Editing Albert Schweitzer (section)

==Early years==
[[File:Strasbourg, standbeeld Albert Schweitzer IMG 5441 2023-05-07 11.55.jpg|thumb|Statue of Albert Schweitzer in Strasbourg|left|180px]]
[[File:KaysersbergAS.jpg|thumb|upright|Albert Schweitzer's birthplace in [[Kaysersberg]], now in [[Alsace]] in France]]
[[File:Émile Schneider, Portrait d'Albert Schweitzer.jpg|thumb|upright|Schweitzer in 1912. Oil on canvas painting by [[Émile Schneider (painter)|Émile Schneider]] ([[Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art]])]]
Schweitzer was born on 14 January 1875 in [[Kaysersberg]] in Alsace, in what had less than four years previously become the [[Alsace-Lorraine|Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine]] in the [[German Empire]]; he later became a citizen of France after World War I, when Alsace became French territory again. He was the son of Adèle (née Schillinger) and Louis Théophile Schweitzer.{{sfn|Oermann|2016|p=43}}{{sfn|Free|1988|p=74}} He spent his childhood in [[Gunsbach]], also in Alsace, where his father, the local [[Lutheran|Lutheran-Evangelical]] pastor of the [[EPCAAL]], taught him how to play music.<ref>{{Citation | archive-date = 26 April 2006 | url = http://schweitzer.org/dutch/asstamm.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060426004850/http://schweitzer.org/dutch/asstamm.htm | title = Stammbaum – Genealogic tree Arbre généalogique de la famille Schweitze | publisher = Schweitzer}}.</ref> The tiny village would become home to the [[Association Internationale Albert Schweitzer]] (AIAS).<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.schweitzer.org/ | title = Association Internationale Albert Schweitzer | access-date = 1 August 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101209001311/http://www.schweitzer.org/ | archive-date = 9 December 2010 | url-status = dead }}.</ref> The medieval parish church of Gunsbach was shared by the Protestant and Catholic congregations, which held their prayers in different areas at different times on Sundays. This compromise arose after the [[Protestant Reformation]] and the [[Thirty Years' War]]. Schweitzer, the pastor's son, grew up in this exceptional environment of religious tolerance, and developed the belief that true Christianity should always work towards a unity of faith and purpose.{{sfn|Seaver|1951|p=3–9}}

Schweitzer's first language was the [[Alsatian dialect]] of German. At the [[Mulhouse]] [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] he received his "[[Abitur]]" (the certificate at the end of secondary education) in 1893. He studied organ in Mulhouse from 1885 to 1893 with Eugène Munch, organist at the Protestant cathedral, who inspired Schweitzer with his enthusiasm for the music of German composer [[Richard Wagner]].<ref>A. Schweitzer, ''Eugene Munch'' (J. Brinkmann, Mulhouse 1898).</ref> In 1893, he played for the French organist [[Charles-Marie Widor]] (at [[Saint-Sulpice, Paris]]), for whom [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s organ music contained a mystic sense of the eternal. Widor, deeply impressed, agreed to teach Schweitzer without fee, and a great and influential friendship thus began.{{sfn|Joy|1953|p=23–24}}

From 1893 Schweitzer studied [[Protestant theology]] at the [[University of Strasbourg|Kaiser Wilhelm University]] in [[Strasbourg]]. There he also received instruction in piano and [[counterpoint]] from professor Gustav Jacobsthal, and associated closely with Ernest Munch, the brother of his former teacher, organist of St William church, who was also a passionate admirer of J. S. Bach's music.{{sfn|Joy|1953|p=24}} Schweitzer served his one-year compulsory military service in 1894. Schweitzer saw many operas of Richard Wagner in Strasbourg (under [[Otto Lohse]]) and in 1896 he managed to afford a visit to the [[Bayreuth Festival]] to see Wagner's {{lang|de|[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]}} and ''[[Parsifal]]'', both of which impressed him. In 1898, he returned to Paris to write a PhD dissertation on ''The Religious Philosophy of [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]'' at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], and to study in earnest with Widor. Here he often met with the elderly [[Aristide Cavaillé-Coll]]. He also studied piano at that time with [[Marie Jaëll]].<ref>George N. Marshall, David Poling, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UC5sXn1CwT4C&pg=PA24 ''Schweitzer''], JHU Press, 2000, {{ISBN|0-8018-6455-0}}</ref> In 1899, Schweitzer spent the summer semester at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin|University of Berlin]] and eventually obtained his theology degree at the [[University of Strasbourg]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9nDF2hsN1oC&q=Albert+Schweitzer+university+of+berlin&pg=PA243|title=Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision A Sourcebook|last=Cicovacki|first=Predrag|date=2 February 2009|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780199703326|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fLRADgok_a0C&q=Albert+Schweitzer+berlin&pg=PR20|title=Albert Schweitzer-helene Bresslau: the Years Prior to Lambarene|last1=Schweitzer|first1=Albert|last2=Bresslau|first2=Helene|last3=Stewart|first3=Nancy|date=2003|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=9780815629948|language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Brabazon|2000|p=84}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1952/schweitzer-bio.html|title=Albert Schweitzer – Biographical|website=nobelprize.org|access-date=10 March 2018}}</ref> He published his PhD thesis at the [[University of Tübingen]] in 1899.{{sfn|Joy|1953|p=24–25}}

In 1905, Schweitzer began his study of medicine at the University of Strasbourg, culminating in the degree of M.D. in 1913.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />