Joachim Ritzkowsky

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Joachim Ritzkowsky (born October 7, 1937 , † January 11, 2003 in Berlin ) was a German Protestant pastor who was known as the "homeless pastor".

Live and act

In 1990 he became pastor of the Holy Cross Church in Berlin-Kreuzberg . Confronted here for the first time with the dying of homeless people on the street, he founded a warming room and in 1993 initiated the "Working Group Living with Homeless", a network of over 70 social and church initiatives of homeless help in Berlin.

In 1993 he registered the homeless Frank Lehmann in the parish hall so that he could get an identity card . Before that, an attempt was made to put a house number on the toilet where Frank Lehmann lived. However, this was refused. As a result, other homeless people sent by the social welfare office with a request to register were also reported to the community center. Ritzkowsky had to pay a fine of DM 100 for these “bogus registrations”. After Ritzkowsky's objection, he was charged with false certification and sentenced to one year probation and a fine of 2500 DM. The judgment was overturned in the second instance.

In 1998 a housing project was founded for predominantly older, seriously ill, sometimes mentally impaired, wet alcoholics. In 2000, the establishment of Gitschiner 15 , a cultural and employment center for the homeless and poor, was founded.

In 2003 Ritzkowsky succumbed to cancer and was buried at his own request in his last project, a grave site for the homeless in the Jerusalem churchyard . Among the almost 1000 mourners were u. a. Walter Momper .

Ritzkowsky left two sons and a daughter.

His book The Spider on the Skin is a collection of essays. He reports on life with the homeless, the scene (symbols, clothing, tattoos) and working with / for them.

Awards

Fonts

  • The spider on the skin , Alektor Verlag 2008, ISBN 9783884250716
  • Abelone by Saba stories for children and adults , Jetpress GmbH, Frankfurt / M. 1987, ISBN 3-88025-224-6 .
  • Joachim Ritzkowsky (Ed.): Die Notenschnecke , a collection of songs for our community, 3rd verb. Edition, advice center for the design of church services, Frankfurt / M. 1984, [1]

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Joachim Ritzkowsky: Defense speech. Retrieved July 25, 2020 .
  2. ^ Gitschiner 15 - Center for Health and Culture against Exclusion and Poverty - About Us. Retrieved July 25, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Honor last. Retrieved July 25, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Ritzkowsky, Joachim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pastor
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1937
DATE OF DEATH January 11, 2003
Place of death Berlin