Helga Trösken

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Helga Trösken (born April 7, 1942 in Frankfurt am Main ; † September 1, 2019 there ) was a Protestant pastor and theologian . In 1987 she was elected as the successor of Dieter Trautwein as provost of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN). This made her the first woman in an episcopal office in Germany . From 1988 to 2006 she was a member of the leading spiritual office of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau , initially as provost of Frankfurt, after the merger of the provosts of Frankfurt and Nord-Starkenburg from 2000 as provost for Rhine-Main .

Live and act

Childhood, education, family

Helga Trösken spent her youth in a family that was not close to the church. Most of her family members were in science professions. After graduating from the Herderschule Frankfurt am Main , she began to study theology in 1962. Her study locations were Frankfurt am Main , Berlin, Heidelberg and Mainz . At the beginning of her studies she could not yet imagine an office as parish priest that she later accepted. Also because female pastors - unlike pastors - were not allowed to marry at that time. In 1967 she finished her studies. After the vicariate in Dillenburg , Hesse , she worked at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey and in the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Geneva . From 1970 to 1988 she worked as a pastor in the Johannesgemeinde in Langen in southern Hesse . From 1977 to 1986 she was chairman of the pastors' committee. In 1997 she was elected to the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany .

Election to the provost

On November 30, 1987 Trösken was appointed the first female provost in Frankfurt. She was responsible for 350,000 Protestant Christians in Frankfurt am Main. In 1993 and 1999 she was elected for further terms. Helga Trösken remained a provost until she retired in 2006 .

Commitment to women in the church

When Trösken began studying theology in 1962, it was unimportant to her whether there were female pastors. She was primarily interested in theology as such. But her commitment to women in the church grew rapidly. Even before the EKHN put women and men on an equal footing in the pastoral office in 1971, Trösken was a pastor in Langen . In an interview, Helga Trösken said she was “the only pastor far and wide”. There was a lack of female role models for women in church offices. From then on she called meetings of female pastors, who are considered to be the model for the first female pastors' day in 1982. Trösken's entire period of service was shaped by the commitment to actual equality between men and women in the church. Among other things, she supported the project of translating the Bible into fair language . She was pleased that women in important church offices are no longer lone fighters. At the same time, she criticized the fact that male networks in the church were still working and that young pastors were still being asked about their family planning in the job interview.

Resistance to women in church offices

Since her time as pastor in Langen Trösken had to fight with reservations. Evangelical patriarchal forces in the church, they observed, had great difficulties with the changing role of women in the church. There were also critical voices among the population: “I came to the cemetery and then the whispering started,” Trösken remembers of the first funeral she led as pastor in Langen. Among other things, she was called afterwards: "The woman be silent in the community." Later, a bride and groom initially thought it was outrageous that they should enter into a marriage bond in front of a woman. From then on it was often about clothes. Trösken found black stockings in her mailbox that had been thrown in by a stranger. She also had difficulties calling the first pastors' meetings. Individual men in the church tried to prevent the meetings and did not give her the addresses of their colleagues. Even after her election as provost, there were still reservations. There was criticism, for example, that Trösken offered special training courses for church leaders. The EKHN's public relations department did not give her sufficient support, she complained.

Political positions as provost

In her first sermon as provost, Trösken warned that the church should intervene in political issues. In 1997 she took a clear position on the exhibition Crimes of the Wehrmacht , which stopped in 1997 in Frankfurt am Main. She asked the communities to visit the exhibition. At the same time, she called on the communities to face up to their past during the Nazi era . In addition, she spoke out against the admission of women into the Bundeswehr and maintained partnerships with communities in South Korea . In her sermons she addressed political issues such as unemployment , social cuts , multicultural society and how the city deals with the homeless . Together with the Catholic city dean Raban Tilmann , she campaigned against the opening of shops on Sundays. Trösken was also involved in the peace movement and advising conscientious objectors , which also had something to do with her own experiences from the Second World War and the years that followed. She sharply criticized the former US President George W. Bush for his expression " axis of evil ".

Relation to 1968

Trösken described herself as 68 , although she had graduated in 1967. During her theology studies in Mainz, she and fellow students implemented changes in the examination regulations and in the composition of the examination office. Later she and fellow campaigners founded the Open Church , a group for the democratization of the Church Synod. There were resolutions adopted - about an end to the Vietnam War or for admission of pastors that the German Communist Party belonged. Trösken took the motto with him from 1968: “Christ set us free to be free. So stand firm and do not let yourself be bound again under the yoke of any bondage ”(Gal 5: 1). She later protested against the construction of the West Runway at Frankfurt Airport .

