Theological seminar Leipzig

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The Theological Seminar Leipzig (ThSL, 1990–1992 Kirchliche Hochschule Leipzig ) was until its merger with the Theological Faculty of the University of Leipzig in 1992, the joint academic-theological training center of the three Evangelical Lutheran regional churches in the GDR , the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony , the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church in Thuringia and the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Mecklenburg . It was like two other ecclesiastical universities in the Evangelical Church of the Union , the Catechetical Oberseminar Naumburg and the Sprachenkonvikt Berlin , an ecclesiastical institution independent of the state, only tolerated by the GDR authorities, whose degrees were only recognized in the Evangelical Church. These universities offered a degree of Protestant theology that was not regulated by the state as an alternative to the six theological faculties at the classic old universities of the GDR. The ThSL came from the Ev.-Luth. Mission seminar in Leipzig , which had finally started its work in 1879.

history

The Evangelical Lutheran Mission Seminar in Leipzig 1879–1949

The history of the ThSL is inextricably linked with the origins and development of the Leipzig Mission . This work emerged from the Dresden Mission Aid Association , which was founded in 1819 and which in 1836 made itself independent of the Basel Mission as the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Society in Dresden . This society already held a seminar for future missionaries in Dresden for a while. After the move from Dresden to Leipzig in 1848, which was also due to the desired collaboration with the University of Leipzig, the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Seminar in Leipzig was finally established in 1878/79 as a branch of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Leipzig . Interrupted by the two world wars 1914–1918 and 1939–1945, the missionary seminary trained young men who had to prove that they had completed vocational training in humanistic and theological subjects to become missionaries for Africa, India and Papua New Guinea. For a long time, teaching was carried out by a few full-time employees and many lecturers and the like. a. kept out of university. Among the graduates of the seminar were Bruno Gutmann (1876–1966), who was also known as a linguist and ethnologist, and Hilko Wiardo Schomerus (1879–1945), the founder of modern missiology .

The seminar of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Leipzig 1949–1964

After the Second World War, the mission seminar resumed its operations in 1946, but at the request of the three Lutheran churches in the GDR it increasingly became a training center for future pastors in the local communities. For the need for academically trained theologians could not initially be covered by the state faculties in the GDR, especially since suitable young people were often not admitted to secondary school for political reasons. At the same time, it became increasingly difficult for the graduates to get into missionary service from the GDR.

The apprenticeship was covered by an enlarged college, which grew to twelve full-time employees by 1959. The previous school structure initially determined the training according to a prescribed timetable with fixed groups and a lecturer responsible for the (year) course.

The Theological Seminary in Leipzig 1964–1980

First of all, there was an institutional cut through an ultimate letter from the district authority of the German People's Police on April 2, 1964, which demanded the solution of the seminar from the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Leipzig. As a result, a new state-approved statute was finally drawn up, which the "Theological Seminary Leipzig" under the umbrella of an "external connection with the Evangelical Lutheran. Mission zu Leipzig ”to an independent ecclesiastical institution of the three Lutheran supporting churches. The ThSL was now led by a board of trustees made up of the three regional bishops, a representative of the Evangelical Lutheran. Mission to Leipzig and the respective rector existed.

In the years that followed, the seminar broke away from the oversight of the mission and developed into a freer academic institution. The organization, which had been schooled up until then, increasingly changed due to the possibility of choosing among the courses and lecturers. Because since 1970 the classical subjects of the theological canon have been occupied twice. At the same time, Siegfried Krügel's previous permanent editing, whose long-term collaboration with the MfS became known after 1990, ended. From then on, the lecturers took turns leading the seminar every two years. The growing role of the lecturers' conference first led to academic self-administration by the lecturers. At the urging of the Board of Trustees, the students, including increasingly women since 1969, were given a say in areas that directly affected students.

The Theological Seminary 1980–1987

In the 1980s, the seminar reached the highest frequency of all theological training institutions in the GDR with around 180 students, including more and more young married couples with children (around 60 in 1988). Both the political conflicts of the time and internal church issues were reflected in the life and debates of the university, which were taken up by students and teachers and discussed within and outside the ThSL. For example, there was a long-standing dispute about the obligation to marry, i.e. H. about the appropriate forms of responsible lifestyle. Intense debates about the entitlement of student co-responsibility between all those involved ultimately led to a participation model in which the students at all levels were involved in most decisions up to and including the enrollment or de-registration of students.

At the beginning of the decade, the fragile peace in Europe caused by armament also led to questions about nonviolence and possibilities of disarmament in courses. At the same time, the environmental pollution - particularly noticeable in Leipzig - was discussed by students inside and outside the seminar. In the course of the decade, questions about human rights increased , including, for example, freedom of expression and the right to freedom of movement. Many students got involved in church grassroots groups on these topics and in the Ecumenical Assembly for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation in the GDR .

The ThSL became - like the other two church training centers in Berlin and Naumburg - a “place of spiritual freedom” and an “important human resource for the opposition”. Many students organized themselves into oppositional groups and gave them important impulses, among other things. a. in the Environmental Protection Working Group , in the Human Rights Working Group , in the Life Initiative Group , in the “Solidarity Church” working group (AKSK) and in the Peace and Human Rights Initiative (IFM). The Justice Working Group was even founded by ThSL students.

Political conflicts in 1988/89

The situation in the GDR came to a head during the economic, domestic and foreign policy crisis at the end of the 1980s. Since 1982 members of young congregations , grassroots groups and theology students from the Leipzig faculty and the ThSL have met in small groups on Mondays at 5 p.m. for a peace prayer in the Nikolaikirche , which was organized by various peace, environmental and later human rights groups. These peace prayers were particularly explosive at the end of 1987 / beginning of 1988 because they were now attended en masse by those wishing to leave the GDR. This manifested political conflicts that the GDR authorities wanted to keep out of the public eye as much as possible, which is why they called for the peace prayers to be stopped or relocated. There were also differences between the various church leaders among themselves and with or between the groups about the forms of the Monday peace prayer and responsible political sermons in the Nikolaikirche. ThSL students also took part in these disputes. Two students were reprimanded by the then rector Christoph Kähler for “disrupting the order of worship” . Some of the students emphasized their political concerns through public actions. Several times ThSL students were arrested (“brought in”) together with other opposition activists, including Jochen Lässig and Katrin Hattenhauer . Students who submitted an application to leave the Federal Republic of Germany were de-registered during this time. How different the political positions were among the students, but also among the teachers, was finally shown by a dies communis in November 1989 to which the speakers of the new political groups from the New Forum to the Christian Social Party of Germany were invited. However, the respective programs were presented by members of the ThSL themselves, as they each played a leading role in the different initiative groups. The spectrum of political goals turned out to be very broad and the common position arose primarily from the demand for the rule of law and democracy as well as the unanimous rejection of the so-called " dictatorship of the proletariat ", i. H. the rule of the state party SED and the bloc parties subordinate to it.

The Church University of Leipzig 1990–1992

With the end of the GDR, the ThSL gained new freedoms and rights. The board of trustees decided to change the name to "Kirchliche Hochschule Leipzig" (KHL), the government de Maizière recognized the university by granting doctoral and habilitation rights and the title of professor to the theological lecturers. The students were given the right to freely choose their place of study and course of study, as well as grants under BAFöG . However, it quickly became clear that the funding of such a university would continue to exceed the strength of the supporting churches in East Germany. Colleagues from West German faculties with experience of university politics also doubted whether it would make sense to maintain two theological training centers in one place with almost the same standards and programs. This led to the Free State of Saxony and the KHL Board of Trustees agreeing to merge the Leipzig faculty and the KHL. The independent existence of this training center ended on October 1, 1992. Their tradition is continued on the one hand in research and teaching by the theological faculty of the University of Leipzig and on the other hand in forms of common life in the Evangelisches Studienhaus Leipzig .

