17 Facts About Gerhard Kittel

Gerhard Kittel was a German Lutheran theologian and lexicographer of biblical languages.

Gerhard Kittel was an enthusiastic supporter of the Nazis and an open antisemite.

Gerhard Kittel is known in the field of biblical studies for his Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.

The son of Old Testament scholar Rudolf Gerhard Kittel, he married Hanna Untermeier in 1914, but there were no children from the union.

On 3 May 1945, after Nazi Germany capitulated to the Allies, Gerhard Kittel was arrested by the French occupying forces.

Gerhard Kittel was removed from office and interned at Balingen.

Gerhard Kittel attempted to distinguish his work from the "vulgar antisemitism of Nazi propaganda" like Der Sturmer and Alfred Rosenberg, who was known for his anti-Christian rhetoric, volkisch arguments and emphasis on Lebensraum.

Gerhard Kittel characterized his work as an "attempt to grapple with the problem of Jewry and the Jewish question".

Martin Dibelius, a German Protestant theologian at Heidelberg, wrote that Gerhard Kittel's works related to ancient Judaism "are of purely scientific character" and "do not serve the Party interpretation of Judaism".

Gerhard Kittel said further that Kittel deserved "the thanks of all who are interested in the scientific study of Judaism".

Schedl says that Gerhard Kittel was one of very few scholars who promoted an opinion on the Jewish Question other than the official one.

Gerhard Kittel himself said his goal was to combat the myths and distortions of extremist members of the Nazi Party.

Gerhard Kittel testified that Kittel had strongly objected against the actions being taken against Jews, with his work on the Jewish Question not based on the racial theories of Nazism but upon theology.

In 1946, Gerhard Kittel was released pending his trial, but was forbidden to enter Tubingen until 1948.

From 1940 to 1943 Gerhard Kittel held an Evangelical Theology chair at the university of Vienna.

Gerhard Kittel was replaced at the university of Tubingen by Otto Michel.

In March 1943 Gerhard Kittel suddenly returned to Tubingen to reclaim his theology chair at its university, while still holding his chair at the university of Vienna.