Charlotte von Kirschbaum (June 25, 1899 – July 24, 1975) was a German

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

who assisted

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Decl ...

in writing his '' Church Dogmatics''. She was born in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

. In 1916 her father died in the First World War, which inspired her to be trained as a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

. In 1924 she met Karl Barth, and became his pupil; she later contributed to all of Karl Barth's academic publications. Historians have discussed at length her romantic relationship with Barth, and its possible impact on his theology. The letters between von Kirschbaum and Barth express "the deep, intense, and overwhelming love between these two human beings."

Relationship with Karl Barth and Nelly Hoffman-Barth

Von Kirschbaum met Barth at the University of Göttingen in 1924, when she was 25 years old; at the time she was a Red Cross nurse with an interest in theology, and economically destitute. By 1929 she was working full-time for Barth as a secretary and assistant preparing his lectures. They developed an intimate relationship that threatened Barth's marriage. In October 1929 she moved into the Barth household, where she would live with his wife Nelly and their children until 1966. During this time, von Kirschbaum and Barth cowrote the volumes of '' Church Dogmatics'' and many other theological works; Barth's children referred to her as "Aunt Lollo". Long a matter of speculation, the relationship between Barth and Kirschbaum was confirmed by the release of many personal letters in 2017. However, even after Barth's death, Nelly continued to visit von Kirschbaum in the hospital.

''Church Dogmatics''

Although von Kirschbaum is not listed as a co-author of '' Church Dogmatics'', Barth admitted that it would not have been written without her. When she finally became ill and moved to hospital, he could not complete it. In the preface to CD III/3 he wrote:

"I should not like to conclude this Preface without expressly drawing the attention of readers of these seven volumes to what they and I owe to the twenty years of work quietly accomplished at my side by Charlotte von Kirschbaum. She has devoted no less of her life and powers to the growth of this work than I have myself. Without her co-operation it could not have been advanced from day to day, and I should hardly dare contemplate the future which may yet remain to me. I know what it really means to have a helper."

Work with Karl Barth

For the sake of the work she learned

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

. She was also assigned to attend the philosophical lectures of

Heinrich Scholz Heinrich Scholz (; 17 December 1884 – 30 December 1956) was a German logician, philosopher, and Protestant theologian. He was a peer of Alan Turing who mentioned Scholz when writing with regard to the reception of "On Computable Numbers, wit ...

, have an hour of discussion with him, and later relay the content thereof to Barth. Scholz made a marriage proposal to her, but she declined. She made an important contribution to the production of Barth's ''Church Dogmatics''. In 1935 Barth moved to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, followed by Charlotte. From there they supported the German Resistance.

Theological work

In 1949 her theological book ''Die wirkliche Frau'' (''The Real Woman'') was published. It discussed the role of women.

End of life and burial

In the early 1962, Charlotte von Kirschbaum became ill and moved to a nursing home in Riehen, and was hospitalized for the rest of her life and she died thirteen years later. Nelly Hoffman buried Charlotte von Kirschbaum in the Barth family tomb where Karl Barth was previously buried and where Nelly was later buried too.

Relationship with Karl Barth and Nelly Hoffman-Barth

''Church Dogmatics''

Work with Karl Barth

Theological work

End of life and burial

Writings

References

Sources

Further reading