Structure of training

Entrance examination, enrollment and de-registration at the ThSL

After the ThSL had initially enrolled every applicant who met the formal requirements, an admission procedure was introduced in 1970 to assess suitability for study. This led to a drastic reduction in dropouts at ThSL. The prerequisite for enrollment was the student's written commitment to future pastoral service in one of the GDR regional evangelical churches. If this requirement was no longer met or if the performance did not meet the requirements, the students were de-registered in accordance with the applicable regulations. Since 1985, elected representatives of the student body have been involved in the admission process and in decisions about early de-registration.

Pre-education

One of the main reasons for the establishment and maintenance of the three church universities in the GDR resulted from the fact that access to the extended high school , i.e. H. for high school graduation, was exposed to strong political restrictions. These particularly affected children from families involved in the church, including potential pastors. That is why the ThSL offered, in addition to the three other so-called “proseminars” in Naumburg , Potsdam-Hermannswerder or Moritzburg, a high school education only for applicants who had completed vocational training. It contained the essential subjects of a humanistic-ancient language education, which was imparted by qualified specialists. After 1990, the ThSL's preliminary training was recognized by the Conference of Ministers of Education as the equivalent of the Abitur.

Study of theology

The course itself comprised the classic subjects of the theological canon, which have been represented by two lecturers each since 1970: Old Testament, New Testament, Church History, Systematic and Practical Theology. In addition, the subjects philosophy, missiology and ecumenics were compulsory, while pedagogy, sociology, natural sciences, art history, music, sport and speech training were offered as optional subjects. In contrast to the sister universities in Berlin and Naumburg, where there were no such specifications, the students in Leipzig had been obliged to attend four-semester adult education courses since 1968, in which Marxist philosophy and political economy were taught by state-employed lecturers. In the Leipzig crisis after the state-ordered demolition of the Paulinerkirche in 1968, external state instruction was granted by the church, but not an expansion and influence within the college by Marxist teachers, as was a matter of course in the state faculties. The results of these courses were not part of the certificates. After student protests, this instruction was broken off in autumn 1989.

Academic qualifications

Many lecturers from the church's own Protestant training centers in the GDR had studied at state faculties, had obtained their doctorates there and had, for T. habilitated there. For a long time, however - often for political reasons - they were out of the question for an appointment to a faculty. In the 1980s, however, the policy of the Ministry of Higher Education and Technical Education was liberalized, which led to individual appointments of lecturers from church offices to state professorships. During this time there was a need to provide more for the next generation of academics in church universities. Thus, more positions were created for doctoral candidates ("repeaters"), although the Protestant training centers lacked the right to conduct doctoral and post-doctoral procedures. Those affected avoided this obstacle in two ways. On the one hand, the three church universities of the GDR created a joint two-stage qualification procedure that corresponded to a doctoral or habilitation regulation. The procedures carried out afterwards were recognized by the state after 1990 and then led - upon a corresponding application - to entitlement to use the corresponding academic titles. On the other hand, state faculties took over z. T. Doctoral and habilitation procedures for candidates from church universities.

Other training courses and attempts at reform

The ThSL was several times the starting point for further church training courses. In 1969, a first “Course for Catechetics at the Theological Seminary in Leipzig” and a second in 1971 to dispel government concerns, in 1973 the name “Catechetical Course of Ev.-Luth. Regional Church of Saxony in Leipzig ”. These courses were not repeated due to a lack of applicants. 1985–1990 a (one-time) “Church course for child and youth work” was set up at the technical college level. In addition to a full-time director of studies ( Walter Christian Steinbach ), mainly the ThSL lecturers taught there. A plan by the Federation of Protestant Churches in the GDR (BEK) to combine a theological-pedagogical technical college education with a full theological course in a kind of comprehensive university at the ThSL in such a way that essential parts of both courses should initially be carried out together, did not get beyond the planning stage out. The project failed due to practical difficulties and technical concerns. Likewise, a request from the Saxon regional synod to the ThSL in 1987 for a model experiment in theological training with a regular change between study and internship phases was no longer planned.

