Joachim Beckmann (18 July 1901 – 18 January 1987) was a German
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
. He served between 1958 and 1971 as
"Präses" (synod president) of the
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Protestant Church in the Rhineland (german: Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland; EKiR) is a United Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse (Wetzlar). This is actually th ...
.
Life
Joachim Wilhelm Beckmann was born into a conservative traditionalist family
[ in Eickel, a small town in the heart of the rapidly industrialising Ruhr conurbation, within which Eickel is positioned between ]Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
and Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
. His father, Julius August Wilhelm Beckmann, was a protestant pastor. Sources are largely silent about his childhood, but in 1920, when he passed his Abitur (school final exams) he was a pupil at the Gymnasium (secondary school) at nearby Wattenscheid
Wattenscheid () is a Stadtbezirk of the city of Bochum. Until 1975, it was a separate town in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia. Wattenscheid has a population of about 80,000 citizens. Some notable firms have their headquarters in there ...
.[ Early in 1920 he enrolled at the Philipps University of ]Marburg
Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...
to study Protestant Theology
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
and Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
. His teachers at Marburg included
Rudolf Otto, Nicolai Hartmann
Paul Nicolai Hartmann (; 20 February 1882 – 9 October 1950) was a Baltic German philosopher. He is regarded as a key representative of critical realism and as one of the most important twentieth-century metaphysicians.
Biography
Hartmann was ...
and Adolf Jülicher
Adolf Jülicher (26 January 1857 – 2 August 1938) was a German scholar and biblical exegete. Specifically, he was the Professor of Church History and New Testament Exegesis, at the University of Marburg. He was born in Falkenberg near Berlin and ...
.[ After only a few months, however, he switched to the Eberhard Karl University of ]Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
. Here he was taught by Karl Heim
Karl Heim (20 January 1874 – 30 August 1958) was a professor of dogmatics at Münster and Tübingen. He retired in 1939. His idea of God controlling quantum events that do and would seem otherwise random has been seen as the precursor to muc ...
and Adolf Schlatter
Adolf Schlatter (16 August 1852 – 19 May 1938) was a world-leading Protestant theologian and professor specialising in the New Testament and systematics at Greifswald, Berlin and Tübingen. Schlatter has published more than 400 scholarly and po ...
.[ A year later, in Autumn/Fall 1921, he switched again, this time to University of ]Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
,[ emerging in 1923 or 1924 with a ]doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
on a theological topic. At
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
his principal focus was on Kantianism
Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, ...
and Neo-Kantianism
In late modern continental philosophy, neo-Kantianism (german: Neukantianismus) was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The Neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the "thin ...
.[
His theological approach, as disclosed by his doctoral dissertation, was very much formed by the ideas of ]Karl Barth
Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...
.[ At each of the three universities he attended prior to receiving his doctorate, he joined the "Wingolf" Christian student fraternity, retaining his membership long after he had left university, till 1938. In 1924 he passed his level 1 Theology exam with the protestant consistory for the ]Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of the "Old Prussian Union of Evangelical Churches" at the province's Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
central office. Passing the exam meant that he was now authorised to conduct church services.
During the summer of 1924 Beckmann transferred to Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
, where he became "Inspector of the Protestant College" (''"Inspektor des reformierten Studienhauses"'') and, during 1924/25, completed his "Vikariat" (formal ministerial traineeship). Joachim Beckmann had been a huge admirer of the written work of Karl Barth
Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...
since the start of the decade. Barth had accepted an honorary professorship from the university in 1921. By moving to Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
, Beckmann was able to become a pupil of the man who became, for him, something of a theological mentor.[ In 1925 he received a doctorate of theology, this time on Calvin's approach to the ]Sacrament
A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...
and how it related to the Augustinian tradition. Despite being held in wide regard among colleagues, and notwithstanding his teaching work at the university, Karl Barth
Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...
never received an "ordinary" full professorship at Göttingen, possibly on account of his Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
provenance, and was accordingly not authorised to supervise doctorates there.[ Beckmann's doctoral dissertation was supervised by ]Emanuel Hirsch
Emanuel Hirsch (14 June 1888 in Bentwisch, Province of Brandenburg – 17 July 1972 in Göttingen) was a German Protestant theologian and also a member of the Nazi Party and the Nazi supporting body. He escaped denazification at the end of the war ...
