Evangelical Academy
An Evangelical Academy is an institution of a Protestant regional church or an association associated with it , which offers conferences, meetings, symposiums, consultations, workshops and projects on various social, ecclesiastical, religious or ethical topics in its own conference facility . Despite their ties to their regional church , however, the academies have extensive autonomy. They are financed by church and public funds as well as by participation fees and donations.
The Evangelical Academies did not come into being like normal academies as learned research institutes or scientific training institutes, but followed on from the originally Greek idea of the Academy of Platos and wanted to be places of cultivated conversation:
"To fathom the truth about the nature of things, of people and of God in common conversation"
The Evangelical Academies came into being after the Second World War a . a. as an answer to the destruction of the spirit and the breach of trust of state power during the time of National Socialism . They emerged from a lay movement. The Evangelical Academy Bad Boll was founded as the first Evangelical Academy on September 29, 1945 by Eberhard Müller and Regional Bishop Theophil Wurm .
Within the Federal Republic of Germany , 17 academies are currently (as of August 19, 2013) in the Association of Evangelical Academies in Germany. V. (EAD) , whose office is in Berlin . It is the successor to the working group of Evangelical Academies founded in Echzell in 1947 and has united the Evangelical Academies of all regional churches in East and West Germany since 1991. As part of a worldwide Christian lay movement, the association works closely with other church centers and conference centers in Europe and with the World Council of Churches .
The Evangelical Academies are usually headed by a director. Study leaders are responsible for the content.
The individual academies in Germany:
Evangelical rural youth academy Altenkirchen
The Evangelical Academy Altenkirchen was accepted into the association as the 17th full member on October 28, 2012 by the general assembly of the Evangelical Academies. Anke Kreutz is the director of the academy. The Evangelical Rural Youth Academy is supported by the Association for the Promotion of Evangelical Youth in the Country. V. She works throughout the EKD in the field of youth and social work. Your conference venue is located in the district town of Altenkirchen in Rhineland-Palatinate . The Altenkirchen Academy offers events for multipliers, but also conferences for a general audience.
Evangelical Academy Bad Boll
The Evangelical Academy Bad Boll was founded on September 29, 1945 in the Kurhaus Bad Boll at the invitation of the then Württemberg State Bishop Theophil Wurm as the first church academy in Germany. It still has its conference venue in the Bad Boll district , in the municipality of the same name in the Göppingen district, and is an institution of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg . It is the largest church academy in Europe and is headed by Pastor Jörg Hübner as managing director.
Protestant Academy Baden
The Evangelical Academy Baden was established by a resolution of the Upper Church Council of the United Evangelical Protestant Church in Baden (today Evangelical Church in Baden ) on June 19, 1947 with its seat in Herrenalb. Its conference venue is still in Bad Herrenalb , a small town in the Calw district , where the Baden regional synod also meets regularly . A special feature is that Bad Herrenalb and the surrounding parishes themselves belong to the area of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg. The seat of the academy is in the Evangelical High Church Council in Karlsruhe. The academy has been headed by Pastor Arngard Uta Engelmann as director since 2015.
Evangelical Academy in Berlin
The academy was founded in 1951 as the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy under the direction of Erich Müller-Gangloff and directed until 1970. From 1953 there were offices in both parts of the city, from 1957 Gerhard Bassarak acted as head of studies for the work in East Berlin and Brandenburg. The joint conference center was the one on the Schwanenwerder island named after Adam von Trott until 1961 , later a house on the Kleiner Wannsee . After the division of the city in 1961, the "East Academy" kept the name Evangelical Academy Berlin-Brandenburg, while in the West the Academy continued to work from 1977 as part of the Evangelical Educational Institute under the name Evangelical Academy West Berlin . Günter Brakelmann was the manager until 1972 , then Günter Berndt until 1978, Franz Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord until 1986 and Reinhard von Loewenich until 1988. From 1970 to 1988 Peter Heilmann , who was later exposed as a Stasi agent, was the director of studies; his successor was Hubertus Knabe . In the east, among others, Elisabeth Adler (1967–1987) and Walther Bindemann (1987–1989) headed the academy.
In 1989 the process of reunification of both academies began. A founding board of trustees was formed in 1993 and the process was completed in 1999. Rolf Hanusch (1943–2003) became the founding director . Since then, the academy has operated in the legal form of a non-profit GmbH . In addition to the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia , the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) is now also a partner . The conference center at the Kleiner Wannsee moved back to the Adam-von-Trott-Haus on the Havel island Schwanenwerder. The theologian Rüdiger Sachau has been director of the academy since 2006, succeeding Wolfgang Vögele. The academy's honorary president has been the historian Paul Nolte since 2009, succeeding journalist Robert Leicht .
Evangelical Academy Frankfurt
The Evangelical Academy Frankfurt was originally based in Schmitten - Arnoldshain ( Hochtaunuskreis ) founded in 1946 under the name Evangelical Academy in Hesse and Nassau , but operated under the name Evangelical Academy Arnoldshain . In 2012 it merged with the Evangelical City Academy Römer9 in Frankfurt am Main . The new academy operates as the Evangelical Academy Frankfurt and has been headed by Thorsten Latzel since 2013.
Evangelical Social Academy Friedewald
The academy was founded in 1949 as the Evangelical Social School Friedewald and received its current name in 1951. It works EKD-wide in the field of economy and the world of work and is the only training and further education institution for Protestant social secretaries. Since 2004 the academy has also been the seat of the Social Protestantism Foundation . Your conference venue is at Friedewald Castle (Westerwald) in the Altenkirchen district .
Evangelical Academy Hofgeismar
The Evangelical Academy Hofgeismar was founded in 1947 as an institution of the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck . It invites you to meetings, conferences, seminars, congresses and technical discussions. The academy work deals with the questions of our time, including the topics of society, religion, politics, ecology, education, children's academy, school student academy, psychology or economy. The Ev. Academy is also available for guest conferences. As director it is led by Pastor Karl Waldeck.
Evangelical Academy Braunschweig / Abbot Jerusalem
The Evangelical Academy Braunschweig went on January 1st, 2010 from the merger of the former Evangelical Academy and the Ev. Klosterforums (city academy). It is named after the Braunschweig enlightenment theologian, educational reformer and abbot Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Jerusalem and is headed by Dieter Rammler.
Evangelical Academy Loccum
The Evangelical Academy Loccum was founded after the Second World War in 1946 as an institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Hanover by the then Regional Bishop Hanns Lilje . Your conference venue is located in Loccum (now part of the town of Rehburg-Loccum ) in the Nienburg / Weser district .
Evangelical Academy of Meissen
The Evangelical Academy of Meissen is an institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Saxony . Your conference and meeting place is in the district town of Meißen , north of Dresden . The conference center in the St. Afra monastery courtyard is located in the old town of Meißen in the immediate vicinity of Meißen Cathedral . The Meißen Pastoral College and the Volunteer Academy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony, main area 2 of the North Elbian Church (in future: North Church), are also located in the courtyard .
Evangelical Academy of the Northern Church
The Evangelical Academy of the Northern Church was founded at Pentecost 2012. With the establishment of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany (Northern Church) on May 27, 2012, the Evangelical Academy of the North Elbian Church and the Evangelical Academy of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania joined forces. The Evangelical Academy of the North Church has a joint management and two offices in Hamburg and Rostock. The previous heads of the academies, Jörg Herrmann (Hamburg) and Klaus-Dieter Kaiser (Rostock), are jointly responsible for the program.
Academy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg
The academy, based in Oldenburg (Oldenburg) , has been continuing the work of the Evangelical Academy Oldenburg in Rastede ( Ammerland district ) since September 2000 , which was founded after the Second World War. It currently offers seminars, study days, lectures, cultural events and study trips on the topics of politics and society, women, spirituality, culture / cultural education and church education. In addition, a two-year training course in play and theater education / playing arts is offered. The Academy of Ev. Luth. Church in Oldenburg is led by Pastor Brigitte Gläser and the managing director Uwe Fischer.
Evangelical Academy of the Palatinate
The establishment of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (Protestant Church) has its conference venue in Landau .
Evangelical Academy in the Rhineland
The Evangelical Academy in the Rhineland is an institution of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland . It was founded on December 7, 1952. According to the place where it was founded and where it was first located, it was called the Evangelical Academy Mülheim an der Ruhr until 2004 . Due to a resolution of the regional synod, the academy moved to Bonn-Bad Godesberg on January 1, 2004. The Academy has had its office in Bonn-Beuel since March 2016 and works with a new concept adopted by the State Synod in 2016. The academy no longer has a permanent conference center, but now invites you to events at various locations around the Rhenish Church. At its events, it cooperates with church districts, parishes and other church partners as well as with institutions from science, business, politics and civil society. The range of topics focuses on five areas - science, politics, economics, social cohesion and new media. The various activities of the academy are linked together via the Internet offerings and are supported by independent online offers such as B. the academy talks, added. The academy director has been Frank Vogelsang since 2005.
