Bogatzky, Karl Heinrich von

BOGATZKY, KARL HEINRICH VON: German Pietist; b. at Jankowe (a village of Lower Silesia) Sept. 7, 1690; d. at Halle June 15, 1774. When fourteen years of age, he entered the ducal court of Saxe-Weissenfels as a page, but at the instance of the pious count Henry XXIV of Reuse-Köstritz, he began to complete his education in his twentieth year. From 1713 to 1715 he studied law at Jena and then devoted himself to theology at Halle, where Francke, Anton, Freylinghausen, and other Pietists greatly influenced him. After completing his theological studies in 1718, he lived for several years among the nobility of Silesia, and exercised much influence as a spiritual leader. He also resided for a number of years at the Silesian village of Glaucha, where he aided in building an orphan-asylum, and from 1740 to 1746 he lived at the ducal court of Saalfeld, and finally at Halle, engaged in literary work of a devotional character and in the practical furtherance of Pietistic life. The most popular of his many works was his Güldenes Schatzkästlein der Kinder Gottes, which he composed for his own edification while at the university (Breslau, 1718; 65th ed., Halle, 1904; Eng. transl., London, 1745, and many subsequent editions); while among his other books special mention may be made of his Tägliches Hausbuch der Kinder Gottes (2 vols., Halle, 1748–49) and of his Betrachtungen und Gebete über das Neue Testament (7 parts, 1755–61). Several of his hymns obtained a place in the popular hymnals of the German people, and were collected in his Uebung der Gottseligkeit in allerlei geistlichen Liedern (Halle, 1749), while a selection of 160, was published by Johannes Claassen, (Stuttgart, 1888), together with a biography of Bogatzky.

(Georg Müller.)

Bibliography: Bogatsky's autobiography was published by Knapp, Halle, 1801, Eng transl, by S. Jackson, London, 1856. Consult: G. Frank, Geschichte der protestantischen Theologie, iii, 201–202, Leipsic, 1875; ADB, iii, 37–39, Leipsic, 1876; A. F. W. Fischer, Kirchen-LiederLexikon, ii, 430–431, Gotha, 1879; Julian, Hymnology, p. 152.