger ebenda, 13. Oktober 1721 Uni. Rostock, 16. Oktober 1721 Mag. phil. ebd., 1730 Pfarrsubst. in Priessnitz bei Borna, 1732 Pfarrer ebenda, So. Christian August Schlegel (* 15. November 1693 Radeberg; † 1694 ebenda), So. Ernst Friedrich Schlegel (* 15. November 1693 in Radeberg; † 2. Oktober 1758 Lausigk) 1707–1713 kurf. sächs. Landesschule St. Afra, 1718 Mag. phil. Uni. Wittenberg, 1727 Pfarrsubst. Neckanitz, 1731 Pfarrer ebenda, 1743 Pfarrer in Lausigk, So. Gottfried Lebrecht Schlegel (* & † 1695), So. Johann Gottlob Schlegel (* 5. November 1696 in Waldheim; † 16. November 1764 in Großrückerswalde), 1710 – 22. April 1716 kurf. sächs. Landesschule St. Afra Meißen, Uni. Leipzig, Mag. phil., 1721 Pfarrsubst. Waldheim, 1728 Pfarrer Großrückerswalde, To. Rosina Sophia Schlegel (* 13. April 1700), So. Gottlieb August Schlegel (* 1702; † 1703). To. Henrietta Christina Schlegel (* 1704; † 1705), So. Friedlieb Siegmund Schlegel (* 23. März 1707), So. Timotheus Gotthold Schlegel (* 18. April 1712)
5. von den Kindern Schlegel/Nicolai kennt man: To. Johanna Sophie Schlegel (* 26. September 1693), So. Johann Gottfried Schlegel (* 5. Mai 1695) Jurist in Dresden, To. Christiane Eleonore Schlegel (* 18. Oktober 1696) verh. 1725 mit Dr. med. in Radeberg Adolph Gottlob Richter, So. Gottfried Siegmund Schlegel (* 1698; † 1699), So. Christian Siegmund Schlegel (* & † 1700), So. Christian Benjamin Schlegel (* 20. August 1702) Advokat Dresden.
6. von den Kindern Schlegel/Vockel kennt man: So. Johann Friedrich Schlegel königl. poln. und kurf. sächs. Appellationsrat und Stiftssyndikus Meißen, verh. 15. Juni 1715 Maria Rebecka Wilcke (* 14. August 1695 in Meißen; † 30. März 1736 ebenda), To. des Superintendenten Georg Lebrecht Wilcke (dessen Kinder So. Johann Lebrecht Schlegel, Johann Elias Schlegel, Johann Bernhard Friedrich Schlegel, Johann Adolf Schlegel, Sophie Friederike Schlegel, Christiane Friederike Schlegel, Johann Heinrich Schlegel, Johann Carl Schlegel), So. Johann Heinrich Schlegel königl. poln. und kurf. sächs. Hof- und Justizrat, Assessor des Schöppenstuhls in Leipzig verh. mit Sophie Friederice, die älteste Tochter des Bernhard Friedrich Hübotter, To. Johanna Dorothea Schlegel verh. 1717 mit Stiftskanzler und Kapitularprobst in Wurzen Paul Christian Schröter, To. Johanna Christiane Schlegel verh. I. mit dem Superintendenten in Wurzen Martin Knobloch, verh. II mit Dr. jur. in Wurzen Carl Friedrich Köhlau, To. Johanna Henriette Schlegel verh. 1729 mit Dr. jur. in Plauen Johann Gottfried Steinhäuser (1691–1774)