Evangelical Academy of Saxony-Anhalt V.
The academy was founded in 1948 by the then President of the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony Lothar Kreyssig . She started work in Wittenberg at the beginning of December 1948 . Later she had several conference locations until she returned to Lutherstadt Wittenberg in 1997 . Non-profit organization it is an ecclesial movement, supported by the Evangelical Church in Central Germany and the Evangelical Church of Anhalt
is since 2001 the Protestant Academy Saxony-Anhalt carriers of ConAct , the Coordination Center for German-Israeli Youth Exchange . The church research home has been part of the academy since 2005.
Evangelical Academy of Thuringia
The academy was founded in 1947 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia . It is based in the Zinzendorfhaus, the former sister house of the Moravian Brethren in Neudietendorf, Gotha district.
On the history of the academy
The foundation (1947)
The beginning of the work of the Evangelical Academy Thuringia (EAT) can be traced back to the year 1947. The Thuringian Evangelical Church, like other regional churches, endeavored to set clear signals for a social reorientation under the impression of war and National Socialism. This also meant that the Christian educational world spoke up. The suggestion for a gathering of Christian academics in Thuringia goes back to the Jena philosopher Gottfried Martin. The responsible department head in the church office, Erich Hertzsch, took up Martin's suggestion and organized a conference for August 1947 under the motto Faith and Science . After a successful first meeting, new meetings were planned within the framework of a Thuringian Protestant research academy. Interdisciplinary conference topics included educational science and the gospel , the image of man and the problem of death . However, the concept of a Thuringian evangelical research academy only lasted a few years, as some of the leading people were ousted from their chairs and from the GDR as members of a middle-class educated elite.
Academy in the GDR dictatorship (1953–1961)
After the existence of theological faculties in the GDR was secured, academic ambitions for the academy took a back seat. It was transformed into a modest church conference facility for which a full-time director was employed. In 1953, the academy was integrated into the community service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia.
Press pastor Hans Waldmann took over the management. Waldmann gathered around him a relatively large team of volunteers who organized and held conferences. During the tenure of Hans Waldmann, the EAT rooms in the Wartburgverlag Jena were available for smaller events. The Zinzendorfhaus in Neudietendorf was often used for weekend meetings. Five focal points emerged: supraregional professional conferences, further training for professions related to the church (such as stonemasons or cemetery carers), themed conferences, academy staff conferences and events in parishes. The offers could appeal to a wide audience. In February 1955 a permanent academy advisory board was set up.
After Waldmann left, the historian Waldemar Wucher took over the management of the academy. With usury, the institution made a name for itself in the direction of an open discussion forum. “It is not only important that you learn to understand something, but that you understand each other,” said Wucher. Academy work was now more communication-oriented and community-oriented. In order to counteract a state limitation to the internal church area, Wucher invited West German guests to each conference. In addition to conferences on the problem area of modern society and Christian faith , there were conferences on art and literary issues , youth conferences, retreats and meditation courses. A selection of lectures held at academy conferences was published as a book under the title Open to God and the World . Wucher's extensive all-German contacts, for example with the leadership group of Evangelical Academies in Germany , ultimately became his undoing. In October 1961 he was imprisoned for several years. The heyday of the Evangelical Academy of Thuringia ended in the year the Wall was built.
Academy in a democratic society (1989/90)
After the collapse of the GDR, the EAT offered a place for social and personal reorientation. In 1991, the EAT was revived as an institution under its new head, the theologian Götz Planer-Friedrich. Under the now all-German, democratic conditions, it benefited from public recognition as a free educational institution. Study leaders and employees as well as their own house on the grounds of the Zinzendorfhaus in Neudietendorf were added.
The EAT's profile is determined by its director of studies in theology / history / politics, socio-political youth education and media and public relations work. It links evangelical education and preaching with current social debates and decision-making processes, but also offers space for contemplation and reflection.
Academy in the niche (1961–1989)
In order to avoid conflicts with government agencies, the activities of the EAT were not further developed by the church leadership. In the following years, the number of academy events fell significantly. Under the new head and later ecumenical professor at the Theology Section in Jena, Walter Saft, the advisory board and staff were gradually abolished. The Evangelical Academy disappeared from the public eye and continued to lead a shadowy existence. Nevertheless, various conferences were offered that dealt with scientific ethics, medical ethics or literary topics.
