Ralf-Uwe Beck

Ralf-Uwe Beck in 2008 handing over the signatures for the popular initiative "More democracy in Thuringian municipalities"

Ralf-Uwe Beck (born February 20, 1962 in Eisenach ) is a Protestant pastor and civil rights activist .

Life and work

After training as a tractor driver, Beck studied Protestant theology in Jena from 1982 to 1987 and was parish priest in Pferdsdorf near Eisenach in the border area from 1987 to 1995 . From 1995 to 2002 he worked as an environmental officer, from 2000 also as a fundraiser for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia . From 2002 to 2009 he was the press spokesman for Regional Bishop Christoph Kähler , and since 2004 also Head of Press and Public Relations in the Regional Church Office of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany (EKM), which merged in 2009 .

Beck lives in Eisenach, is married and has three children.

Political work

Beck founded a free environmental group in Jena in 1985 and was active in the environmental protection working group of the Eisenach parish from 1987 onwards. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall he became a member of the Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany . V. (BUND) and was co-founder of BUND Thuringia in 1990. He was its state chairman until 2000. Today he is honorary chairman of BUND Thuringia. From 1992 to 2001 he was also a member of the BUND federal executive board, from 1993 as deputy federal chairman.

Beck has been involved in the Mehr Demokratie e. V., has been the spokesman for the 19-strong alliance for more democracy in Thuringia since then . In Thuringia, the alliance led to two popular petitions , which Beck accompanied as a confidante: 2000 on the reform of the referendum itself and in 2008 on the reform of local direct democracy. Beck is the spokesperson for the Thuringia regional association of Mehr Demokratie e. V. and since May 2010 also member and spokesman of the federal board of the association.

After the Thuringian state elections in 2009 , Beck was among others under discussion as a possible compromise candidate for the office of Prime Minister in a red-red state government. Since a CDU-led coalition with the SPD was formed, the office of prime minister went to Christine Lieberknecht .

In 2009 Beck was a member of the 13th Federal Assembly.

In the spring of 2017, Beck started an initiative together with Klaus Töpfer and Angelika Zahrnt to set up a study commission on "Causes of Flight" at the German Bundestag. The appeal was signed by more than 150 bearers of the Federal Cross of Merit.

The demand was included in the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD in 2018. On July 3, 2019, the Federal Cabinet set up a “Causes of Flight” expert commission and appointed 24 members. The start of work was set for October 2, 2019.

art

Beck is involved in the art campaign Baumkreuz, which started in 1990. The action was until 2014 supported by the in the tradition of Joseph Beuys standing company business and art - extended gGmbH since 2015 by BUND Thuringia.

Beck was among the winners of the 2012, 2013 and 2019 poetry competition of the Library of German-Language Poems; In 2003 he won the 3rd prize.

Awards

On December 13, 2008, Ralf-Uwe Beck was elected the third most important Thuringian citizen by the editorial team and readers of the Thüringer Allgemeine . Also in 2008 Ralf-Uwe Beck was nominated for the citizen's prize of the Thuringian Prime Minister for democratic engagement and moral courage .

On October 1, 2015, Beck was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon by Federal President Joachim Gauck for his 30-year commitment to nature conservation, civil rights and democracy.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ EKMD press office
2. ^ Founding history of the BUND Thuringia ( Memento from January 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ ARD interview with Beck on the occasion of the ARD theme week on civic engagement ( Memento from May 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ "Welt" report , theologian should save left government participation , September 4, 2009.
5. ^ Countries ( Memento from June 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ Article in the Tagesspiegel from April 4, 2017
7. ↑ Homepage of the call: http://www.fluchtursachen-enquete.com
8. ^ Coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD
9. ↑ Members of the "Causes of Flight" commission refer to bundesregierung.de
10. ↑ BUND page on the tree cross ( Memento from September 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ Prize winner of the poetry competition of the library of German-language poems 2003
12. ↑ BUND press release on the election of the 100 most important Thuringians in the TA ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
13. ↑ SPD press release on the nomination for the Citizens' Prize 2008  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ Announcement of the medals from October 2015