Relationship with Martin Niemöller

Trösken named Martin Niemöller , the first president of the EKHN, whose sermons she shaped, as her role model . For four years she visited the Katharinenkirche in Frankfurt on the first Sunday of every month to hear Niemöller preach.

Attitude to church questions

They only supported the amalgamation of municipalities in Frankfurt if this should not be done solely for economic reasons, but both municipalities would benefit from it. Trösken supported several homosexual pastors. In 2008, two years after the end of her term as provost, she turned against the introduction of the office of bishop in the EKHN, which led to a conflict with the church leadership. She also argued with the Catholic Church . In particular, it was about the role of the Pope . “We don't need a Pope! The Bible alone is enough to be able to believe, think and act universally ”.

Controversy with Gunther von Hagens

On the occasion of the body worlds exhibition organized by anatomist Gunther von Hagens in Frankfurt am Main (January 16 to June 13, 2004), a controversy arose between Trösken and von Hagens. Trösken rejected the show as immoral. The exhibition does not serve science, but promotes the tabooing of death by tricking visitors into thinking that death is not something dramatic, but something beautiful.

Attitude to current issues of women's politics

Already in 1997 Trösken complained that young pastors lacked “political power”. She lamented "a withdrawal to the own cuddly ego". Trösken saw regression in women's politics in the 2000s. The election of Angela Merkel for chancellor described it in an interview as in the squads of "ephemera." DAX - boards give it few women, and even in their personal lives, the question of whether many equality of men and women largely do not care, "I find It is a shame that young women today do not stand up much louder and fight for their rights, ”she said on the occasion of International Women's Day 2017.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hessen-Nassau mourns Helga Trösken. Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau, September 2, 2019, accessed on September 2, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b Helga Trösken: First female provost wrote women's history. Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau, September 2, 2019, accessed on September 2, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Konrad Heidkamp: The bishop is a woman. In: The daily newspaper (taz) . May 30, 1988, p. 9 , accessed on September 3, 2019 (interview).
  4. ↑ a b c d Antje Schrupp : Helga Trösken. First provess. In: Engler-Heidle / Flesch-Thebesius (ed.): Women in the gown. P. 185.
  5. ↑ a b Stefan Toepfer: EKHN guided tour against appearance by Alt-Pröpstin. In: FAZ.net . September 19, 2008, accessed February 23, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Nicole Jost: Helga Trösken: Germany's first female provost. In: Frankfurter Neue Presse . March 8, 2017, accessed September 3, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Antje Schrupp: Helga Trösken. First provess. In: Engler-Heidle / Flesch-Thebesius (ed.): Women in the gown. P. 184.
  8. ↑ Helga Trösken: Sermon on the introduction into office as Provost. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , June 14, 1988. In: Engler-Heidle / Flesch-Thebesius (ed.): Women in the gown. P. 184.
  9. ↑ Helga Trösken: Letter to the pastors in the deanery area Frankfurt. In: Engler-Heidle / Flesch-Thebesius (ed.): Women in the gown. P. 186.
  10. ↑ Antje Schrupp: Helga Trösken. First provess. In: Engler-Heidle / Flesch-Thebesius (ed.): Women in the gown. P. 186.
  11. ^ Hilmar Hoffmann : Frankfurt's strong women. P. 300.
  12. ↑ Helga Trösken: Silent topic EU constitution: speech in Ramstein. WG Friedensforschung , March 20, 2004, accessed on September 4, 2019 .
  13. ^ Hilmar Hoffmann: Frankfurt's strong women. P. 301.
  14. ↑ Helga Trösken: Sermon on the introduction into office as Provost. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, June 14, 1988. In: Engler-Heidle / Flesch-Thebesius (ed.): Women in the gown. P. 187.
  15. ↑ Sylvia Meise: With God's blessing. In: taz.de . June 17, 2000, accessed September 3, 2019 .
  16. ^ Hilmar Hoffmann: Frankfurt's strong women. P. 299.
  17. ↑ Brigitte Roth, Stefan Toepfer: Provost Helga Trösken: “Body Worlds” show is immoral. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . January 11, 2004, accessed on February 23, 2019 (interview with Helga Trösken).
personal data
SURNAME Troesken, Helga
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant provess for Rhine-Main
DATE OF BIRTH April 7, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH 1st September 2019
Place of death Frankfurt am Main