. In August 1925 he started working in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
as an assistant with Reinhold Seeberg at the National Committee for the Domestic Mission of the German Evangelical Churches (''"Central-Ausschuss für die Innere Mission der Deutschen Evangelischen Kirche"'').[
During the first part of 1926 Beckmann passed his level 2 Theology exam. In May 1926 he relocated to ]Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
, where he remained for two years:[ there he worked as a regional pastor for Domestic Mission and Welfare Care with the Evangelical Regional Church in ]Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
.[ On 1 August 1926 it was through the hands of his own father that he was ordained into the ministry at the "Johanneskirche" (St John's Evangelical Church) in ]Wanne-Eickel
Herne () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area directly between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen.
History
Like most other cities in the region, Herne (ancient Haranni) was a tiny village until the ...
.[ In January 1927 Joachim Beckmann married Hilde Hagemann: the marriage was followed in due course by the births of the couple's four children.][ Between 1928 and 1933 Beckmann served as minister to the Westphalia Frauenhilfe (''literally, "women's help"'') association in Soest.][ In this position his role was principally that of a teacher.][
In 1933 Beckmann took over a pastoral post with the Lutheran church community in ]Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
, retaining this ministry, by some criteria, without a break till 1948. Soon after that he took on a succession of leading roles within the anti-government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German E ...
of which, in the Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
, he was a co-founder during 1933. In 1934 Beckmann attended the important inaugural synod of the Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German E ...
at Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...
-Barmen
Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal.
Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...
and the second synod at Berlin-Dahlem
Dahlem ( or ) is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. It is located between the mansion settlements of Grunewald and L ...
, held respectively in May and October 1934. During 1934 he became a member of the National Brothers' Council (''"Reichsbruderrat"''), the leadership committee of the Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German E ...
.[ Beckmann's central involvement in the establishment of the ]Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German E ...
seems to have been triggered on 8 February 1934 when, along with Friedrich Graeber and Heinrich Held
Heinrich Held (6 June 1868 – 4 August 1938) was a German Catholic politician and Minister President of Bavaria. He was forced out of office by the Nazi takeover in Germany in 1933.
Biography
Heinrich Held was born in Erbach in the Taunus, th ...
, he was suspended, from his church duties in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
on account of unspecified "activities against the overnment-backed "German Christians" movement". His suspension was later reversed, however. On 15 May 1935 Beckmann was served with a banning order which forbad him from staying in the Düsseldorf district: this time the ban lasted for only two months, however.
In 1937,[ 1938][ or 1939][ (sources differ) Beckmann was served with a government speaking ban which lasted till ]1945
1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
Januar ...
. This had the effect that he was prohibited from public speaking (except inside the Lutheran church building in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
).[ There was also a special legal action launched against him in connection with ]Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German E ...
exams in which he had participated. The exams in question had been set up as part of a parallel structure intended to create an alternative to a new (government mandated) exam structure involving a "German Christian commission". They had been banned under the terms of a decree issued by Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
on 29 August 1937, which prohibited any theological training by the Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German E ...
.
The end of the war in 1945 also put an end to the twelve Hitler years. Beckmann emerged as a member of the leadership team of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Protestant Church in the Rhineland (german: Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland; EKiR) is a United Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse (Wetzlar). This is actually th ...
, serving as president of the Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
consistory
Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to:
*A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church
*Consistory ...
between 1945 and 1949. In 1947 he was elected deputy president of the National Brothers' Council (''"Reichsbruderrat"'' or "synod") of the Evangelical Church
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
, serving a two-year term till 1949, under the leadership of Heinrich Held
Heinrich Held (6 June 1868 – 4 August 1938) was a German Catholic politician and Minister President of Bavaria. He was forced out of office by the Nazi takeover in Germany in 1933.
