Martin Weskott
Martin Weskott (* 1951 in Fulda ) is a German Protestant pastor .
Life
Martin Weskott grew up in Bückeburg in Lower Saxony. Following the example of his grandfather, a pastor who lived near Erfurt , Weskott also completed a degree in theology, as well as philosophy, history and sociology. From 1979 to 2017 he was pastor of the Sankt-Johannes-Gemeinde in Katlenburg . He has published over 50 books and is a member of the PEN Center Germany .
Weskott became known through a book rescue operation he initiated in the period after the political change in the GDR : Weskott was made aware in June 1991 through a picture in an article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung about a garbage dump in Plottendorf near Leipzig that in the post-reunification years there was huge Quantities of books from publishers , bookstores and "wound up" libraries in the GDR that were considered unsaleable , including many works fresh off the press, were simply dumped on garbage dumps as waste . Weskott initiated a rescue operation for these books.
Today the campaign is called “Passing on instead of throwing away” and includes books sorted out by publishers and private individuals in East and West Germany. Every Sunday after the service, the books are given to interested parties for a donation, as well as being sent to educational institutions around the world, the proceeds go to the organization Bread for the World . There are also readings by authors from their rescued works.
Weskott received numerous honors for his campaign, including the Federal Cross of Merit in 1993 and the first Göttingen Laurel of the Literary Society and in 2008 the Karl Preusker Medal of the German Literature Conference
literature
- P. Werner Lange : In the antiquarian bookshop of German unity , in: Journal. Artists between power and reason , ISSN 1436-4220 , vol. 2, issue 2, pp. 88-100, Potsdam 1999
See also
Web links
- Literature by and about Martin Weskott in the catalog of the German National Library
- The Bucherburg Katlenburg , with photo of Martin Weskott and links to numerous media reports about his action.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Weskott, Martin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Protestant pastor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fulda |