Elisabeth Haseloff (1914–1974) was a German Lutheran pastor. In 1958, in accordance with revised legislation, she was chosen to serve as a pastor in

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

. On Easter Sunday 1959, she was ceremoniously appointed to head the city's Evangelical Women's Association, becoming the first woman in Germany to hold the title of pastor. She maintained the position until she died in an accident in 1974.

Biography

Born on 30 June 1914 in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Elisabeth Haseloff was the daughter of Arthur Haseloff (1872–1955), an art historian. She was brought up in a cultural environment in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, meeting numerous figures associated with art and science. When she was 14, deeply moved by her confirmation, she resolved to study theology. As a result, in 1935 she embarked on her studies at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. During the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

era, she became a member of the

Confessing Church The Confessing Church (, ) was a movement within German Protestantism in Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all of the Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German Evangelical Church. See dro ...

. After taking her first theological examination in 1939, she gained practical experience of clerical work at St Anschar's Church in

Neumünster Neumünster () is a city in the middle of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. With more than 79,000 registered inhabitants, it is the fourth-largest municipality in Schleswig-Holstein (behind Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg). The ''Holstenhallen'' and ...

. She was particularly active in caring for hospital patients but also preached on occasion, although it was against the rules. She was not supposed to do more than hold Bible classes but during the war, it was not unusual for women to deliver sermons. She took the second theology exam in 1941, becoming the first woman to do so in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

. After assisting the pastor in Büdelsdorf, in the absence of male pastors, in 1946 she was entrusted with responsibility for the parish. She remained in Büdelsdorf until 1959. In the late 1950s, there was a vacancy for a pastor in one of the parishes in Lübeck. Realizing that Haseloff could fill the post, the synod drafted a "church law for the parochial employment of a female pastor", the first of its kind in Germany. On Whit Sunday 1959, she was installed as the first female pastor in the Evangelical Church of Germany, a development which was widely reported in the press. She turned out to be very effective in her new position, arranging seminars on collaboration between men and women in the church, inviting women politicians, doctors, trade unionists and teachers. She was also active in arranging meetings between women in East and West Germany and in collaboration with Africa. In 1962, she invited three Tanzanian women to study in Lübeck as kindergarten teachers, hosting them in her own home. On 29 November 1974, Elisabeth Haseloff met with a fatal accident in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

while crossing the street on a zebra crossing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haseloff, Elisabeth 1914 births 1974 deaths Clergy from Lübeck 20th-century German Lutheran clergy Women Lutheran clergy University of Kiel alumni