Ernst Petzold (27 March 1930 – 21 January 2017) was a German

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

theologian and pastor. He was the father of Martin Petzold, a tenor.

Career

Born in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, Petzold attended the Thomasschule from 1940 to 1948 and was a member of the Thomanerchor under Günther Ramin. Until the spring of 1951, he sang as a guest with the boys' choir. After Gymnasium, he studied Protestant theology at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. He served as pastor in

Mutzschen Mutzschen () is a former town in the Leipzig district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 13 km east of Grimma, and 21 km northwest of Döbeln. With effect from 1 January 2012, it has been incorporated into the town of ...

-Ragewitz from 1955 to 1959, then at the church St. Afra in

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

. From 1965 he was director of the State Office for Church Home Mission and representative of the Agency of the Lutheran Church of Saxony. In 1976 he took the position of Director of Social Service Agency of the Protestant churches in the GDR. In 1981 he completed his dissertation "Eschatologie als Impuls und als Korrektiv für den Dienst der rettenden Liebe, dargestellt an der Theologie Johann Hinrich Wicherns" eschatology as impulse and as a corrective for the service of the saving love, shown in the theology of Johann Hinrich Wichern. From 1990 to 1995 he was vice-president of the charitable organisation Diakonisches Werk of the Protestant Church in Berlin. From 1988 to 1992 he was president of the "Internationaler Verbandes für Innere Mission und Diakonie" (International Association for Inner Mission and Charity), called from 1989 "Europäischer Verband für Diakonie" (European Association for Charity). Petzold was instrumental to help the church's charity organisation even in the difficult times in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. He was especially active in the help to handicapped people. After the unification of Germany, he worked towards a unification of the organisations in East and West.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petzold, Ernst 1930 births 2017 deaths 20th-century German Protestant theologians Clergy from Leipzig Leaders of Christian parachurch organizations 20th-century German Lutheran clergy German male non-fiction writers 21st-century German Lutheran clergy 20th-century Lutheran theologians