Biography
Heinrich Held was born in Erbach in the Taunus, th ...
.[ Sources suggest that behind the scenes Beckmann was a particularly influential, with respect to the church's decisions and pronouncements.][ Following the organisational changes of 1949 Beckmann continued to serve as deputy to ]Praeses
''Praeses'' (Latin ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions.
...
Heinrich Held
Heinrich Held (6 June 1868 – 4 August 1938) was a German Catholic politician and Minister President of Bavaria. He was forced out of office by the Nazi takeover in Germany in 1933.
Biography
Heinrich Held was born in Erbach in the Taunus, th ...
till the latter's sudden death in 1957.
In 1945 or 1948 Beckmann took over responsibility for publishing the Evangelical Church
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
Year Book, for which he continued to serve as editor-compiler till 1975.[ Beckmann had taught at the Church College at ]Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...
-Barmen
Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal.
Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...
since it had re-opened in 1945; and in 1951 he accepted a professorship in Systematic theology
Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topi ...
at the college. To that was added, in 1954, an honorary doctorate from the Theology Faculty at Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
.
On 1 January 1958 Beckmann's election as "Präses" (synod president) of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Protestant Church in the Rhineland (german: Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland; EKiR) is a United Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse (Wetzlar). This is actually th ...
took effect.[ The vacancy had been caused by the death of ]Heinrich Held
Heinrich Held (6 June 1868 – 4 August 1938) was a German Catholic politician and Minister President of Bavaria. He was forced out of office by the Nazi takeover in Germany in 1933.
Biography
Heinrich Held was born in Erbach in the Taunus, th ...
a little more than three months earlier. Beckmann remained in the post till his retirement on 31 July 1971.[ Between 1967 and 1972 he was also engaged in church government at a national level, as a member of the governing synod (''"Rat"'') of the ]Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheranism, Lutheran, Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinism, Calvinist) and united and uniting churches, United ( ...
. By the time he joined the synod, he had already been working directly under its mandate for three years, co-opted in 1964 to deal with the important issues involving Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
s on an on-going basis.[ In 1961 Beckmann was a co-signatory of the "Tübingen Memorandum", an open "manifesto", signed by eight high-profile protestant scholars and scientists, on the subject of ]West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
nuclear re-armament, also calling for recognition by the West German government of the Oder–Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line (german: Oder-Neiße-Grenze, pl, granica na Odrze i Nysie Łużyckiej) is the basis of most of the international border between Germany and Poland from 1990. It runs mainly along the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers an ...
as a permanent border between (East) Germany and Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. The political positions promoted by the memorandum later became mainstream government policy, but in 1961 they were still contentious. The memorandum gained extensive press coverage, backed by the fact that individual copies were sent to leading politicians including Richard von Weizsäcker
Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 15 April 1920 – 31 January 2015) was a German politician ( CDU), who served as President of Germany from 1984 to 1994. Born into the aristocratic Weizsäcker family, who were part of the German nobilit ...
, whose brother
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
was one of the eight signatories. Another of the eight was a member of the widely cherished Bismarck dynasty. Despite his involvement in the "Tübingen Memorandum", Präses Beckmann was generally to be found resisting pressure from younger church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
leaders to involve the church more intensively and more openly in the secular issues of the time, such as the heated passions, especially among politicised students, surrounding Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
and Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.[
Beckmann was also a regular participant in television's regular religious programme, Das Wort zum Sonntag (''loosely, "The Word for Sunday"'').]
After his retirement, a couple of weeks after his seventieth birthday, Beckmann returned to teaching at the Barmen
Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal.
Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...
Church College, where he remained on the payroll between the start of the 1971/72 winter term, on 1 October 1971, and his eightieth birthday, 18 July 1981.[
]
Recognition
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckmann, Joachim
1901 births
1987 deaths
Academic staff of the University of Göttingen
Systematic theologians
20th-century German Lutheran clergy
20th-century German Protestant theologians
Protestants in the German Resistance
German television presenters
Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
People from Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Clergy from Düsseldorf