Bonhoeffer – then and now
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born on 4 February 1906 in Breslau. He was a German theologian, devout Christian and resistance fighter against National Socialism. Ninety years ago, Bonhoeffer opened the Confessing Church's preacher's seminary at Zingsthof.
He was 27 years old when Adolf Hitler seized power in Germany. The Nazis also tried to force the Christian church to adopt their ideology. On 9 April 1945, he was executed at the Flossenbürg concentration camp.
The Bonhoeffer Chapel at Zingshof was built in his honour.
The three sources of his thinking and actions
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born on 4 February 1906 in Breslau.
He was a German theologian and pastor of the Confessing Church who dedicated his life to resisting National Socialism. On 9 April 1945, he was executed in the Flossenbürg concentration camp.
His thinking and actions were shaped in part by his family. His father, Karl, was a professor of psychiatry and neurology and worked at the Charité hospital in Berlin from 1912 onwards. His mother, Paula, was a trained teacher.
Dietrich has three brothers and four sisters. The family values respect and consideration for others, especially those who are weaker. The family home in Berlin's Grunewald district is an open place for friends, celebrations and the exchange of political ideas.
The second source of his thinking and actions is the international extended family of ecumenism. Friendly relations, solidarity between nations and shared Christian responsibility are, for him, the key to a peaceful future for the world.
The third source is his faith in Jesus Christ as a man for others. After graduating from high school, he studied theology. Throughout his life, he has been moved by the question of who Christ actually is for us today.
I believe,
that God can and will let good come out of everything, even the greatest evil. For that to happen, God needs human beings who let everything work out for the best.I believe,
that in every moment of distress God will give us as much strength to resist as we need. But it is not given to us in advance, lest we rely on ourselves and not on God alone. In such faith all fear of the future should be overcome.I believe,
that even our mistakes and shortcomings are not in vain and that it is no more difficult for God to deal with them than with our supposedly good deeds.
I believe,
that God is not a timeless fate, but that he waits and responds to sincere prayers and responsible actions.
A pastor in conspiracy
In the spring of 1933, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote an essay entitled "The Church and the Jewish Question" about the relationship between the church and the state: First, it must warn the state when it deprives people of their rights; second, it must stand by those who have been deprived of their rights; and third, it must resist the state's unjust actions.
"Praying and doing what is right and waiting for God's time" – that is what being a Christian will come down to. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote this in May 1944 from prison on the occasion of the baptism of his godson Dietrich Bethge.
Bonhoeffer recognised the goals of the National Socialists early on: they wanted to exterminate the Jews and wage war. "There should be peace because Christ is in the world," Bonhoeffer emphasised in August 1934 in his speech at the ecumenical conference on the Danish island of Fanø. And he was specific: "Christians cannot take up arms against each other because they know that in doing so they would be taking up arms against Christ himself."
Bonhoeffer knew about Hitler's preparations for war. He opposed them with all his thoughts and actions. He wanted to protect Jews, campaigned for an end to the cruel war and became a pacifist. In 1939, he refused military service and fled to the United States. After only 25 days, he returned to share "the trials of this time" with "his people."
"Resistance and Submission" - Letters and poems from prison
On 5 April 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his brother-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi are arrested by the Gestapo for rescuing Jews. The Gestapo knows nothing of their plans for a coup.
Bonhoeffer was taken from his parents' home in Berlin-Charlottenburg to the Wehrmacht's remand prison in Tegel.
After six months, with the help of a courageous prison guard, he manages to circumvent censorship and exchange letters with his family, his fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer, and Eberhard Bethge, his close friend from his time at Zingsthof.
In 1951, Eberhard Bethge published a collection of Bonhoeffer's letters from prison on the future of religion, faith and the church under the title "Resistance and Submission". The collection also includes ten poems, nine of which Bonhoeffer wrote in Tegel.
