Edo Osterloh

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Edo Osterloh (1963)

Edo Osterloh (born April 2, 1909 in Rotenhahn near Varel ( Oldenburg ), † February 25, 1964 in Kiel ) was a Protestant theologian and politician.

Life

Before entering post-war politics

The son of a farmer attended secondary school after elementary school against his father's will , where he obtained his school-leaving certificate in 1928. He then studied theology and philosophy at the Bethel Church University and the universities in Marburg, Göttingen and Zurich. The financial means were provided by a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation . During the semester break, he worked as a student trainee at IG Farben in Leverkusen .

In Göttingen he joined the "Studentenkampfbund German Christians " and became its university group leader. Under his aegis, the book The Gospel in the Third Reich appeared , in which the community and race are glorified. On May 10, 1933, he organized a Nazi book burning in front of the Albanikirche in Göttingen . In the same year, however, he again distanced himself from this attitude and described his commitment as an “error” and “illusion”, from which he “was freed by the factual experience and my Luther studies”.

After completing his studies, he worked for a short time as an assistant in Bethel and as an assistant preacher in Rüstringen .

Osterloh subsequently joined the Confessing Church and, on their behalf, took on a lectureship at the Church University of Berlin-Zehlendorf in 1935 . Here he taught the subjects of the Old Testament , Hebrew and philosophy in the Lutheran branch as a repetitionist , despite difficult political circumstances and teaching prohibitions. He was also a member of the illegal examination commission and in 1937 took over the office of student pastor of the Confessing Church .

In 1940 Osterloh was called up for military service. During his five years in the military, he worked as an artillery officer in the front line and at a military school. Later he was part of the general staff of Army Group Center as a so-called specialist officer . In May 1945 he was taken prisoner by the Soviets . He managed to escape in August 1945. After his return, Osterloh took over a pastorate in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg , for which he had already applied during the war years. Together with Hermann Ehlers , as a full-time legal member, he was elected in October 1945 as a part-time clerical member, from 1947 as a full-time member, in the upper church council of this regional church. In 1949 he accepted a position as senior church councilor of the regional church office of the Evangelical Lutheran regional church in Hanover . In this function he mainly devoted himself to school and education issues.

After entering politics

Osterloh then joined the CDU , where he advocated a liberal family and education policy. In 1953 he was appointed Ministerialrat in the Federal Ministry of the Interior and entrusted with the management of Section 2 (School and Education Matters). In January 1954 he became a ministerial director. On January 18, 1956, Osterloh became Minister of Culture of Schleswig-Holstein (see Hassel I cabinet ). In the state elections in 1958 and 1962 , he was elected to the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament for the constituency of Steinburg-Süderdithmarschen .

He was also a member of various boards of trustees and foundation boards. In political work, he was committed to an elementary school and vocational school reform. His goal was to improve the educational level of education, especially among rural and socially disadvantaged youth. In numerous publications, Osterloh addressed issues of education policy. He drafted the “principles of school and cultural policy”, examined the development of the primary school system in Germany and discussed the relationship between “work, leisure and family”.

In the CDU's political circles, Osterloh was considered an expert. He repeatedly criticized Konrad Adenauer's authoritarian style of government . His office as minister of education was repeatedly marked by serious conflicts. The focus was on the role of Kiel university professors in the Third Reich. Osterloh was of the opinion that "no [NS] criminal should not be allowed to go unpunished", but he considered "the subsequent capture and judgment of individual scapegoats" and the "late sacrifice of individuals" to be problematic. In particular, he worked to ensure that the Hauptsturmführer of the SS Hans Joachim Beyer in Flensburg prospective teachers taught and when he was not keeping in 1961 for his involvement in the Holocaust in this role more, was on leave on full pay.

Osterloh dealt with the question of guilt and responsibility in view of the National Socialist reign of terror. Probably the distressed situation in which Osterloh got as a mediator aiming for a settlement and understanding in the context of such conflicts was the trigger for his suicide on February 25, 1964. He was recovered dead from the Kiel Fjord.

Osterloh left behind his second wife Gertrud geb. Wilmanns , with whom he had been married since 1943, and eight children, including his daughter Lerke, born in 1944 . Two of the children came from the first marriage (1935) with Anneliese geb. Hübner († 1941). Ulrike Meinhof was his niece and godchild .

Awards

  • 1943: Iron Cross 2nd class
  • A student residence at Kiel University bears his name.

literature

Web links

Commons : Edo Osterloh  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Zocher: Edo Osterloh - from theologian to the Christian politician . S. 28 f .
  2. ↑ Hartwig Hohn leg: denominations from the publisher V R. In: Ossietzky No. 16/2010, p. 587 ( online )
  3. ^ Peter Zocher: Edo Osterloh . S. 33 f .
  4. ↑ quoted from: Shadows by the Sea . In: Der Spiegel . No. 10 , 1964, pp. 21-22 ( online ).
  5. ↑ Grew up in Kiel in the 60s and 70s . 1st edition Wartberg-Verl, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8313-2001-1 , p. 15 ( dnb.de [accessed April 12, 2020]).
  6. ↑ Shadows by the sea . In: Der Spiegel . No. 10 , 1964, pp. 21-22 ( online ).
  7. ^ Brigitte Kaff:  Osterloh, Edo. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 618 f. ( Digitized version ).
  8. ↑ Peter Zocher: Edo Osterloh - From theologians to Christian politicians. A case study on the relationship between theology and politics in the 20th century. (AKiZ B 48), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, p. 99
  9. ↑ www.studentenwerk.sh , accessed on February 1, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Osterloh, Edo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian and politician (CDU), MdL
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Rotenhahn near Varel ( Oldenburg )
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1964
Place of death Kiel