Martin Beer (cathedral preacher)

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Martin Beer (born July 26, 1950 ; † 2011 ) was a German Protestant pastor and cathedral preacher at the Berlin Cathedral . He was considered an influential "celebrity preacher" and was dismissed from the office of cathedral preacher in January 2000 after disputes over his alcohol consumption and his homosexuality and transferred to another post.

Life

Martin Beer grew up as the son of a pastor in the Ore Mountains . He studied theology at the University of Greifswald . From 1978 he worked as a clergyman for the Greifswald regional church (later the Pomeranian Evangelical Church ) and pastor in Bobbin on Rügen . From the beginning of October 1989 he was cathedral preacher at the Berlin Cathedral, the former palace church in Berlin.

Martin Beer was considered a “celebrity preacher” in the 1990s and maintained good contacts in political and aristocratic circles, especially with the Hohenzollern family . He was received twice in private audiences by Pope John Paul II , and he was on friendly terms with Helmut Kohl and Roman Herzog .

At the beginning of 1998, Martin Beer was publicly accused of being an unofficial employee of the State Security under the code name " Maria " during his time as a pastor in the GDR . The name is said to have been chosen because Martin Beer dealt intensively with Mariology . As part of his diploma thesis, he was also on a study visit to the Collegium Germanicum in Rome. From 1981 Martin Beer was listed as an IM lead, from 1983 as an IM process. The IM “Maria” file shows that Beer knew with whom he was meeting and having conversations. He was apparently not aware that he was listed as an IM. Beer received gifts from the Stasi for his oral reports: money, books and spirits. In 1987 the process was discontinued for security reasons, as Beer had spoken to superiors about the talks with the State Security. When he contacted the press attaché of the British embassy in Bobbin in 1988, he himself was subjected to an operational identity check (OPK) by the Stasi. When allegations and rumors about Beer's GDR past began to circulate, Beer was suspended from service as cathedral preacher as early as Easter 1998. After the investigation, which was completed in October 1998, Beer was again allowed to preach in the cathedral.

In January 2000 Beer was deposed as cathedral preacher by the Evangelical Church of the Union (EKU) after a series of legal and intra-church disputes . The EKU accused him of his alcoholism , his homosexuality and sexual contact with the (adult) son of a lawyer he knew. She initiated disciplinary proceedings that ended with his clear commitment to his homosexuality and a settlement.

Beer was transferred to the St. Elisabeth monastery in the Prenzlauer Berg district as a pastor . In January 2000 he gave his last sermon as a cathedral preacher.

In spring 2011, Martin Beer died after a long hospital stay in the Charité . The funeral speech was held by the cathedral preacher Petra Zimmermann in the chapel of the cathedral cemetery. He was buried at his parents' side after a funeral service in Jonsdorf, Saxony.

Beer was an honorary member of the Berlin Wingolf .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Short Almanac 1984 . In: Official Journal of the Evangelical Church in Greifswald . tape 12 (1983) , pp. 102 .
  2. ↑ Cathedral preacher was registered as the Stasi IM "Maria". Berliner Zeitung , October 7, 1998.
  3. ↑ The gay cathedral preacher will hold his last service tomorrow. Der Tagesspiegel , January 14, 2000.
  4. ↑ "... and who are broken of heart". Die Welt , January 17, 2000.
  5. ^ Vademecum Wingolfiticum 1996 and 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Beer, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant pastor and cathedral preacher at the Berlin Cathedral
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1950
DATE OF DEATH 2011