Michael Blume

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Michael Blume (2017) at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg

Michael Blume (born June 20, 1976 in Filderstadt ) is a German religious scholar and head of department for non-Christian religions in the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg as well as the state government's representative against anti-Semitism . He researches, teaches and publishes on questions of Christian-Islamic dialogue in Germany , on the connection between religion and demography, and on the development of neurotheology .

Live and act

In 1975, Blume's parents were ransomed from the German Democratic Republic by the Federal Republic of Germany . A year later, Blume was born in Filderstadt . In June 1997, after graduating from the Eduard-Spranger-Gymnasium Filderstadt with his high school diploma in 1996 and completing his military service, he married his wife Zehra, a former classmate of Turkish origin. He had three children with her. In 1998 he was co-founder of the Christian Islamic Society (CIG) Region Stuttgart e. V. Together with a Muslim co-chairman, he was then chairman of the association for several years. In 2000, Blume organized the first Judeo-Christian-Islamic “Abraham Festival” in Germany. On the Christian-Islamic dialogue he wrote several cabaret pieces and a play that was also played in other European countries and translated into several languages. The radio journalist Andreas Malessa published a biographical story in 2019 with the title A Flower for Zehra , in which he pays tribute to Blum's humanitarian commitment and describes the challenges of his interreligious life with his current wife Zehra in the Swabian province.

Professional background

Before studying religious and political science at the University of Tübingen, Blume completed an apprenticeship as a financial assistant at the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg . After completing his master's degree , in April 2003, Blume took on a newly established position as a consultant for intercultural and interreligious dialogue in the policy department of the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg . In 2010 he became head of the staff unit for the then State Councilor Regina Ammicht Quinn , and from 2011 head of the department for churches, religion and integration . In 2014, on behalf of the Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann , he took over the management of the “Special Contingent Northern Iraq” mission. He was responsible for bringing 1,100 particularly vulnerable, mainly Yezidi , women and girls from northern Iraq to Germany, including the later UN ambassador Nadia Murad , who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 together with Denis Mukwege . Since 2016, Blume has been the head of department for “Non-Christian Religions, Values, Minorities, Projects Northern Iraq”. In March 2018 he was appointed by the state government as the anti-Semitism commissioner for Baden-Württemberg. In his book Why Anti-Semitism Threaten Us All , which was published in 2019, he describes his religious studies and historically well-founded view of the tradition of the “Semitic” scriptural religions , in which he shows how new media can pick up on old conspiracy myths and reinforce them emotionally and socially so that they ultimately Question the foundations of our civilization.

Political commitment

Blume joined the Junge Union as a schoolboy and later became chairman of the Filderstadt local association and, from 2001 to 2003, chairman of the Esslingen am Neckar district association . In 1994 he was elected to the youth council, in 1999 he was the youngest city council member in Filderstadt and in 2004 he was confirmed in the following local elections. After the birth of his second child in late 2005, he resigned from his office.

In 2014, Blume was appointed as a religious studies expert in the Federal Network Integration of the CDU .

In 2017 he and his wife became sponsors at Schule ohne Racism - School with Courage for the Robert-Mayer-Gymnasium Heilbronn .

Scientific activity

For his studies Flower received a scholarship of gifted the Konrad Adenauer Foundation . Blume received an award from the Federal Ministry of the Interior for a thesis in the third semester on homeland and identity , in which he advocated a more decisive integration and identity policy and more dialogue, particularly with regard to Muslims in Germany . He completed his studies in 2003 with a master's thesis on the opening of Islam in Germany by a new Islamic elite , which was graded “very good”. A year later, in addition to his professional activity, he accepted the first of several teaching positions at the Institute for Religious Studies at the University of Tübingen . Blume received his doctorate in 2005 under Günter Kehrer on the subject of neurotheology - opportunities and limits from a religious studies perspective .

An article in the Stuttgarter Nachrichten about Michael Blume caused a stir in the state capital in mid-2003 . Because there was an Islamist among the Muslims he interviewed as part of his master's thesis, Blume was accused of supporting “radical Islamist forces” as an advisor to the state government. The article suggested investigations by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which, however, "never took place".

In 2009, Blume received the scilogs award for his scientific blogging and in 2010 a sponsorship award from the Evangelical Academy Villigst with the title “Mediation - Theological and Ethical Contributions to the Time”.

Blume took on lectures, readings and teaching assignments at the University of Münster , the University of Cologne and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena , among others . He currently only accepts teaching positions at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology .

Publications (selection)

Web links

Interviews and portraits

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Representative of the state government against anti-Semitism. In: State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg . Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Mathias Hamann: Secret Services: With an email from the common man to the Islamist helper. In: Spiegel Online . July 31, 2013, accessed June 20, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Andreas Malessa: A flower for Zehra. Love to the gates of hell. Munich 2019, p. 78.
  4. ↑ Andreas Malessa: A flower for Zehra. Love to the gates of hell. Munich 2019, p. 40.
  5. ↑ Dr. Michael Blume. In: Blume-religionswissenschaft.de. Retrieved April 7, 2017 .
  6. ^ Including the later chairman of the KCID : Murat Aslanoğlu
  7. ↑ Andreas Malessa: A flower for Zehra. Love to the gates of hell. Munich 2019, p. 120.
  8. ↑ a b Michael Blume from Filderstadt: A new life after hell. In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten . January 11, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017 .
  9. ^ Rüdiger Soldt: A thousand lives. In: FAZ.net . November 5, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Jens Schmitz: Religion expert Michael Blume appointed anti-Semitism officer. In: Badische Zeitung . March 14, 2018, accessed March 29, 2018 .
  11. ^ Robert-Mayer-Gymnasium in Heilbronn: Sponsors support “School against Racism” | Heilbronn | SWR news. Retrieved July 19, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Andreas Malessa: A flower for Zehra. Love to the gates of hell. Munich 2019, p. 126.
  13. ↑ Andreas Malessa: A flower for Zehra. Love to the gates of hell. Munich 2019, p. 113.
  14. ↑ Religious scholar Michael Blume awarded the Scilogs Prize 2009. In: Spektrum.de . March 30, 2009, accessed September 20, 2017.
  15. ↑ Sponsorship award of the Friends of the Evangelical Academy Villigst In: kircheundgesellschaft.de . Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  16. ^ Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität: Michael Blume - Time, Evolution and Belief. In: uni-muenster.de. May 8, 2013, accessed April 7, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Hirzel: God, genes and brain. Why belief works. On the evolution of religiosity. In: hirzel.de. Retrieved April 7, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Flower, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German religious scholar
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Filderstadt , Germany