Christfried Berger (7 January 1938 – 19 November 2003) was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

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 ...

in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

and subsequently, in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

following

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller politics or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal govern ...

. He was a leading

ecumenist Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

Life

Berger was born in Posen, at that time a major industrial city in the heart of eastern

. After 1945 the family lived in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, now part of the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

of Germany, which eventually became East Germany. Berger studied

Protestant Theology Protestant theology refers to the doctrines held by various Protestant traditions, which share some things in common but differ in others. In general, Protestant theology, as a subset of Christian theology, holds to faith in the Christian Bible, t ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

between 1956 and 1961. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1963. After this, between 1964 and 1966, he became the first ordained minister for alternative military service in a unit of the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

, which had been established in 1956 and was heavily dependent on "national service" conscription. He subsequently created and for many years led the illegal convention of former non-fighting "

Construction soldier A construction soldier (, BS) was a non-combat role of the National People's Army, the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), from 1964 to 1990. ''Bausoldaten'' were conscientious objectors who accepted conscription but re ...

s" in the German Democratic Republic. By doing this he attracted an intense and sustained programme of "observation" from officers of the ubiquitous Ministry for State Security and their collaborators in what, since October 1949, had been the Soviet sponsored German Democratic Republic. It was also during the early 1960s that Christfried Berger married a fellow theologian-minister called Almuth Brennecke. Between 1966 and 1974 he served as an evangelical pastor in the

Schmöckwitz Schmöckwitz () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Köpenick. History The locality was founded in 1375 with the name of Smekewitz. In 192 ...

district in the southern part of Berlin. After that he became senior consistory counsellor and advisor for ecumenism, mission and charity of the Evangelical Consistory for the church province of Saxony, based in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

. From 1979-1980 he worked for a number of months for the Dialogue Department of the

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

based

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

. In 1985 Berger was appointed Director of the Ecumenical Missionary Centre of the

Berlin Missionary Society The Berlin Missionary Society (BMS) (German: ''Berliner Missionsgesellschaft'' (BMG)) was a Berlin-based German Protestant (Lutheran) Christianity, Christian missionary society, active from 1824 to 1972 in South Africa, East Africa and China. In 197 ...

. During the defining closing months of late 1989 and early 1990, Christfried Berger chaired the Foreign Policy Working Group of the

East German Round Table Round Table primarily refers to the Central Round Table (''Zentraler Runder Tisch''), a series of meetings during the Peaceful Revolution in East Germany in late-1989 and early-1990. The Round table first convened in East Berlin on 7 December 1 ...

exercise. Following

, which took place in October 1990, he headed up the Ecumenical Missionary Institute of Berlin's Ecumenical Council until his retirement in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Christfried 20th-century German Protestant theologians 1938 births 2003 deaths