Helmut Claß

Helmut Claß (born July 1, 1913 in Geislingen-Altenstadt ; † November 4, 1998 in Nagold-Pfrondorf ) was a German Protestant theologian , regional bishop of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg and council chairman of the Evangelical Church in Germany .

Life and work

From 1919 to 1921, Claß attended elementary school in Geislingen-Altenstadt and from 1919 to 1931 the Reformprorealgymnasium in Geislingen an der Steige and the Reformrealgymnasium (today: Zeppelingymnasium) in Stuttgart , where he passed his Abitur. He then studied Protestant theology at the Bethel Church University and at the Universities of Marburg and Tübingen . In 1936 he passed the First Theological Service Exam and was ordained. From 1936 to 1939 he was vicar in Eßlingen am Neckar and at the Protestant Diakonissenanstalt Schwäbisch Hall and in 1939 passed his second church service examination. In 1939 he took up his first pastor's position at Kilian's Church in Heilbronn , but was drafted into the Wehrmacht that same year. At the end of the Second World War he was taken prisoner by the Soviets, from which he returned in 1947. From 1947 to 1949 he administered the third pastor's post at Kilian's Church in Heilbronn and was also the city youth pastor.

From 1950 to 1958, Claß was the state youth pastor of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg. During this time he taught at various institutions, including at Karlshöhe in Ludwigsburg and at the University of Tübingen, and was a co-founder of the rural youth academy in Altenkirchen (Westerwald). From 1958 to 1968, Claß was the leading pastor of the Evangelical Diaconal Sisterhood in Herrenberg . In 1969 he was appointed prelate of Stuttgart, but he only held this office for one year.

On June 6, 1969, he was elected by the regional synod , of which he was a member from 1952 to 1968, in the fifth ballot to succeed Erich Eichele as regional bishop of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg. Three years later he was elected by the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany as the successor to Regional Bishop Hermann Dietzfelbinger as Chairman of the EKD Council and thus the highest representative of the EKD. As regional bishop and EKD council chairman, Claß took part in the numerous church and social discussions of the 1970s and represented West German Protestantism both internally and externally. Its importance lies above all in its mediation and integration role: in the ecclesiastical and social conflicts of the 1970s, it held together the divergent camps within the church and tried to find appropriate and acceptable compromises. After reaching the age of 65, he no longer ran for his two church leadership positions in 1979. In May 1979, the EKD Synod elected Eduard Lohse, the regional bishop of the Hanoverian regional church , as his successor as EKD council chairman . A short time later, the Württemberg regional synod elected Hans von Keler to succeed Claß as the Württemberg regional bishop.

From 1971 to 1986 Claß was also the chairman of the Diakonisches Rats of the Diakonisches Werk der EKD and from 1979 to 1992 the commissioner of the council of the EKD for contact with the evangelical communities .

Awards and honorary positions

In 1972, Claß received an honorary doctorate from the Protestant theological faculty of the University of Tübingen, in 1979 the Great Cross of Merit with Star and Shoulder Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany , in 1979 the Knight of Honor Cross of the Order of St. John and in 1993 the Brenz Medal of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg.

family

Claß had been married to Hilde, née Pfleiderer, since 1939 and had three sons and a daughter.

Fonts (selection)

• Bishop Claß. Out and about with the community. Articles, reports, sermons . Stuttgart 1978

literature

• Hermann Ehmer, Hansjörg Kammerer: Biographical manual of the Württemberg regional synod (regional church convention) with regional church assembly and advisory board for the church leadership from 1869 to the present . Stuttgart 2005, p. 111
• Siegfried Hermle: Helmut Claß as Württemberg regional bishop . In: The Evangelical Church in Germany in the 1970s. Contributions to the 100th birthday of Helmut Claß . Edited by Andreas Stegmann. Leipzig 2015, pp. 151–190
• Karl-Heinrich Lütcke: Bishop Helmut Claß as EKD council chairman . In: The Evangelical Church in Germany in the 1970s. Contributions to the 100th birthday of Helmut Claß . Edited by Andreas Stegmann. Leipzig 2015, pp. 191–209
• Andreas Stegmann: Helmut Claß and the Diakonie . In: Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche 109, 2012, pp. 472–500
• Andreas Stegmann: Bio-Bibliography Helmut Claß (with sources attached). In: The Evangelical Church in Germany in the 1970s. Contributions to the 100th birthday of Helmut Claß . Edited by Andreas Stegmann. Leipzig 2015, pp. 11–149
• Andreas Stegmann: Class, Helmut . In: Württembergische Kirchengeschichte Online , 2015

Web links

• Literature by and about Helmut Claß in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Helmut Claß  in the German Digital Library