Edgar Hark

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Edgar Hark (born October 8, 1908 in Jurjew, today Tartu , † October 23, 1986 in Tallinn ) was an Estonian Evangelical Lutheran clergyman and archbishop .

Live and act

After elementary school, Hark attended the Hugo-Treffner-Gymnasium in Tartu , where he passed the school leaving examination. He then studied Protestant theology , was accepted into the Vicariate of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church and ordained pastor in March 1936 .

In 1978, Hark was called to succeed Alfred Tooming as Archbishop of his church, which he held until his death. Like his predecessor, Edgar Hark had fought in the ranks of the Red Army against the Wehrmacht and thereby gained confidence among the Soviet authorities. In the course of his later life, in which Estonia was occupied by the USSR , Hark took a loyal attitude to the Soviet state.

In obvious contrast to the assessments customary in the West, there is his own assessment of his government's religious policy. A newspaper of the GDR block party CDU , the Thüringer Tageblatt , quoted him:

“The Constitution of the USSR created the real possibility of putting the democratic demands for freedom of conscience into practice: the right of every citizen to profess any religion or not. All citizens enjoy the same rights regardless of their religious affiliation. "

- Thüringer Tageblatt No. 54 of March 5, 198l

In 1981 the church was allowed to build a new house of prayer on the same spot where a previous building had stood. It was inaugurated by Archbishop Hark on December 18, 1983. That was one of his last official acts.

Hark had already participated as pastor in the work of the Christian Peace Conference (CFK). At the IV All-Christian Peace Assembly in October 1971 in Prague he was elected to the committee to continue the work. Also at the V. and VI. In 1978 and 1985 he took part in the general assembly.

Works

  • The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church today. Perioodika Tallinn, 1982.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hugo-Treffner-Gymnasium ( Memento from April 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ http://www.postimees.ee/?id=37917
  3. ↑ http://www.manfred-gebhard.de/CV144.HTM
  4. ↑ http://heninen.net/luter/petroskoi_e.htm
personal data
SURNAME Hark, Edgar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian Evangelical Lutheran clergyman; Archbishop of the EELK (1978–1986)
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Jurjew , Livonia Governorate , Russian Empire (today: Tartu , Estonia )
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 1986
Place of death Tallinn , Estonian SSR , Soviet Union