Esther von Kirchbach

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Esther Dorothea von Kirchbach , née von Carlowitz , (born May 26, 1894 in Berlin ; † February 19, 1946 in Freiberg ) was a German publicist , poet , pastor , marriage counselor, art patron and pastor of the Confessing Church .

Live and act

Esther von Kirchbach was the oldest of four children of the Saxon officer and later Minister of War Adolph von Carlowitz . Shortly before graduating from high school , she married Count Georg zu Münster-Langelage Freiherr von Oer in Hosterwitz on May 8, 1909 , who died on April 2, 1916, two years after the start of the war, from a war wound already suffered in France on March 31, 1915 . As a young widow with one child, Esther von Oer graduated from school and studied mathematics , German , philosophy and history as a single parent in Marburg and Leipzig .

In 1921 she married the widowed Major a. D. Arndt von Kirchbach with two children (including the future pastor Reinhard von Kirchbach ), who studied Protestant theology after the death of his first wife . Esther von Kirchbach gave birth to six more children in this marriage. From 1924 Arndt von Kirchbach worked as a clergyman for the Inner Mission in Dresden, as cathedral preacher of the Sophienkirche and finally from 1936 as superintendent in Freiberg .

In 1921, Esther von Kirchbach joined the unfolding Una Sancta , a forerunner of today's ecumenical movement , and belonged to the circle that had formed around the Eckart magazine . Her articles appeared in Christian publications such as Youth Path , Work and Celebration , Zeitwende and Die Furche . She answered letters to the editor and conducted book reviews. In her essays and lectures she discussed religious questions and addressed the position of women in various areas of life. There was also the first publication of the magazine Werden in 1927 , in which Esther von Kirchbach contributed actively. She developed an extensive literary activity, the subjects of which dealt primarily with the position of women in marriage, family and work and their compatibility. Around 1927 she set up marriage counseling at the Evangelical Art Service in Dresden and helped shape Protestant female youth work in Berlin .

In 1930 she headed the Bundestag women's group for a lively Volkskirche in Dresden. From 1933 she fought against the National Socialist policy of harmonization of the churches and again took over the care of the evangelical pastors of the Confessing Church in Dresden. After Adolf Hitler came to power , her husband also became one of the leading representatives of the Confessing Church in the fight against National Socialist efforts to bring the Evangelical Church in Saxony into line. Esther von Kirchbach supported him in this. While he was at the front as a Wehrmacht priest from 1939 until the end of the war, she kept the parish work in Freiberg upright.

Her grave in Freiberg

Esther von Kirchbach was sent as a German delegate to the international women's congress in Budapest in 1934 . In the years 1935 to 1939 she devoted herself more to her journalistic side. This is how books, essays and smaller writings were created. In the last year of the Second World War , 1945, she was appointed as the only woman on the advisory board of the regional church office . She was very active in helping refugees and war victims and, among other things, took refugees into her rectory in Freiberg. In February 1946, Esther von Kirchbach died at the age of 51 after an operation of an embolism . She was buried in the Donatsfriedhof in Freiberg.

Appreciation

In Freiberg, Saxony, her last place of work, a women's refuge and an association founded in 1991 to promote women's work bear her name. He continues the work in the spirit of Esther von Kirchbach and is non-profit making.

A postage stamp was issued to honor Esther von Kirchbach as one of the leading representatives of the German women's movement before the Second World War. This takes their diverse commitment and deep Christian faith into account. She also made a name for herself as the mother of eight children, especially since her work was primarily aimed at improving the position of women in society and in the family. Within the Evangelical Church in Saxony, she was at the forefront of youth and women's work. The 1.44 euro special postage that was issued therefore also appeared in the definitive series Women in German History in December 2002.

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personal data
SURNAME Kirchbach, Esther von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Carlowitz, Esther von (maiden name); Countess of Münster-Langelage, Esther (married name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publicist and pastor's wife
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH February 19, 1946
Place of death Freiberg