Christof Ziemer

Christof Ziemer (born August 28, 1941 in Gollnow , Pomerania ) is a German Lutheran theologian and a leading figure in the peace movement in the GDR .

Live and act

Christof Ziemer was born as the son of pastor Gotthold Ziemer and his wife Hanna Weber. After fleeing from Pomerania he grew up in Angermünde and spent his youth in Greifswald , where he graduated from high school in 1960. From 1960 to 1965 Ziemer studied theology at the Universities of Halle and Berlin , then was Konviktsinspektor at the ecclesiastical language convict in Halle and vicar in the Friedens-Kirchgemeinde in Leipzig . In 1967 he took over a parish priesthood at the St. Marien Church in Pirna and in 1972 became a study inspector at the seminary in Lückendorf ( Zittau Mountains ), where he also took over the parish priesthood. In 1974 Ziemer moved to East Berlin and became head of the theological studies department at the Federation of Evangelical Churches in the GDR . From 1980 to 1992, Dresden became a crucial place of activity for him: As pastor at the Kreuzkirche and superintendent of the church district of Dresden-Mitte, Ziemer participated in the peace movement and experienced the political change here. In 1988 and 1989 he was chairman of the Presidium of the Ecumenical Assembly for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation in the GDR . He also acted as an advisor to the “ Group of 20 ” in Dresden.

In 1992 he became director of the Evangelical Academy in Meißen . In the same year he went to Osijek in Croatia as a development worker (glazier and lecturer for German) . After his return to Germany (Leipzig, Berlin) in 1994 he prepared an expert opinion for the Enquete Commission to come to terms with the history of the GDR and worked as an assistant in a Berlin school shop. From 1994 to 1996 he lectured on professional ethics at the Brandenburg State Police School, and in 1996 he was involved in refugee work in the Southeast Europe Association in Berlin by setting up a secondary school education for Bosnian war refugees, most recently as director of the school. From 1997 to 2002 he was active in the "ABRAHAM" association for interreligious peace work in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina and at the same time freelance worker for the ecumenical service in the conciliar process. The accompaniment of interreligious work as well as the pastoral care of Protestant Germans in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the content of a fee contract that the Evangelical Church in Germany awarded Christof Ziemer. In 2003 Ziemer returned to Germany. Here he took over a parish office in Riesa in the Saxon regional church .

Christof Ziemer was first married to Maria Fleischhack, is second married to Ljubinka Petrovic and has three children.

Honors

• Honorary theological doctorate from the University of Bern (1991)
• Saxon Constitutional Medal (1998)
• Honorary Citizen of the City of Dresden (2003)

Publications

Numerous articles and individual essays on the charismatic movement, the conciliar process for justice, peace and the integrity of creation as well as the political upheaval in the GDR.

literature

• Gerhard Besier, Stephan Wolf (ed.): Pastors, Christians and Catholics. The Ministry for State Security of the former GDR and the churches. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1992² - ISBN 3-7887-1416-6 .
• Thomas Rudolph , Oliver Kloss , Rainer Müller , Christoph Wonneberger (eds.): Way in the uprising. Chronicle of opposition and resistance in the GDR from August 1987 to December 1989. Vol. 1, Leipzig, Araki, 2014, ISBN 978-3-941848-17-7 , ( preface as reading sample), pp. 68 and 275.
• Ehrhart Neubert:  Ziemer, Christof . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Christof Ziemer in the Saxon Bibliography