Heinz F. Dressel

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Pastor Heinz Dressel (2007)

Heinz F. Dressel ( Heinz Friedrich Dressel ; born September 28, 1929 in Marktredwitz , Upper Franconia ; † August 4, 2017 in Nuremberg ) was a German Lutheran theologian , Brazil expert and human rights expert. He is also the author of several monographs on the political and social reality of Latin America from a Christian perspective. He saved numerous people from the military dictatorships in Latin America, especially those in Brazil , Paraguay , Chile and Argentina .

Life and accomplishments

Heinz Dressel studied theology between 1946 and 1952 at the newly founded Augustana University in Neuendettelsau in Bavaria . From 1952 to 1967 he worked as a pastor in several evangelical parishes in the state of Rio Grande do Sul , Brazil, including the parish of Dois Irmãos near São Leopoldo in the former German settlement area. In doing so, he increasingly developed a connection between his theological work and social issues. Rio Grande do Sul was still strongly characterized by agriculture in the 1960s. The effort to connect the two led to the establishment of the agricultural center Centro Rural Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Boa Vista do Herval 1966. The basic idea was both education and training of the rural population in all conceivable areas, such as agricultural technology, housekeeping, hygiene and education for community life. He was also active in educational institutions of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (EKLB), and gave lectures and seminars in other Latin American countries.

In 1968 Heinz Dressel returned to Germany and worked in the Gethsemanegemeinde in Frankfurt am Main .

He headed the Ecumenical Study Center in Bochum from 1972 to 1992 and not only brought numerous young people from the so-called Third World to study in Germany. It also made it possible for students and politically active people from the Latin American dictatorships, Africa and the Caribbean in the 1970s and 1980s, regardless of their political convictions, belief or nationality, to flee to Germany to save them from torture and death. This enabled these people on the one hand to continue their studies at German universities, and on the other hand they were able to continue working in solidarity with their home countries and for the democratization of these countries.

From 1992 pastor Heinz Dressel lived in Nuremberg in retirement. He devoted himself to human rights in Latin America and Africa with numerous publications and trips.

Heinz Dressel died in Nuremberg in August 2017 at the age of 87.

Honors

Fonts

  • Persecuted for the sake of righteousness. The conflict between church and state in Latin America . Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1979.
  • Brazil from Getulio to Itamar. Four decades of experienced history Edition-Latin-America, Berlin 1995
  • Church and Refugees. The refugee program of the ÖSW Bochum. On the history of the Ökumenisches Studienwerk eV FDL Verlag, Augsburg 1996.
  • Human Rights in Africa. Nuremberg, 1997.
  • 15 years as a country pastor in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil FDL Verlag Augsburg 1998
  • Spanish America. Funding for Education Between Reformation and Revolution Nuremberg 1999.
  • Brazil. A difficult legacy. 500 years of injustice. The discovered, involuntary explorers and landless in the newly discovered land. Nuremberg, 2000
  • Brazil. 500 X Entdecker und Entdeckte FDL Verlag Augsburg 2002
  • Reflexoes em Reflejos Nuremberg 2004.
  • Fe e Cidadania Editora Unijui. Ujui, Brasil, 2006.

Web links

Article by Heinz Dressel on the Internet:

Article about Heinz Dressel on the Internet:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary notice in the Nürnberger Nachrichten from August 7, 2017, accessed on August 9, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Dressel, Heinz F.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dressel, Heinz Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Marktredwitz
DATE OF DEATH 4th August 2017
Place of death Nuremberg