Sponsorship and funding

The ThSL was legally and financially supported by the three Evangelical Lutheran regional churches of the GDR. The salaries of the employees and teachers, the scholarships and the fixed costs of the administration were covered by an annual sum of over 600,000 MDN . The Lutheran World Federation financed approx. 150,000 MDN of this each year, while over 450,000 MDN was raised through an annual Sunday collection. This was for the purposes of the Evang.-Luth. Mission to Leipzig collected in the three regional churches. The Missionswerk transferred the (changing) amount to the ThSL and in return received the same amount from the funds of the Federal Ministry for Internal German Relations for the international work of Ev.-Luth, founded in 1965 . Mission (Leipzig Mission) e. V. to Erlangen , which was continued there as the work of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD). At the end of the eighties, the Protestant regional churches switched the financing to so-called maintenance contributions, which had to be paid per capita in addition to a fixed basic amount for the students coming from the respective regional churches. Other acquisitions, such as the theological books from the Federal Republic and Western Europe, copier and telephone technology, were made possible by the Lutheran regional churches in the Federal Republic. As a rule, this only found its limit due to the restrictions imposed by the GDR authorities.

Teaching and Research

The teaching usually took place in the usual forms of lectures, exercises, advanced and advanced seminars. Particularly interesting moments in terms of university didactics arose above all with the so-called "Cursus introductorius", which was held as a block seminar outside Leipzig for ten days . The students chose a theological topic themselves and worked on it in small, interdisciplinary groups. In terms of form, content and group dynamics, these courses proved to be a success because they experienced theology as a process of critical reflection to a special degree. As a result of this experience, other courses were increasingly offered as block seminars or designed as interdisciplinary projects. The research was of course initially geared towards the individual interests of the teachers. It wasn't until the 1980s that joint projects between teachers and doctoral students became more common. A statistic lists a total of 18 qualification papers, which were mainly developed at the ThSL between 1980 and 1992.

Partnerships and scientific exchange

However, under the restricted conditions of the GDR, many West German and foreign colleagues were officially invited to guest lectures or unofficially to - unapproved - "contributions". In addition, there were partnerships with the Augustana University Neuendettelsau , the Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, St. Paul USA, and the Queen's College Birmingham. This enabled a mutual exchange of guest students who came to Leipzig or were delegated from Leipzig to English-speaking countries for a one-year guest study. In addition to GDR-wide specialist groups in most, but not all, theological disciplines, there were regular meetings with West German specialist colleagues in Berlin. Since partner churches, publishers and individual colleagues intensively provided specialist literature in both official and covert channels, participation in the Western European scientific debate was possible.

Lecturers

List of full-time lecturers at the ThSL: Helmut Appel (1948–1958), Karl-Heinrich Bieritz (1972–1986), Karlheinz Blaschke (1968–1992), Eberhard Fischer (1968–1992), Wolfgang Franke (1956–1959), Ursula Geiler (1958–1987), Gerhard Graf (1990–1992), Christoph Michael Haufe (1969–1992), Wilhelm Haupt (1961–1976), Harald Hegermann (1963–1969), Wolfram Herrmann (1958–1988), Carl Heinrich Ihmels (1923–1960), Christoph Kähler (1981–1992), August Kimme (1960–1964), Ernst Koch (1976–1992), Siegfried Krügel (1950–1970), Werner Krusche (1966–1969), Ulrich Kühn ( 1969–1992), Walter Nagel (1953–1963), Gottfried Nuschke (1957–1987), Richard Otto (1937–1957), Wolfgang Otto (1955–1971), Matthias Petzoldt (1987–1992), Herbert Peucker (1954– 1959), Wolfgang Ratzmann (1988–1992), Robert Rosenkranz (1967–1992), Wilhelm Schöne (1949–1962), Walter Schönfelder (1925–1962), Friedrich Schreiter (1951–1960), Erhard Schulze (1958–1968) , Wolfgang Schwabe (1960–1969), Hans Seidel (1971–1992), Walter Stade (1961–196 7), Rainer Stahl (1988–1992), Gottfried Steyer (1958–1965, 1972–1975), Wolfgang Trilling (1971–1985), Ingeborg Tschoerner (1958–1960, 1964–1965), Werner Vogler (1969–1992) , Gottfried Voigt (1958–1979), Dorothea Vollbach (1975–1992), Joachim Wiebering (1971–1987), Jürgen Ziemer (1980–1992).

