Ellen Ueberschär is a German Evangelical Theologian.

Early life and education

Ueberschär was born in 1967 in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

where she also grew up. After finishing school she intended to study medicine, yet the East German authorities refused permission. In 1988 she began to study theology at the Sprachenkonvikt Berlin. After reunification she continued her studies at Heidelberg University as well as in Berlin, graduating in 1995. Between November 1995 and March 1997 Ueberschär was a fellow with

Studienstiftung The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

and, until 2001, a junior researcher with the theology faculty at University of Marburg, where she obtained her doctorate with a thesis on evangelical youth work in East Germany between 1945 and 1961. Her thesis received an award of excellence from Marburg University.

Professional life

Between 2004 and 2006 Ellen Ueberschär was director of studies in theology, ethics, and law at the

Loccum Loccum is a village situated about 50 km north west of Hanover in the district of Nienburg in Lower-Saxony, Germany. It has been a part of the city of Rehburg-Loccum since 1974. Loccum covers an area of 32 km² with a population of abou ...

Evangelical Academy. Since 2006 she is Secretary General of the

German Evangelical Church Assembly The German Evangelical Church Assembly (German ''Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag'', DEKT) is an assembly of lay members of the Evangelical Church in Germany, that organises biennial events of faith, culture and political discussion. History ...

. On 25 November 2016 she, along with , was elected co-president of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and took office in July 2017.

Family

Ellen Ueberschär is married and the mother of one child.Short biography provided by the Evangelical Church Rhineland
(in German) retrieved 10 December 2016

References

External links

''Deutsche Welle'' interview with Ueberschär (in English) about the "Kirchentag" church conferences
October 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ueberschar, Ellen 1967 births 20th-century German Protestant theologians 21st-century German Protestant theologians Living people Women Christian theologians People from East Berlin Writers from Berlin German women non-fiction writers 20th-century German women writers 21st-century German women writers Heidelberg University alumni University of Marburg alumni