Buckow Theological Seminary

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Theological Seminary Buckow was in the period 1959 to 1991, a training center for pastors of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR . The location of the seminar was the town of Buckow in Märkische Schweiz . Before the Buckower Seminar was founded and after its closure, the Theological Seminar in Hamburg-Horn (since 1997: Elstal ) served to train East German Baptist pastors .

history

The establishment of a separate theological seminar for the training of Evangelical-Free Church pastors in the area of ​​the former GDR was considered for the first time in 1951. In the minutes of the meeting of the so-called Bundesleitung-Ost of the BEFG there is a note that an unspecified “government agency” suggested “establishing a separate training center for preachers in the GDR region”. The suggestion evidently met with a positive response, because a short time later a seminar department was formed and a future faculty of lecturers was appointed. In mid-January 1953, a circular from the federal government reported that negotiations had been concluded successfully for the acquisition of a property and building in the Leipzig area. The start of the course was set for September 4, 1953. But it turned out differently. In the summer of 1953, the Federal Administration West offered those responsible in East Germany to take over the training of seminarians who had been admitted to Leipzig to study theology. The easing of the interzonal traffic at that time was one of the reasons to accept this offer and "to refrain from setting up a seminar in Leipzig for the time being". Otto Nuschke , then Deputy Prime Minister of the GDR, informed the Free Church on July 21, 1953 that nothing stood in the way of the temporary relocation of the Baptist theology students to West Germany. Their return after graduation would also be guaranteed.

In 1958, some first-year students were refused to leave the country by the responsible GDR authorities without giving any reason. At the beginning of September of the same year, an office of the State Secretary for Church Affairs in the GDR informed the chairman of BEFG-Ost that it was not possible to continue the previous practice. With the end of the academic year 1958/59 all East German seminarians were supposed to return to the GDR. Because of this new situation, attempts were made to continue the old plan of setting up a seminary of their own. Initially, the Berlin-Weißensee location was considered. Here the local Baptist congregation at Friesickestrasse 15 had a spacious congregation center that could be shared. However, with reference to the general political situation, the official approval was not granted. Also for the originally planned location in Leipzig, no permission was granted “because of the overpopulation of the city”. The GDR authorities referred to the Buckow sister recovery home owned by the Baptist Diakonissenhaus Bethel ( Berlin-Dahlem ) as a possible seminar building. On September 9, 1959, a good month before the planned start of studies, the question of location was still unanswered. In a letter from the Federal Administration East to the future students, it is stated that “classes are to begin on October 14th either in Leipzig or temporarily in our Bethel home in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland)”. On October 14, 1959, the opening service of the new theological training center took place in Buckow. Eight seminarians, who were initially to be taught by two full-time lecturers, moved into the deaconess home and shared the limited living space with retired sisters. This state lasted for 27 years.

On December 17, 1979, after lengthy negotiations with the authorities, the Rehoboth house (Neue Promenade 34) , located in the vicinity of the Bethel Home, was acquired as a new seminar building. It had previously been used by the Gossner Mission as a set-up time home. Considerable conditions had to be observed for the conversion and expansion, as the construction was not included in the so-called state plan . For example, the execution was only possible as a personal contribution , construction companies were not allowed to be commissioned. The necessary building materials were to be procured from the “population needs”, so they were not specially allocated. Because of these conditions, the construction work, which began in November 1979, took almost seven years. On September 8, 1986, the new seminar building, which was used until 1991, was inaugurated with a festive service. A plaque attached there in 2006 commemorates the former training center for the East German Baptist pastors, which today serves as a diaconal center for the Evangelical Free Church in Buckow.

Significance of the Buckower seminar

Despite its small number of students (limited by the authorities to 16), the Buckow Theological Seminary was - according to Stefan Stiegler - "world-famous, at least in the Baptist world". Although many of the Baptist unions of the former Eastern Bloc states were considerably larger, none of them had a comparable training facility for theological offspring. Hence, not only East German pastor candidates studied in Buckow, but also those from the USSR , the CSSR and the People's Republic of Hungary . Over the years, the seminar developed into an important interface between East and West: "The lecturers met regularly, students entered into partnerships, they met by year in East Berlin, books were smuggled across the border in all kinds of ways." Baptism represented the Buckow training center quite independent theological positions. For example, in 1978, in connection with the work on a common creed, the so-called account of the faith , she formulated an independent understanding of baptism . This led to the GDR edition of the account being differentiated from the FRG edition by a “non-sacramental text in the baptismal article”. The Buckow seminar was also ahead of the Hamburg seminar when it came to accepting female theology students. In the winter semester of 1969, the first female student was admitted to theology course in Buckow. Guidelines for the training and employment of theological employees within the Evangelical Free Church Association of the GDR, adopted by the federal government, did not appear until 1977.

