Eric W. Gritsch (originallyErich Walter Gritsch, April 19, 1931,Neuhaus am Klausenbach,Austria - December 29, 2012,Baltimore,United States)[1] was an AmericanLutheranecumenical theologian andLuther scholar.
Gritsch was raised in a Lutheran pastor's family inBernstein im Burgenland in Austria. His family was deeply affected by theAnschluss and the Second World War. His father died on a death march as a Russian prisoner of war, but Gritsch himself, who had been drafted into aWerwolf group, escaped capture by posing as agypsy boy.[2] He returned to Bernstein and graduated withMatura in 1950. The same year, he matriculated at theUniversity of Vienna to study Protestant theology. In 1954 he received aFulbright scholarship and came toYale University for the academic year 1954/55. After going back to Austria to complete his ministerial training, he immigrated to the United States in 1957, initially for doctoral studies withRoland H. Bainton. His thesis was onThomas Müntzer, the radical reformer.
Gritsch's first teaching position was atWellesley College from 1959 to 1961. In 1961, he was called toGettysburg Seminary, where he taught Church History and Reformation Studies until his retirement in 1994. In 1970, he became the first director of the seminary's Institute for Luther Studies and responsible for the series of scholarly conferences at Gettysburg known asMartin Luther Colloquy.[3]
Since his early days in Gettysburg, he was active in the Christian-Jewish dialog. TheLutheran World Federation made him a board member of its Institute for Ecumenical Research inStrasbourg, and for theELCA he was a member of the American Lutheran-Catholic Dialog Commission (1971–1992). He also served on the board of theLajos-Ordass-Foundation. Together withRobert Jenson, he producedLutheranism. The Theological Movement and Its Confessional Writings, a widely used resource book.
Gritsch was part of a team that translated and edited the American edition of Luther's works. Assisted by his wife Ruth (1931–2009),[4] he translated and edited vols. 39 and 41. He also cooperated on the translation and edition of theBook of Concord (Kolb/Wengert edition).[5]
In retirement, Gritsch lived inBaltimore with his wife Bonnie. He remained active as lecturer and teacher. From 1995 to 2005, he taught at the Ecumenical Institute ofSt. Mary’s University in Baltimore. At the Melanchthon Institute inHouston, Texas he held an endowed chair named in his honor in 2000.
He was a member of Zion Lutheran Church and director of itsZion Forum for German Culture. His latest major works were a history of Lutheranism and his autobiographyThe Boy from the Burgenland. From Hitler Youth to Seminary Professor, which also contains a number of his articles.
