Paul Hensel

Paul Hensel (3 October 1867 – 8 January 1944) was a German Lutheran theologian and politician.

Biography Hensel was born in Gehsen (today Jeże, Poland) and visited school in Lyck. In 1886, he began to study Theology at the University of Königsberg and the University of Berlin and was a member of the Burschenschaft Corps Masovia. He started to work as a Lutheran Pastor at Gehsen and Friedrichshof in Masuria, later also at the Lutheran congregation of San Remo and became the Superintendent of Johannisburg. Hensel also published several publications in masurian language.

Since 1891 he was engaged in several organisations of agricultural cooperatives and became a member of the supervisory board of the "Landwirtschaftliche Zentraldarlehenskasse für Deutschland" in Berlin in 1920–24.

In 1913 Hensel was elected for the Conservative Party as the deputy of the constituency Allenstein 3 (Oletzko/Lyck/Johannisburg) at the Prussian Landtag until 1918 and in 1921–28 Hensel, now a member of the DNVP, was the deputy of the Allenstein 3 constituency at the Reichstag.

Hensel appealed to the foundation of the pro-German Masurenbund and the Arbeitsausschuß Allenstein gegen die Polengefahr, which both joined the Masuren- und Ermländerbund in July 1919 under the presidency of Max Worgitzki. Hensel was active in the Ostdeutscher Heimatdienst and the head of the Committee of Lutheran parishes in Masuria.

The plebiscite turned out a majority of over 97% to remain in East Prussia.

Hensel died in Kolberg in 1944.

Publications Die evangelischen Masuren in ihrer kirchlichen und nationalen Eigenart, Königsberg 1908 Die Polengefahr für die masurische Bevölkerung, Berlin 1911 Kalendarz Królewsko-Pruski Ewangelicki, Johannisburg