Franz Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord

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Franz Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord or Franz von Hammerstein (born June 6, 1921 in Kassel ; † August 15, 2011 in Berlin ) was a German Protestant theologian and co-founder of the Action atonement .

Life

origin

Franz von Hammerstein came from the marriage of Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord and Maria Freiin von Lüttwitz. He was the second youngest of seven children, including Kunrat and Ludwig .

His father, Chief of Army Command, Colonel General Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord, was the only leading officer to resign in protest against Hitler in 1934.

Youth and Studies

Franz von Hammerstein was not drafted into the Wehrmacht after completing his Abitur in 1940 at the Arndt-Gymnasium Dahlem in Berlin because he was considered unfit for the front because of a blindness in one eye. He completed an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk and worked at Krupp-Druckermüller .

His mother, a Catholic, sent her son Franz, who was baptized Catholic, for confirmation class with Pastor Martin Niemöller , a well-known opponent of National Socialism. He was able to confirm him on July 6, 1937, three weeks before his arrest. Franz von Hammerstein was associated with Niemöller all his life. Inspired by his family and his environment, he opposed National Socialism. His brothers Kunrat and Ludwig were involved in planning and carrying out the Hitler attack of July 20, 1944 . As a member of a resistance family, he was arrested by the Gestapo in August 1944 . As a so-called clan prisoner , he was first imprisoned in the Moabit Gestapo prison and then in several concentration camps ( Buchenwald , Regensburg , where he met Dietrich Bonhoeffer , and Dachau ). He was finally freed by American soldiers on the forced march into the Alps.

After the end of the war he studied Protestant theology from 1946 to 1950 at the Bethel University of Applied Sciences , at the University of Göttingen and at the Theological Seminary Chicago as well as at Howard University in Washington, DC , which also awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1967.

Professional career

Together with his wife Verena, Franz von Hammerstein worked in New Jersey and Illinois as "fraternal workers" (missionaries) and exchange pastor in the service of the Presbyterian Church. In 1957 he was at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster with a thesis on Martin Buber to Dr. theol. PhD.

From 1957 to 1965, together with Harald Poelchau, he led the Evangelical Industrial Youth Berlin, d. H. the pastoral and social work for young industrial workers. In 1958, together with Lothar Kreyssig, he founded Aktion Sühnezeichen as an all-German organization; from 1968 to 1975 Franz von Hammerstein was its general secretary in West Germany. Using the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace emerged among others, the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé , the reconciliation center in Coventry and the synagogue in Villeurbanne .

From 1976 to 1978 he was a consultant for Jewish-Christian dialogue at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. From 1978 to 1986 he was director of the Evangelical Academy in Berlin.

Engagement in initiatives of remembrance and reconciliation

In 1972 Franz von Hammerstein became a member of the International of War Resisters (IDK). He was committed to the Martin-Niemöller-Haus Peace Center in Berlin-Dahlem and the German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin's Stauffenbergstrasse. He later worked on the board of trustees of Aktion Sühnezeichen, as chairman of the West-East Encounters Foundation and on the working committee of the “ Topography of Terror ” foundation . He represented the organization in various countries, especially in Eastern Europe. In Russia he supported the “ Memorial ” initiative (victims of German occupation and Stalinism). He was also lifelong involved in the Jewish-Christian dialogue, for which he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.

Franz von Hammerstein was a founding member of the Kreisau Initiative and a member of the Honorary Council of the Kreisau Foundation .

family

Franz von Hammerstein married the Swiss theologian Verena (Vreni) von Hammerstein-Rordorf, born in 1952. Rordorf. The children Adrian , Stephan and Kaspar emerged from the marriage.

Awards

Fonts (selection)

  • The messiah problem with Martin Buber (= Studia Delitzschiana, vol. 1). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1958 (= Diss. Univ. Münster 1957).
  • Responsible Church in America. Observations and experiences of an exchange pastor from 1954–1957 . Lettner-Verlag, Berlin 1957 (together with Verena von Hammerstein).
  • Lively church - but how? Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart 1962.

literature

  • Action Reconciliation / Peace Services eV, Peace Center Martin-Niemöller-Haus eV: Franz von Hammerstein - Resistance and Reconciliation. A life between two stools. Festschrift for the 85th birthday . Action Reconciliation / Peace Services, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89246-048-0 .
  • Donata Valentien, Christoph Valentien:  Rossow, Walter. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , p. 97 f. ( Digitized version ). (Mention in the genealogical information)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Gregor Eisenhauer: Obituary Franz von Hammerstein , Der Tagesspiegel , October 20, 2011.
  2. ↑ Uli Sonn: Obituary for Franz von Hammerstein. In: Friedenszentrum Martin Niemöller Haus eV, INFO, June 2011 - September 2011 .
  3. ↑ Andreas Nachama: The bridge builder. On the death of Franz von Hammerstein , Jüdische Allgemeine, August 22, 2011
  4. ↑ a b characters. Announcements from Action Reconciliation / Peace Services , vol. 14 (1986), p. 74.
  5. ^ Franz von Hammerstein (1921-2011) , Kreisau-Initiative, accessed on January 23, 2014.
  6. ^ Institute for Contemporary History Munich-Berlin, archive, holdings Kunrat von Hammerstein-Equord, call number ED 902, volumes 25 and 26 Archived copy ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Hammerstein-Equord, Franz Freiherr von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hammerstein, Franz von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH kassel
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 2011
Place of death Berlin