Henry Burkhardt

Johannes Henry Burkhardt (born November 25, 1930 in Chemnitz ) was the highest representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in various functions between 1952 and 1990 .

Life

The Freiberg Temple, whose first president was Henry Burkhardt, in June 1985

Henry Burkhardt was born in Chemnitz in 1930 and, after attending school in his hometown, completed training as a Reichsbahn employee between 1945 and 1949 . He then worked from 1950 first as a missionary and then from 1952 to 1969 as an advisor, responsible for the GDR territory, the presidents of the missions in Hamburg and West Berlin , which were responsible for the Mormons living in the GDR.

From 1969 he acted as president of the newly established Dresden Mission for the church affairs of the Mormons in the GDR , which he chaired until it was divided into two stakes in Leipzig and Freiberg in 1984 . After the construction and inauguration of the Freiberg Temple , the first Mormon temple built in a socialist country, he became president of the temple and the Mormon Church in the GDR in 1985. He held the office of temple president after German reunification until 1991. He then worked for the church in Frankfurt am Main until his retirement at the end of 1995 .

Henry Burkhardt was married from 1955 until his wife's death in 2005 and is the father of a son and a daughter.

literature

• Raymond M. Kuehne: Henry Burkhardt: A Life for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the GDR. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2010, ISBN 3-86583-494-9
• Raymond M. Kuehne: Henry Burkhardt and LDS Realpolitik in Communist East Germany. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City 2011, ISBN 1-60781-149-9

Web links

• Scott Taylor: LDS leader served behind Iron Curtain In: Deseret News . Published online 7 September 2010
• Mormon History: Henry Johannes Burkhardt Autobiographical Memories (with picture)