Manfred Stohrer

Manfred Stohrer 1970

Manfred Stohrer (born August 23, 1918 in Stuttgart , † September 28, 1976 in Sigmaringen ) was a German Protestant pastor , pacifist , conservationist and art lover.

Life and achievement

Youth, studies and war

Stohrer came from a Stuttgart printer and graphic artist family, graduated from high school there at Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium and studied theology and art history in Tübingen and Berlin . He experienced the Second World War in France and Russia ; he was wounded and taken prisoner by the French (until 1948) near Colmar in Alsace. There he wrote his lecture Christian Existence Today , which contained a then very new view of being a Christian. It was also the subject of many of his later sermons. For him it was about being a Christian in the encounter with the other.

For the first time in Sigmaringen

Evangelical town church Sigmaringen

After that he was already vicar for one year in Sigmaringen, then he worked as theological secretary for the Württemberg regional bishop Theophil Wurm . In 1951 he applied for a vacancy at the Protestant town church in Sigmaringen, where he became a Protestant pastor for 25 years.

Letter from the 104 pastors on rearming

During his term of office between 1951 and 1976, the discussion about rearmament took place , in which, as a former war veteran, he took part in a committed and uncompromising way. He knew that he was in agreement with Pastor Martin Niemöller . So he participated in an open letter to the members of the German Bundestag , in which 104 Protestant pastors from Baden-Württemberg (among them Stohrer and Vicar Gerhard Porsch from Sigmaringen) were asked to negotiate with the GDR government on peace and reunification . The letter writers were of the opinion "... that in the age of the atomic bombs ... the establishment of West German divisions is not only pointless, but downright dangerous and fatal. In a war between East and West, Germany would be a theater of war. ” And“ We are convinced that Germany should under no circumstances rearm as long as it is divided. Armament deepens this division and makes it permanent. ” This letter was published on March 3, 1954 in Neues Deutschland .

Black flag at the city church

When the controversial introduction of compulsory military service was decided in the Bundestag on July 7, 1956 , Stohrer hung a black flag on the town church as a sign of protest and mourning and let the bells ring. With this act he and Sigmaringen became known nationwide. It also found its way into the published state literature of the GDR. In Der Bibliothekar (Central Institute for Libraries), 1956 edition, an article was dedicated to this process as a sign of protest against the Bundeswehr in West Germany . For years he turned against the installation of his own military chaplain or his own military pastoral office in the garrison town of Sigmaringen - unsuccessfully in the end . On the other hand, he supported the implementation of corresponding services for members of the military on fixed Sundays in the city church.

Sigmaringer Christ-Johannes-Group

Sigmaringer Christ-Johannes-Group

During his term of office, he supported and directed the renovation of the city church's centenary (since 1862) (interior painting, lighting, floor), especially since he was able to live out his artistic interests there. So he tried - albeit unsuccessfully - to "repatriate" the famous Sigmaringer Christ-Johannes group , a so-called "Johannesminne", to Sigmaringen. The original of this devotional picture (circa 1320) probably comes from the Augustinian choir monastery in Inzigkofen . In 1909 it was acquired for the sculpture collection of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation . It has been in the redesigned Bode Museum on Museum Island in Berlin-Mitte since 2006, after having stood in the sculpture gallery in Berlin-Dahlem for 60 years .

After the renovation of the town church was completed, a replica of the Gothic carving was placed under the gallery .

Commitment to nature conservation

Furthermore, he was probably one of the first to expressly oppose the felling of venerable trees (e.g. an elm in the parish garden and later some maple trees on Karlstrasse in 1953) and who even worked with like-minded people to personally protect the trees from the municipal felling team. Stohrer's dispute with the responsible authorities went into the Sigmaringer annals as " Sigmaringer Baumkrieg " (see literature).

Art in religious education

His religious instruction at grammar schools and confirmation classes were also known, which focused on the artistic representation of religious content. For example, sculptures of the crucified Christ from Romanesque and Gothic churches were important to him, as was the Isenheim Altar near Colmar, sculptures from Ravenna and Assisi in Italy and the powerfully colored representations by the modern Hasidic painter Marc Chagall .

Early ecumenism

In this context, another focus of his work was ecumenism , which he took very seriously and promoted in many ways. The Vatican II and John XXIII. were so important to him that he was probably the only Protestant pastor to ring the bells on the death of the Pope . He met regularly with Catholic priests and lay people, with Orthodox clergy, and set up a fixed appointment with a Jewish scholar. His own sermons were often the talk of the town, as he liked to use drastic comparisons or even take concrete objects with him to the pulpit to clarify his statement, for example a rooster at the Good Friday sermon that did not want to crow.

Military service opponent

Of course, because of his opposition to the rearmament of Germany, his tireless advocacy of the few conscientious objectors of the time, whom apart from such pastors as Stohrer were supported by few at the time, which also earned him the " communist charge ".

Familiar

When he died in 1976 he left a wife and two sons. Stohrer was buried a few days later on the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, whom he greatly admired, in Sigmaringen in the city cemetery.

Works

• Christian Existence Today , 1946, published lecture
• Through seven countries of the Middle East , a travel report, 1966, Vogel-Verlag, Würzburg

Quotes

• On the communist accusation: " Christ also died for Karl Marx ." (See literature)
• About his fellow believers: "There are mildly protesting Protestants and wildly protesting ..." (own memory)
• About the different Christians: "The Catholics pray themselves in heaven, the Protestants sing themselves in the sky and the Reformed preach themselves in the sky."

literature

• Werner Günther: Partisan of the Resurrected - In memoriam Manfred Stohrer Evangelical pastor in Sigmaringen 1951–1976, 1987, Sigmaringen
• Central Institute for Libraries: The Librarian , (1956) Volk und Wissen Verlag, Berlin, page 441.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.evang-sig.de/ under "Our community / history": Mourning flag
2. ^ [1] page 441 from The Librarian
3. ↑ Pastor Müller: "It's not about the dispute between Christians" Link to picture Soldier wedding ceremony by Stohrer (Südkurier)

Web links

• Sigmaringer Christ-Johannes-Group: Pictures a. a. m.
• Sound document: Pedagogy lecture by Manfred Stohrer