author
Karl Friedrich Ledderhose
1806–1890
A 19th-century German Protestant theologian and biographer, he wrote lively, accessible lives of major Reformation figures and other Christian leaders. His books helped bring church history to a broad reading public.
1 Audiobook
The Life of Philip Melanchthon
by Karl Friedrich Ledderhose
About the author
Born in 1806 and died in 1890, Karl Friedrich Ledderhose was a German evangelical theologian, pastor, and author best remembered for his historical and religious biographies. Reference sources identify him as a Protestant theologian, and library records connect his name with widely circulated works on figures such as Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Augustus Gottlieb Spangenberg, and Carl Heinrich von Bogatzky.
His writing focused largely on church history and the lives of influential Protestant leaders. A surviving bibliography shows a steady stream of 19th-century publications, suggesting a long career devoted to devotional and historical writing in a clear, reader-friendly style rather than highly academic scholarship.
Records also point to his work in parish ministry in Baden, including appointments at St. Georgen, Brombach, and later Neckarau. Alongside his books, he contributed biographical articles to major reference works, which fits the picture of a pastor-author deeply engaged with Protestant memory and history.