Education

In the summer of 1979, the college of lecturers at the Buckower seminar formulated the training of the "missionary-oriented parish pastor" as a study objective. In addition to the theological expertise, the school should therefore also impart social skills and guide them to praxis pietatis . In addition to completing school and professional training, the prerequisites for admission to the seminar were, among other things, knowledge of the Bible, experience in the preaching ministry, professional probation, “knowledge of a call from God” and recommendation by the applicant's home church. The course was designed for eight semesters (four years). Various internships took place during the non-teaching periods. In addition to a community internship at the side of an experienced pastor, a diaconal and a missionary internship were also part of the training course at the Buckower Seminar.

In addition to the traditional theological subjects ( Old and New Testament , Systematic Theology , Church History , Practical Theology ) and the Biblical languages ​​( Hebrew , Ancient Greek ), a number of supplementary courses were also offered. This included English , German , music , singing , speaking technique and lifestyle.

Well-known teachers and students (selection)

Lecturers

students

  • Stefan Stiegler (* 1954), seminarian from 1975 to 1979
  • Rolf Dammann (* 1924; † 2014), from 1969 to 1989 Secretary General of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR

literature

  • Stefan Duhr: The libraries of free church theological seminars in the Soviet Zone / GDR 1945 - 1990: presented at the libraries of the theological seminars in Friedensau near Magdeburg and Buckow near Berlin (master's thesis), Berlin 2007 ( online ; PDF; 10.9 MB)
  • Klaus Fuhrmann: The Theological Seminary of the Federation . In: Experienced in the GDR. Reports from the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches (Eds. Ulrich Materne and Günter Balders in collaboration with Reinhard Assmann, Bernhard Kühl and Manfred Sult ). Wuppertal and Kassel, 1995. ISBN 3-7893-7220-X . Pp. 310-318.
  • Günter Lorenz: The Evangelical Free Churches. Past and present , Berlin 1986.
  • Rolf Dammann : The Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR , in: One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. 150 Years of Baptist Congregations in Germany (Ed. Günter Balders), Wuppertal and Kassel 1985 (2nd edition), ISBN 3-7893-7883-6 , pp. 169–173.
  • Adolf Pohl (Ed.): The harvest is big. 25 years theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland). 1959 - 1984 , Berlin 1984.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Adolf Pohl (Ed.): The harvest is great. 25 years theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland). 1959 - 1984 , Berlin 1984, p. 73.
  2. ↑ Bundespost (official organ of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches) 3/1952 (November 25, 1952)
  3. ↑ Adolf Pohl (Ed.): The harvest is great. 25 years theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland). 1959 - 1984 , Berlin 1984, p. 74.
  4. ↑ Adolf Pohl (Ed.): The harvest is great. 25 years theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland). 1959 - 1984 , Berlin 1984, p. 75.
  5. ↑ Adolf Pohl (Ed.): The harvest is great. 25 years theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland). 1959 - 1984 , Berlin 1984, p. 76.
  6. ^ Stefan Stiegler: The forced tradition of the seminar in Buckow 1959-1991 ; Accessed June 28, 2011
  7. ^ Klaus Fuhrmann: For the unveiling of a memorial plaque at the former Buckow Theological Seminary ; Accessed June 28, 2011
  8. ^ Stefan Stiegler: The forced tradition of the seminar in Buckow 1959-1991 ; Accessed June 28, 2011
  9. ↑ For the period from 1959 to 1983 compare Adolf Pohl (Ed.): The harvest is large. 25 years theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland). 1959 - 1984 , Berlin 1984, pp 113-116.
  10. ↑ Quoted from Wiard Popkes: History of the Theological Seminary 1880 - 2005 ; Accessed June 28, 2011
  11. ^ Stefan Stiegler: The forced tradition of the seminar in Buckow 1959-1991 ; Accessed June 28, 2011
  12. ↑ Adolf Pohl (Ed.): The harvest is great. 25 years theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland). 1959 - 1984 , Berlin 1984, p. 80.
  13. ↑ Adolf Pohl (Ed.): The harvest is great. 25 years theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland). 1959 - 1984 , Berlin 1984, p. 119 f.
  14. ↑ Adolf Pohl (Ed.): The harvest is great. 25 years theological seminar of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR in Buckow (Märk. Switzerland). 1959 - 1984 , Berlin 1984, p. 112 f.