Johannes Lehmann (journalist)

Johannes Lehmann (born September 7, 1929 in Madras , India ; † April 17, 2011 in Stuttgart ) was a German journalist and non-fiction author .

Life

Lehmann was born in Madras in India as the son of the missionary Arno Lehmann . From 1934 he lived in Dresden with his parents and two younger brothers . There he witnessed the bombing by the British and American air forces during World War II . After moving to Halle an der Saale , he began studying theology . After a stay in Scotland he returned to West Berlin , but not back to the GDR .

After completing his studies in journalism, philosophy and psychology, Lehmann went to Geneva and took over the press office of the Lutheran World Federation , on whose work he wrote his dissertation . He then worked for three years at the headquarters of the German Press Agency in Hamburg , before moving to the Süddeutscher Rundfunk in Stuttgart in 1964, first in the church broadcasting department and later in literature.

Johannes Lehmann found inspiration for his books on many trips to Greece, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Turkey. While visiting the caves of Qumran on the Dead Sea, the idea of ​​the later thirteen-part series on the secret of Rabbi J. emerged. In the series broadcast by the SDR in 1968, he portrayed Jesus as a monk in Essen , criticizing the church , and thus triggered a scandal. The series appeared in 1970 as a book with the title Jesus Report and became a bestseller . In 1972 the follow-up volume Die Jesus-GmbH appeared . Then he wrote u. a. numerous non-fiction books for Bertelsmann- Verlag. Among other things about The Hittites , The Crusaders , and The Staufers . For the first version of the Good News Bible in 1968, Lehmann translated the first two Gospels.

Johannes Lehmann was married to Ruth, geb. Lindenberg, he has two daughters. His oldest daughter, Christine Lehmann , is a radio editor and writer.

His two brothers lived as pastors in the GDR. Theo Lehmann was considered the father of youth worship and was an evangelist . The youngest brother, Jochen Lehmann, lived as a pastor and painter in Cospeda near Jena .

Works

• Jesus Report, protocol of a falsification , Econ-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1970, ISBN 3-426-00301-5 .
• The Jesus GmbH. What Jesus really wanted , Econ-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-430-15867-2 .
  • The mystery of Rabbi Jesus. The truth of Qumran and what early Christians and the Church made of it , revised edition of Report und GmbH , Rasch & Röhring, Hamburg 1993, ISBN 3-89136-486-5 ; Fourier, Wiesbaden 1996, ISBN 3-925037-87-X .
• The Hittites. People of a Thousand Gods , C. Bertelsmann, Munich 1975, ISBN 3-570-02610-8 ; Gondrom, Bindlach 1992, ISBN 3-8112-0936-1 .
• The crusaders. Adventurer of God , C. Bertelsmann, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-570-00282-9 ; Gondrom, Bindlach 1991, ISBN 3-8112-0902-7 .
• The Hohenstaufen. Splendor and misery of a German imperial family , C. Bertelsmann, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-570-00128-8 ; Gondrom, Bindlach 1991, ISBN 978-3-8112-0903-9 .
• Buddha. Life, teaching, effect , Bertelsmann, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-570-01764-8 ; Orbis, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-572-01247-3 .
• Moses - the man from Egypt , Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1983, ISBN 3-455-08724-8 ; TB title: Moses. Founder of religion and liberator of Israel , Heyne, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-453-55132-X .
• Our poor Schiller. A disrespectful approach , Rowohlt, Reinbek 2005, ISBN 978-3-499-23270-1 ; Silberburg Verlag, Tübingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-87407-834-4 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Johannes Lehmann in the catalog of the German National Library
• Website by Johannes Lehmann