Hans-Otto Wölber

Hans-Otto Wölber (at the table, 2nd from right)

Grave slab in the Ohlsdorf cemetery

Hans-Otto Wölber (born December 22, 1913 in Hamburg ; † August 10, 1989 in Hamburg) was a Protestant theologian and regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Hamburg state or bishop of the Hamburg district of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church .

Career

Hans-Otto Wölber was born as the son of a marine engineer and grew up in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. In 1933 he graduated from high school in Uhlenhorst and studied theology in Bethel , Erlangen and Berlin until 1938 . In 1940 he received his doctorate in Lic. Theol. in Hamburg.

From 1940 to 1945 he was drafted into the army and was briefly taken prisoner in Italy. During these war years he was ordained pastor in the main church St. Jacobi in Hamburg in 1942 .

From 1945 to 1956 he worked as a youth pastor of the Hamburg regional church and in 1956 was appointed chief pastor to St. Nikolai in the Hanseatic city. In this office he was entrusted with the relocation of the main church from the desolate Hamburg city center to Harvestehude and the development of the local community. In 1959, he was serving as the senior senior pastor of the Senior and representatives of the country bishop.

In 1964 he was elected to this office himself, initially as regional bishop for the Hamburg regional church, then from 1977 as bishop for the Hamburg district of the newly formed North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Wölber held this office until his retirement in 1983.

Other offices and activities

• 1954 00000: Commissioner of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany (VELKD) for youth issues
• 1955–1963: honorary lecturer for "Protestant Youth Studies" at the theological faculty of the University of Hamburg
• 1965 00000: Honorary doctorate in theology from the University of Erlangen
• 1967–1970: Member of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)
• 1969–1975: Senior Bishop of the VELKD

family

In 1941 he married Elselotte Hark, with whom he had three children.

Selected works

• as editor: The education of the sexes (= study sheets for Protestant youth leadership. H. 10, ZDB -ID 847182-4 ). Rauhen Haus agency, Hamburg 1954.
• Religion without decision. Volkskirche using the example of the young generation. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1959.
• The conscience of the church. Outline of a theology of concern for man. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1963 (2nd edition, ibid. 1965).
• 100 years of separation of state and church in Hamburg. 1870-1970. Christians, Hamburg 1970.
• Piety today. Rauhen Haus agency, Hamburg 1971.
• Christian things at this time. Life from existential knowledge (= Gütersloher Taschenbücher Siebenstern 1283). Gütersloher Verlagshaus Mohn, Gütersloh 1984, ISBN 3-579-01283-5 .
• St. Nikolai. Waymarks of Hamburg. Christians, Hamburg 1989, ISBN 3-7672-1076-2 .

literature

• Rainer Hering:  Wölber, Hans-Otto Emil. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 13, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-072-7 , Sp. 1464-1487.

Web links

• Literature by and about Hans-Otto Wölber in the catalog of the German National Library

predecessor	Office	successor
Paul Schütz	Senior pastor to St. Nikolai in Hamburg 1956–1983	Peter Krusche
Karl Witte	Regional Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Hamburg State 1964–1977	-
-	Bishop of the Hamburg district of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church 1977–1983	Peter Krusche