Friedrich Karrenberg

Friedrich Karrenberg (born April 16, 1904 in Velbert ; † November 28, 1966 in Berlin ) was a German Protestant Reformed social ethicist , university professor and member of the leadership of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland .

Life

Karrenberg came from an entrepreneurial family . His father Hugo was the owner of a shape turning shop and riveting factory in Velbert. He became involved in the youth movement at an early stage, in particular arousing interest in socio-ethical issues. After training in the factory of his father, he studied 1925-1931 Sociology at the University of Frankfurt / Main , where he was the doctor of political science doctorate . He then returned to Velbert and managed his father's business until his death.

His academic career began relatively late. He became known for the publication of the " Evangelical Social Lexicon ", for which the theological faculty of Bonn University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1955 . In 1961 he was offered an honorary professorship , which included a teaching position for social ethics at Cologne University . With numerous publications and in exchange with other social scientists during his time, he developed a publicly recognized competence in this field. He was able to check the interaction of social problems and religious-ethical questions on the basis of his own work as the head of the company in his own experience.

Karrenberg was also active in the church. He became a member of the state synod and the leadership of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland. Since 1946 he was the chairman of the social ethics committee of his church. So on October 23, 1946, after intensive discussions, he spoke about the Church's service to the people . With the section “The guardianship of the church” he made it clear that not only “helping love” should be asked for people in need, but also a “guardianship” in view of “the distress and confusion of the whole of popular life”. From 1950 to 1961 he was chairman of the society and economy working group of the German Evangelical Church Congress (DEK). In addition, he was chairman of the Chamber for Social Order of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and first director of the Social Science Institute of the EKD, founded in 1966 .

Karrenberg also stood out in the field of journalism. In 1949 he became a member of the first group of editors of the " Voice of the Congregation ", a bi-monthly magazine of the Brother Council of the Confessing Church (BK). In addition, he was co-editor of the journal for Protestant ethics .

Honors

• In Velbert there is the Friedrich-Karrenberg-Haus (administrative office of the Protestant parishes and the Niederberg parish) and a Friedrich-Karrenberg-Platz.
• On November 17, 2004, Bishop Wolfgang Huber gave a lecture in the Düsseldorf regional church office on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Friedrich Karrenberg and the 50th anniversary of the first edition of the Evangelical Social Lexicon.

Publications

• Christianity, capitalism and socialism. Presentation and criticism of the social doctrine of Protestantism and Catholicism in Germany since the middle of the 19th century . Berlin: Junker & Dünnhaupt 1932 (dissertation).
• Shape and Critique of the West, Contributions to Christian Social Ethics Today . Stuttgart: Kreuz-Verlag 1959
• (together with Joachim Beckmann ): Responsibility for people: Contributions to the social problems of the present . Stuttgart: Kreuz Verlag 1957.
• (together with Wolfgang Schweitzer ): Areas of tension in Protestant social teaching: tasks and questions relating to the service of the church in today's society . Hamburg: Furche-Verlag 1960.
• (together with Klaus von Bismarck ): Continents are growing together. Social effects of industrialization in Europe, Asia and Africa . Stuttgart: Kreuz-Verlag 1961
• Temptation and responsibility in business . Wuppertal: Jugenddienst-Verlag 1967
• (together with Wilfried Gottschalch and Franz Josef Stegmann ): History of social ideas in Germany . Edited by Helga Grebing . Munich: Olzog 1969

As editor

Evangelical Social Lexicon , 1954 ff.

literature

• Joachim Beckmann and Gerhard Weisser , (eds. :) Christian community and social change. Professor D. Dr. Friedrich Karrenberg on the completion of the 60th year of life , Stuttgart 1964
• Jörg Hübner : Not just the market and competition. Friedrich Karrenberg's contribution to economic ethics in shaping the social market economy , Bochum 1993
• Jörg Hübner: Shape and Criticism of the West. Rhenish industrial and social work after 1945 under the direction of the Protestant entrepreneur Friedrich Karrenberg . In: Monthly Issues for Evangelical Church History of the Rhineland 47/48 (1998/1999), pp. 361–371
• Jörg Huebner: Friedrich Karrenberg . In: Evangelisches Soziallexikon . Edited by Martin Honecker , Horst Dahlhaus, Jörg Hübner, Traugott Jähnichen and Heidrun Tempel , 8th edition, Stuttgart 2001, Sp. 1910–1912
• Jörg Hübner: Perspectives for a Responsible Society - On the life's work of Friedrich Karrenberg (1904 to 1966) . In: Günter Brakelmann u. a. (Ed.): Protestants in public responsibility - Biographical sketches from the early days of the Federal Republic . Waltrop 2005, pp. 119-148

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.ekd.de/gesellschaft/041117_huber_karrenberg.html Retrieved March 10, 2012

Web links

• List of estates (with short biography) Retrieved March 10, 2012 (PDF file; 28 kB)