Adolf Brockhoff

Adolf Brockhoff (born November 29, 1919 in Geseke ; † October 7, 1997 in Hünstetten ) was a Catholic priest and a representative of the church opposition in the GDR .

Life

Brockhoff attended high school in Neuss . He was drafted into the Reich Labor Service in 1938 and the Wehrmacht in 1939 and was taken prisoner of war by the Soviets .

He studied theology in Münster , Paderborn and Munich from 1946 to 1950 and was ordained a priest in 1950. Until 1953 he was vicar in Merseburg and until 1966 student pastor and leader of the language seminar in Halle (Saale) . In 1966 he was deposed and was given study leave, after which he was pastor in Merseburg until 1971.

Since 1957 Brockhoff was under observation by the Ministry for State Security . He was a popular and charismatic inner-church critic and opponent of Cardinal Alfred Bengsch . From 1969 to 1975 he was active in the “Halle Action Group”, which he co-founded and which is critical of the church and society.

In 1971 he was suspended as a priest for violating celibacy and moved to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1975. Until his retirement in 1985 he worked as a grammar school teacher for religion in Wiesbaden . He was the father of three children.

Fonts

• ... and yet summer is near ... , Idstein 1989, ISBN 3-92808-203-5
• Rosa , Idstein 1995, ISBN 3-929522-20-9

literature

• Short biography for:  Brockhoff, Adolf . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .