Moritz Mitzenheim

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Mitzenheim (2nd from left) in 1969 at an encounter with functionaries from various parties in Eisenach.
Honorary grave in the main cemetery in Eisenach.

Hartmut Moritz Mitzenheim (born August 17, 1891 in Hildburghausen ; † August 4, 1977 in Eisenach ) was chairman of the Lutheran Confessional Community in Thuringia between 1943 and 1945 and regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Thuringia from 1945 to 1970 . He was controversial within the Evangelical Church because of his advocacy of cooperation with the state institutions of the GDR.

Live and act

His parents were Heinrich and Anna (née Luther) Mitzenheim. The father was a senior teacher, organist and choirmaster. In 1911 he passed the high school diploma in his hometown. After studying theology in Leipzig , Berlin , Jena and Heidelberg , Mitzenheim was ordained in September 1914. After 1916 he was pastor successively in Wallendorf, Saalfeld and finally from 1929 to 1945 in Eisenach. In addition, he was a lecturer at the “Neulandhaus”, the training center of the Neulandbund , a right-wing conservative , later “ Protestant - folk movement” (Carsten Dippel). In 1943 he became chairman of the Lutheran Confessional Community in Thuringia, which has resisted the usurpation of the church by the German Christians ; in May 1945 regional pastor , from December regional bishop. When in autumn 1945 the former Buchenwald concentration camp was occupied by the Soviet military administration as special camp No. 2 in the Soviet Zone with political prisoners and suspects, Mitzenheim was the last hope of many family members. In December 1949 he preached for those interned in Buchenwald, and church literature was distributed in the camp. In 1947/48 he took part in the German People's Congress initiated by the SED as a delegate. Mitzenheim was an honorary member of the GDR CDU . From 1955 to 1961 he was a member of the EKD Council. In 1964 he met Walter Ulbricht at the Wartburg . He was one of the signatories of the 2nd Stockholm Appeal to end the arms race and to convene a world arms conference (1976). He pursued the policy of the so-called " Thuringian Way ", which - in contrast to most of the other East German regional churches - was loyal to the SED state. Mitzenheim was therefore an important point of contact for the GDR government agencies and was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold in 1961. In 1971 he received the bar of honor for this medal. In addition, he maintained contacts with the churches of the Eastern Bloc countries . For this he was awarded the Order of Vladimir by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1959 . He was a member of the Christian Peace Conference (CFK).

During a sermon he responded to his own characterization by his critics with the words:

“They call me a 'red bishop'. That is right. Because there is also a ' Red Cross ' - and that brings help! "

Mitzenheim was Dr. H. c. of the theology of the universities of Jena (1947), Bratislava (1962) and Warsaw (1974).

The street in Eisenach that leads to the former seat of the Protestant regional bishop in the Eichel-Streiberschen villa is named after him. His hometown Hildburghausen also has a “Doktor-Moritz-Mitzenheim-Strasse”. The house of meeting in Finsterbergen next to the Trinity Church also bears his name; in 1959 he consecrated three tower bells there.

Publications

  • History of the Mitzenheim family. 1st part: Until immigration in Thuringia. Max Hense, Eisenach 1933, DNB 366880381 .
  • History of the Mitzenheim family. Part 2: From Immigration in Thuringia to the Present. Max Hense, Eisenach 1935, DNB 36688039X .

literature

Web links

Commons : Moritz Mitzenheim  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erich Stegmann: The church struggle in the Thuringian Evangelical Church 1933-1945. A chapter in Thuringian church history. Berlin 1984, DNB 850416930 , p. 67.
  2. ↑ Michael Haspel, head of the Evangelical Academy of Thuringia : “After 1945 the church must have been aware of this [d. H. the history of the Neulandhaus], because the then incumbent Bishop Mitzenheim also worked as a lecturer at the Neulandhaus in the 20s and 30s. At the moment it is not possible to understand when it was almost forgotten. Today many people say we knew nothing about this story. Some say we knew something, but it is difficult to change such a tradition of such a name, where a lot of people have very positive memories of it. ”Quote from Carsten Dippel: New land movement 100 years ago. Trailblazer of National Socialism (see web links). -
    "Moritz Mitzenheim, Thuringia's controversial bishop in Ulbricht's time , even proposed in 1947 to establish a foundation in honor of Guida Diehl ." (Carsten Dippel).
  3. ↑ Bodo Ritscher : Special Camp No. 2 Buchenwald. On the history of the Buchenwald camp from 1945 to 1950. Buchenwald Memorial, Weimar-Buchenwald 1993, DNB 930913604 , pp. 139–144 (section chronicle); 2., revised. Ed., Ibid. 1995, DNB 944656374 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  4. ↑ See City of Eisenach, Urania, 2004, p. 96.
  5. ↑ Gerhard Besier : The Church, obedient servant of the state. IM "Ingo" or the particularly brisk path of the Thuringian regional church into the arms of the state security. In: The world . September 11, 1996, accessed November 7, 2012 .
  6. ↑ New Germany . September 16, 1971, p. 3.
  7. ↑ Peter Franz (ed.): Behind the wall and yet free. A read-up book by GDR Christians . GNN-Verlag, Schkeuditz 1997, ISBN 3-929994-96-8 , p. 14 .
  8. ↑ Part 3, 1941. Not detailed information from Vierhaus, 2007, p. 131, and v. Hintzenstern, 1994; at DNB and WorldCat, however, not proven.
personal data
SURNAME Mitzenheim, Moritz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mitzenheim, Hartmut Moritz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clergyman, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Thuringia
DATE OF BIRTH 17th August 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Hildburghausen
DATE OF DEATH 4th August 1977
Place of death Eisenach