Julius Smend

Who was Julius Smend?

Julius Smend was a German theologian born in Lengerich, Westphalia. He was brother to theologian Rudolf Smend and father to musicologist Friedrich Smend.

He studied theology in Bonn, Halle and Göttingen, receiving his ordination in 1881. Afterwards he worked as an auxiliary minister in Bonn, and in 1885 became a minister in Seelscheid. In 1891 he taught classes at the seminary in Friedberg, and two years later was appointed professor of practical theology at the University of Strasbourg.

In 1896 with Friedrich Spitta, he founded Monatsschrift für Gottesdienst und kirchliche Kunst, a monthly magazine of worship and religious art. With Spitta, he was a primary representative of the Ältere liturgische Bewegung that he created at St. Thomas, Strasbourg. In 1914 he was co-founder of the Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät in Münster.

His best known written work was Die evangelischen deutschen Messen bis zu Luthers deutscher Messe;.