Rectors

1948–1958 Helmut Appel, 1958–1970 Siegfried Krügel, 1970–1972 Ulrich Kühn, 1972–1974 Christoph Michael Haufe, 1974–1976 Hans Seidel, 1976–1978 Joachim Wiebering, 1978–1980 Karl-Heinrich Bieritz, 1980–1982 Werner Vogler , 1982–1984 Ernst Koch, 1984–1986 Jürgen Ziemer, 1986–1988 Christoph Kähler, 1988–1990 Ulrich Kühn, 1990–1992 Wolfgang Ratzmann.

literature

  • Werner Vogler (ed.) In connection with Hans Seidel and Ulrich Kühn : Four decades of ecclesiastical and theological training in Leipzig. The Theological Seminar / The Church University of Leipzig , Leipzig, Evangelical Publishing House, 1993, ISBN 3-374-01445-3 .
  • Wolfgang Ratzmann , Thomas A. Seidel (eds.): An island in the red sea - memories of the theological seminar Leipzig. Leipzig, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2017.

Documentary film

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Onnasch : The Catechetical Oberseminar - the church college. A review and a balance sheet. In: Kirchliche Hochschule Naumburg (Hrsg.): Vom Menschen. The last lecture series at the Naumburg Church University with a review of its history from 1949–1993. Naumburg 1993, pp. 134-148; Ulrich Schröter, Harald Schultze (ed.): In the shadow of the cathedral. Theological training in Naumburg 1949–1994. Leipzig 2012
  2. ^ Christoph Kähler : Church universities in the GDR. In: Peer Pasternack (Ed.): University & Politics. Theology & Politics. Visiting a network of relationships in the GDR. Berlin 1996, pp. 241-250
  3. ↑ In Leipzig, the numerically small Evangelical Lutheran Free Church also maintains and maintains a Lutheran Theological Seminary Leipzig . See http://elfk.de.dd21408.kasserver.com/html/main/uber-uns/arbeitsgebiete/seminar/
  4. ↑ Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, Verlag Traugott Bautz ( Memento from June 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ Karlheinz Blaschke : The early years of the theological seminary (1964–1970). In: Vogler 1993, pp. 21-32
  6. ↑ Christoph Michael Haufe : Church college without title (1970–1988). In: Vogler 1993, pp. 33-44
  7. ^ Christoph Kähler : Forms of leadership and co-determination. In: Vogler 1993, pp. 97-109
  8. ^ Ehrhart Neubert: History of the opposition in the GDR 1949–1989. Berlin 1997, p. 467
  9. ↑ See Hermann Geyer: Nikolaikirche, Mondays at five. The political services of the turning point in Leipzig. Darmstadt 2007.
  10. ↑ Peter Wensierski : Acting instead of praying. In: Der Spiegel 43/2009.
  11. ↑ Thomas Mayer: Heroes of the Peaceful Revolution. EVA, Leipzig 2009, p. 23 and 81.
  12. ↑ Ulrich Kühn : The time of turning point and the end (1988–1992). In: Vogler 1993, pp. 45-52
  13. ↑ Eberhard Fischer: The pre-theological training. In: Vogler 1993, pp. 54-56
  14. ↑ Konrad von Rabenau : A stuck training reform. In: Peer Pasternack (Ed.): University & Politics. Theology & Politics. Visiting a network of relationships in the GDR. Berlin 1996, pp. 98-118
  15. ^ Jürgen Ziemer: The theological study. In: Vogler 1993, pp. 57-63
  16. ^ Hans Seidel: Teaching and research. In: Vogler 1993, pp. 80-96
  17. ^ Rainer Stahl: Church and ecumenical references. In: Vogler 1993, pp. 110-120
  18. ↑ times of part-time work are not taken into account; For a complete list of full-time and part-time lecturers, lecturers, assistants and lecturers by subject, see Vogler 1993, pp. 131–139