Kurt Nowak

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Kurt Nowak (born October 28, 1942 in Leipzig ; † December 31, 2001 there ) was a German Protestant theologian and church historian .

Live and act

Kurt Nowak's grave in the Leipzig South Cemetery .

After graduating from high school in 1961, Kurt Nowak worked at the Leipzig City Theaters. From 1964 to 1969 he studied theology in Leipzig and Jena and received his doctorate in 1971. theol. with a thesis on “euthanasia” and sterilization in the “Third Reich” . From 1971 he worked as a senior scientific assistant at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig . In 1978 he completed his habilitation . In 1984 a second doctorate in history was awarded to Dr. phil. From 1987 he taught as a professor for modern and contemporary church history at the theological faculty of the University of Leipzig.

Since the mid-1970s, Kurt Nowak has been committed to the establishment of a journalistic platform for issues of contemporary ecclesiastical history as a project to be implemented throughout Germany, with which the narrower limits of traditional church historiography should be exceeded. The "historical location of Christianity" should be made accessible to a wider public. This was only possible in connection with general history, i.e. with political, social, cultural and religious issues. Thus Nowak was one of the pioneers in crossing the border from theology to history, which was to become the trademark of Nowak and the Leipzig Institute for Church History . The result of this work is the series “Denomination and Society”, published since 1988 and co-edited by Nowak until his death. In addition, it contributed significantly to the establishment of contemporary church history as a discipline with its own claim and weight in the GDR.

Nowak was particularly valued for his encyclopedic knowledge, his wealth of ideas, his creativity and his pronounced interdisciplinarity. Even before the fall of the Wall , in the GDR era, he occasionally had to make concessions despite all the clever tactics in order to be able to confidently defend his subject against narrow borders and restrictions. His work shone beyond Leipzig and the GDR, and Nowak was a respected representative of his subject even after the fall of the Wall.

On February 8, 1991 Nowak was elected a full member of the philological-historical class of the Saxon Academy of Sciences (Leipzig). In addition to his teaching activities, Nowak also worked as a university preacher at the University of Leipzig and, in addition to his academic work, was also the author of several works of fiction.

Thomas A. Seidel is one of his students .

Fonts (selection)

  • “Euthanasia” and sterilization in the “Third Reich”. The confrontation of the Protestant and Catholic Church with the law for the prevention of genetically ill offspring and the “euthanasia” campaign (dissertation). Niemeyer, Halle / Saale 1977 - Böhlau, Weimar ²1984 (work on church history and religious studies, vol. 6) (in the FRG parallel editions by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht of all three editions).
  • Resistance, approval, acceptance. The behavior of the population towards "euthanasia". In: Norbert Frei (Hrsg.): Medicine and health policy in the Nazi era. R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1991 (= writings of the quarterly books for contemporary history. Special issue), ISBN 3-486-64534-X , pp. 217–233, pp. 235–251.
  • History of Christianity in Germany. Religion, politics and society from the end of the Enlightenment to the middle of the 20th century , CH Beck, Munich 1995 ISBN 3-406-38991-0 .
  • Christianity. History - Faith - Ethics. CH Beck, Munich 1997 (CH Beck Wissen ), ISBN 3-406-41870-8 .
  • Schleiermacher. Life, work and effect . Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-55448-6 ( digitized version ).

literature

  • Brigitte Böttcher (Ed.): Inventory. Literary profiles . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 1976, Kurt Nowak, p. 72 f .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Nowak, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian and church historian
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH December 31, 2001
Place of death Leipzig