Herren-Sulzbach - Famous People Associated With The Municipality

Famous People Associated With The Municipality

• Johann Karl Spener (1722-1815) — Revival cleric Philipp Jakob Spener’s great-nephew, Spener came from Oberstein to Sulzbach in 1753 as a pastor and was the estate cleric, was said to be the archetype of a sound character and dared share with the comital lordship his opinions most straightforwardly. In his old age he maintained together with his son a distillery to bolster the pastoral family’s scant budget. He also made and sold silhouettes for the same reason.

• Friedrich Wilhelm Spener (1766-1837) — As Johann Karl Spener’s son, Spener took over his father’s pastoral post in 1793 and played a significant part in reshaping church life in Napoleonic times. He worried greatly about his parishioners’ needs and interests, writing submissions to even the highest governmental offices and founding a lending library for the Canton of Grumbach. Letters from him contain reports about Schinderhannes (a notorious outlaw whose real name was Johannes Bückler) and his band and these are said to be living history from the time when feudalism was swept away to Napoleonic times.

• Otto Karsch (1901-1975) — Karsch came from the Westerwald; he was born in Wickrath. He came to Herren-Sulzbach in 1931 as a pastor and stayed until he retired in 1964. He showed great interest not only in his pastoral work but also in history and local lore. He wrote, among other works, the book Geschichte des Amtes Grumbach (“History of the Amt of Grumbach”).

• Rudolf Licht (1884-1975) — Licht came from Baumholder, arriving in Sulzbach in 1905 as a young schoolteacher. He exhaustively described the situation in the village along with all important events in the school chronicle. He worked in the village as a schoolteacher until 1949, with his service interrupted only by the First World War (1914-1918).