Dr. Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer (14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was a German-French theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine), at the time in the German Empire. Schweitzer challenged both the secular view of Jesus as depicted by historical-critical methodology current at his time in certain academic circles, as well the traditional Christian view, depicting a Jesus Christ who expected and predicted the imminent end of the world. He received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for his philosophy of "Reverence for Life", expressed in many ways, but most famously in founding and sustaining the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, now in Gabon, west central Africa (then French Equatorial Africa). As a music scholar and organist, he studied the music of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and influenced the Organ reform movement (Orgelbewegung).

Schweitzer's passionate quest was to discover a universal ethical philosophy, anchored in a universal reality, and make it directly available to all of humanity. This is reflected in some of his sayings, such as:

"Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace."

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."

Biography

Albert Schweitzer was born on 14 January 1875 in Kaysersberg, Alsace, the son of a Lutheran pastor.

He attended high school in Mülhausen (Mulhouse), Alsace.

From 1893 to 1899 he studied Philosophy and Protestant theology, first at the University of Strasbourg, then at the universities of Berlin, Paris, and University of Tübingen, where he completed his doctoral degree and published his Ph.D. in 1899.

In 1900 he became pastor of the Church of St. Nicolas in Strassburg, then in 1901, principal of the Theological Seminary in Strassburg.

In 1905 he completed The Quest of the Historical Jesus (Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung), a classic work of Biblical historical criticism (published in 1906). He then began to study for a medical degree.

In 1911, he completed his medical degree and published his medical dissertation.

In 1912 he married Helene Bresslau, daughter of the Jewish pan-Germanist historian Harry Bresslau. The two left for Africa later that year to establish a missionary hospital in Lambaréné (Gabon).

In 1917 they came back to Europe for medical treatment. In 1919 their daughter Rhena was born. During World War I, the French made Schweitzer and his wife, both Germans, leave Africa.

In 1924 Schweitzer returned a second time to Lambaréné, this time without his wife. He would remain there off and on for the rest of his life, returning frequently to Europe for speaking engagements.

In 1931 he published his autobiography, Aus Meinem Leben und Denken ("Out Of My Life and Thought").

In 1953 he was awarded the Nobel peace prize for the year 1952.

On November 5, 1961, at the age of 86, Schweitzer became a Unitarian-Universalist and adhered to the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

Schweitzer died on September 4, 1965, aged 90, in his own hospital in Lambaréné. His death was attributed to circulatory trouble brought on by his advanced age.

Education

Born in Kaysersberg, Schweitzer spent his childhood in the village of Gunsbach, Alsace (German: Günsbach), where his father, the local Lutheran-Evangelical pastor, taught him how to play music. During Schweitzer's youth, the region was a traditional part of Germany but following the treaties of World War I, it was assumed by France. The tiny village is home to the Association Internationale Albert Schweitzer (AIAS). The Günsbach, Medieval-era parish church was of a special Protestant-Catholic kind found in various places in Germany even today: it was shared by the two congregations, which held their prayers in different areas of the same church at different times on Sundays - a compromise made after the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years War. Schweitzer, the pastor's son, grew up in this exceptional environment of religious tolerance, and developed the belief that true Christianity should always work towards a unity of faith and purpose.

Schweitzer's home language was an Alsatian dialect of German. At Mülhausen (Mulhouse) high school he got his "Abitur" (the certificate at the end of secondary education), in 1893. He studied organ there from 1885-1893 with Eugène Munch, organist of the Protestant Temple, who inspired Schweitzer with his profound enthusiasm for the music of German composer Richard Wagner. In 1893 he played for the French organist Charles-Marie Widor (at Saint-Sulpice, Paris), for whom Johann Sebastian Bach's organ-music contained a mystic sense of the eternal. Widor, deeply impressed, agreed to teach Schweitzer without fee, and a great and influential friendship was begun.

From 1893 he studied Protestant theology at the Kaiser Wilhelm Universität of Straßburg. There he also received instruction in piano and counterpoint from professor Gustav Jacobsthal, and associated closely with Ernest Munch (the brother of his former teacher), organist of St William church, who was also a passionate admirer of J.S. Bach's music. Schweitzer did his one year's obligitory military service in 1894. Schweitzer saw many operas of Richard Wagner at Straßburg (under Otto Lohse), and in 1896 he pulled together the funds to visit Bayreuth to see Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal, and was deeply affected. Soon afterwards he visited the new organ in the Liederhalle at Stuttgart, and, appalled by its lack of clarity, experienced another great realization. In 1898 he went back to Paris to write a Ph.D. dissertation on The Religious Philosophy of Kant at the Sorbonne, and to study in earnest with Widor. Here he often met with the elderly Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. He also studied piano at that time with Marie Jaëll.He completed his theology degree in 1899 and published his Ph.D. at the University of Tübingen in 1899.

(Read more)