From 1985 there was a regular annual program under the direction of Kerstin Zitzmann (married Voigt), Scientific Secretary at the Theological Faculty. The visitors valued the academy as a protected space for the free exchange of opinions and Christian values. Christian art and spirituality played a bigger role than church political issues of the time, such as the ordination of women or the racism program of the World Council of Churches, which were dealt with in the East German sister academies.
Evangelical Academy Tutzing
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The Evangelical Academy Tutzing was founded on June 15, 1947 by the then regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Hans Meiser . Your conference venue is in Tutzing Castle , on Lake Starnberg , in Upper Bavaria . The academy became known throughout Germany in 1961 when it announced a competition for new religious songs. First prize went to the song Thank you for this good morning by Martin Gotthard Schneider , interpreted by the Botho Lucas Choir .
Evangelical Academy Villigst
The Evangelical Academy Villigst, formerly the Evangelical Academy Iserlohn, is an institution of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia and has its conference location in Haus Villigst in Schwerte . Until the end of 2007 it was based in Haus Ortlohn in Iserlohn .
Evangelical Academy Görlitz
The academy had its conference center in Markersdorf , Jauernick district in the Görlitz district .
Until 2003 there was also the Evangelical Academy in Northern Elbe with conference facilities in the district town of Bad Segeberg in Schleswig-Holstein and in Hamburg . At the end of 2003 it ceased operations. In 2007 the Evangelical Academy of the North Elbian Church was founded. This merged - as part of the founding of the North Church - with the Evangelical Academy Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Whitsun 2012 to form the Academy of the North Church based in Hamburg and Rostock.
The Evangelical Academy Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was an institution sponsored by the two Protestant regional churches in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Mecklenburg and the Pomeranian Evangelical Church . Predecessor institutions were the Evangelical Academy Greifswald and the Mecklenburg Evangelical Academy in Rostock . As part of the founding of the North Church, the Evangelical Academy of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania merged with the Evangelical Academy of the North Elbian Church to form the Evangelical Academy of the North Church with offices in Rostock and Hamburg.
Evangelical Academies - non-members of the umbrella organization Evangelical Academies in Germany
All of the major Protestant academies supported by the regional churches are united in the umbrella organization of Evangelical Academies in Germany . In addition, there are numerous other Protestant educational institutions that have similar names, as well as the so-called Protestant city academies.
Evangelical Academy in Saarland
The academy is maintained by an association of the same name based in Völklingen ( Saarbrücken regional association ). The academy worked as a so-called area academy, i.e. H. their study leaders are out and about in the parishes and church districts in Saarland. The academy is not a member of the Evangelical Academies in Germany e. V. (EAD).
Evangelical academies outside Germany
Switzerland
- Evangelical Academy Boldern in Männedorf , Canton Zurich , founded in 1947
- Leuenberg conference center in Hölstein , Canton of Basel-Landschaft
Austria
Romania
- Evangelical Academy of Transylvania in Sibiu , founded in 1991
There are also other Evangelical Academies outside of Germany, but not all of them are listed here.
Web links
- Page no longer available , search in web archives: addresses and web links of the individual academies
- Official website of the Evangelical Academies in Germany
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eberhard Müller: Evangelical Academies. In: Friedrich Karrenberg (Hrsg.): Evangelisches Soziallexikon / On behalf of the German Evangelical Church Congress. Stuttgart: Kreuz-Verlag 1954, p. 14.
- ↑ For the history cf. Anke Silomon : At the seam. Evangelical Academy in Berlin and Brandenburg since 1945. Wichern-Verlag, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-88981-452-4 .
- ↑ Operativ valuable , spiegel.de of March 29, 1999, accessed on March 6, 2019
- ^ Website of the Evangelical Academy in Berlin, accessed on January 2, 2020 .
- ↑ ekkw.de ( Memento from May 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ akademie-hofgeismar.de
- ↑ website .
- ↑ Academy website: http://www.akademie-oldenburg.de/index.php?menuid=8
- ↑ Homepage. Evangelical Academy in the Rhineland, accessed on November 29, 2017 .
- ↑ Homepage. Frank Vogelsang, accessed November 29, 2017 (blog).
- ^ Homepage of the Evangelical Academy of Thuringia
- ^ Homepage of the Evangelical Center Zinzendorfhaus Neudietendorf
- ↑ After: Susanne Böhm: The Evangelical Academy Thuringia ; in: Martha Friedenthal-Haase (Ed.): Evangelical Academies in the GDR ; Leipzig 2007; Pp. 209-252.