Status: 16.01.2024, 12:00 p.m.
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In 90, retired Dean Ludwig Hauck was congratulated on his 2021th birthday by Pastor Sabine Nagel, among others. © Bianca R. Heigl
Weilheim's long-time Protestant dean, Ludwig Hauck, has died. He died at the age of 92. He is remembered by many as a legendary preacher.
Weilheim – "If I am to depart, do not depart from me! If I am to suffer death, then come forward! When my heart is most anxious, tear me out of my fears by virtue of your anguish and anguish." With these words of the baroque hymn writer Paul Gerhardts, Dean Ludwig Hauck concluded when he had to report the deceased to the Protestant congregation in Weilheim in the Apostle Church. Now the congregation is mourning his passing: The former dean and bearer of the Weilheim Ring of Honour has died at the age of 92.
More than 100,000 people belonged to the dean's office
Ludwig Hauck was born on 30 March 1931 in Selb, Upper Franconia. He studied theology in Tübingen and Erlangen and attended the seminary in Bayreuth. After the vicariate in Traunstein, he was ordained in 1957. In 1965 he moved from his first pastorate in Oberkotzau to Augsburg. And from there he came to Weilheim on July 1, 1976, where he was not only dean, but also the first pastor in Weilheim until his retirement on March 31, 1996. At the beginning of his term of office, the property at Krumpperstraße 7 still housed both the apartment of the dean's family and the parish office. Here he lived with his wife Eva-Maria and their three children.
Mr. and Mrs. Hauck in 1996 with the then mayor of Weilheim, Klaus Rawe (center), after the award ceremony. © Bianca R. Heigl
When Hauck began his ministry in Weilheim, more than 100,000 people in seven Upper Bavarian districts belonged to the deanery, the "most beautiful deanery in Germany," as he liked to emphasize. In addition to his pastorate and dean's office, he was a member of the regional synod and deputy of the regional bishop in the church district of Munich-Upper Bavaria. In 1996, Ludwig Hauck received the Ring of Honour of the City of Weilheim.
A book full of contemporary testimonies
As a preacher, the theologian enjoyed a very high reputation. And so the church council tried for a long time to persuade him to publish some sermons and speeches, which he initially refused, thinking that his sermons were "destined to blow away". Shortly before his retirement, however, he gave in to the pressure and agreed to the publication of a selection under the title "Around the Church of the Apostles". To this day, you can still find contemporary testimonies here – such as his legendary sermon "Seeking the best of the city", which he gave in St. Pölten on the occasion of the 750th anniversary celebration of the city of Weilheim, "A dream, one people, one task" from an ecumenical service for reunification or "God's mercy has not yet ended" from the ecumenical service at the rededication of the Marian column.
Pioneer of ecumenism
Speaking of ecumenism, this was particularly close to Ludwig Hauck's heart. And so it is not surprising that he spoke on the occasion of the funeral service for the Catholic Monsignor Anton Kriener, with whom he was connected by this ecumenical spirit, as well as with Weilheim's parish priest Hans Appel. Even in his retirement, which he spent in his apartment on Pollinger Strasse, Hauck followed events in church and society with great attention. And he was always happy to meet church members, companions and acquaintances.
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Now his life came full circle, as it goes on to say in the Gerhardt song quoted at the beginning: "Appear to me as a shield, as a consolation in my death and let me see your image in your distress on the cross. Then I want to look to you, there I want to press you firmly to my heart with faith. He who dies in this way will surely die." Bianca R. Heigl
The Funeral Service
for Ludwig Hauck followed by the burial of urns at the Weilheim cemetery will take place on Friday, 26 January, at 12 noon in the Apostle Church.