| dc.description.abstract | Rudolf Gustaw Gundlach was born on June 21, 1850 in Paproć Duża near Łomża, located then
in the Augustów Governorate. He was raised in an evangelical family which cultivated Protestant
ethical traditions.
Having left a German secondary school in Warsaw in 1870, he started studying in the Faculty
of Theology of the University of Dorpat. On April 18, 1875, he was appointed as an Evangelical
clergyman and started working in the Holy Trinity Lutheral Church in Warsaw. Other centres of
his pastoral work included parishes in Kamień near Chełm (1876–1889), Wiskitki near Żyrardów
(1889–1898), and Łódź (1898–1922).
Taking the function of the parish priest in the Holy Trinity Lutheral Church in Łódź in Nowy
Rynek (Plac Wolności now), the Reverend R. Gundlach conducted energetic social activities apart
from his everyday responsibilities related to pastoral work. He strived to help the poor and the
needing, regardless from their religion and nationality. It is worth mentioning that, at the turn of
the 19th and 20th centuries, Łódź was a multinational city, with population diversified in terms of
religion and culture. The community at risk of poverty and no social care included the working
class families. For 13 years, since 1907, the Reverend R. Gundlach was the chairman of the philantropic
organisation called Łódzkie Chrześcijańskie Towarzystwo Dobroczynności [Łódź Christian
Charity Society], which conducted its activities in Łódź in 1885–1940. Together with members and
activists of the Society, R. Gundlach organised 17 philantropic institutions for adults and children,
including hospitals, clinics, orphanages, schools, tea houses, job centres, old people’s homes, and
night shelters.
The Reverend Rudolf Gundlach cooperated permanently with the monthly titled “Zwiastun
Ewangeliczny”, where he published his works on religious and social issues. He died in Łódź on
October 11, 1922. | pl_PL |
