Wilhelm Sihler
Encyclopedia
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
Lutheran minister. A proponent for Christian education, Wilhelm Sihler founded Concordia Theological Seminary
Concordia Theological Seminary
The Concordia Theological Seminary is an institution of theological higher education of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod , located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, dedicated primarily to the preparation of pastors for the congregations and missions of the LCMS...
, in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
.
Biography
Wilhelm Sihler was born in Germany in BernstadtBernstadt auf dem Eigen
Bernstadt auf dem Eigen is a town in the district Görlitz, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 16 km north of Zittau, and 16 km southwest of Görlitz....
, near Breslau, in the historical region of Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
. He studied in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
1826–29. He was employed as a private tutor in Breslau during 1829 and 1830. He was an instructor at a private college in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
during 1830. From 1838 until 1843 he worked as a private tutor within the Baltic area
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
.
Sihler immigrated to the United States in 1843. He served as a teacher Pomeroy, Ohio
Pomeroy, Ohio
Pomeroy is a village in and the county seat of Meigs County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,966 at the 2000 census. During the late 19th century, Pomeroy was an important producer of coal and salt...
and vicinity during 1844. He was ordained within the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio in June 1844. Sihler served as the third rector of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
.
Wilhelm Sihler had arrived in America as the result of a call for help by F.C.D. Wyneken. Pastor Wyneken had arrived in Fort Wayne in 1838 to find that the only pastor in Indiana had died a few days before. Shocked at the condition of the Lutheran church in the area, Wyneken returned to Germany to search for new pastors willing to emigrate. In June 1841, Pastor Wyneken met with and sought assistance from Dr. Wilhelm Löhe. Sihler was one of those who read Wyneken's The Distress of the German Lutherans in North America (German: Die Noth der deutschen Lutheraner in Nordamerika) and decided to leave his home country for America.
In September 1846, Wilhelm Sihler started a small seminary in the parsonage at St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Fort Wayne. This marked the foundation of the Concordia Theological Seminary
Concordia Theological Seminary
The Concordia Theological Seminary is an institution of theological higher education of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod , located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, dedicated primarily to the preparation of pastors for the congregations and missions of the LCMS...
. The seminary trains pastors for the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 2.3 million members, it is both the eighth largest Protestant denomination and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Synod...
. Sihler was also the father of prominent classicist Ernest Gottlieb Sihler
Ernest Gottlieb Sihler
Ernest Gottlieb Sihler was a Professor of Classics at Johns Hopkins University. Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he was the son of Lutheran missionary Wilhelm Sihler and great-uncle to Andrew Sihler....
.
Sihler encouraged zeal and love for the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions. He especially criticized General Synod
General Synod (Lutheran)
The General Synod was an association of Lutheran church bodies in America....
for lacking these, claiming that their leaders, for example, Samuel Simon Schmucker
Samuel Simon Schmucker
Samuel Simon Schmucker was a German-American Lutheran pastor and theologian. He was integral to the founding of the Lutheran church body known as the General Synod, as well as the oldest continuously-operating Lutheran seminary and college in North America .Later in his career, Schmucker became a...
, were apostate "open counterfeiters, Calvinists, Methodists, and Unionists... traitors and destroyers of the Lutheran Church".
Selected writings
- Lebenslauf von W. Sihler: Auf mehrfaches Begehren von ihm selber beschrieben (Vol. 1)(in German)
- Lebenslauf von W. Sihler: Auf mehrfaches Begehren von ihm selber beschrieben (Vol. 2)(in German)