Gerhard Besier (born 30 November 1947, in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

) is a German

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

theologian, historian and politician best known for his work on church-state relations in the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

and 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 ...

Work

Besier's publications have focused on church history, including church history during the

and the

, and

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

issues in contemporary society. His views on religious freedom follow the

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

American model, a stance which has made him controversial in Germany.Staff (16 June 2009)
"Offener, als ich vermutet habe"
''

taz Taz or TAZ may refer to: Geography *Taz (river), a river in western Siberia, Russia *Taz Estuary, the estuary of the river Taz in Russia People * Taz people, an ethnic group in Russia ** Taz language, a form of Northeastern Mandarin spoken by ...

''. Retrieved on 2009-06-29. Güntner, Joachim (24 November 2003)
"Toleranzübung auf problematischem Felde – Scientology und der 'Fall' Besier"
''Neue Zürcher Zeitung''. Retrieved on 2009-06-29. Besier taught historical theology at

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

from 1992 to 2003. From 2003 to 2008, he was the director of the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism at Dresden University; his contract was not renewed following widespread criticism in Germany of his liberal views on

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...

. Besier currently holds the chair in European Studies at Dresden University.TU Dresden Chair in European Studies
/ref> He is a visiting professor at universities in the United States, Sweden and Poland, and is the editor of ''Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte'', an academic journal on church history. Formerly considered close to the conservative Christian Democratic Union party, Besier joined the left-wing ''

Die Linke Die Linke (; ), also known as the Left Party ( ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The ...

'' party in April 2009, and was nominated for a safe ''

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

'' seat in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. He holds three doctorates, including an honorary doctorate from

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in recognition of his services to religious freedom.

Publications

English

* ''Churches, Southern Africa and the Political Context''. 1999, Minerva Press, . * ''The Holy See and Hitler's Germany''. 2007, Palgrave Macmillan, (with Francesca Piombo). * ''Fascism, Communism and the Consolidation of Democracy: A Comparison of European Dictatorships''. 2007, Lit Verlag, (with Francesca Piombo and Katarzyna Stokłosa). * ''Religion, State and Society in the Transformations of the Twentieth Century – Modernization, Innovation and Decline''. 2008, Lit Verlag, . * ''Totalitarianism and Liberty. Hannah Arendt in the 21st Century''. Kraków 2008, Ksiegarnia Akademicka, (with Katarzyna Stokłosa and Andrew Wisley) * ''Jehovah's Witnesses in Europe: Past and Present'', Volume I, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016, (with Katarzyna Stokłosa) * ''Jehovah's Witnesses in Europe: Past and Present'', Volume II, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018, (with Katarzyna Stokłosa)

German

* ''Seelsorge und Klinische Psychologie. Defizite in Theorie und Praxis der Pastoralpsychologie.'' Göttingen 1980, * ''Preußische Kirchenpolitik in der Bismarckära''. 1980. * ''Protestantische Kirchen Europas im Ersten Weltkrieg.'' 1984. * ''Der SED-Staat und die Kirche. Der Weg in die Anpassung''. Munich 1993, * ''Der SED-Staat und die Kirche 1969–1990. Die Vision vom „dritten Weg“''. Berlin and Frankfurt am Main 1995, * ''Der SED-Staat und die Kirche 1983–1991. Höhenflug und Absturz''. Berlin and Frankfurt am Main 1995, * ''Christliche Hoffnung, Weltoffenheit, Gemeinsames Leben. Gelbe Mammuts auf dem Berg''. Brunnen, 1998 (with Christl Ruth Vonholdt and Hermann Klenk) * ''Die neuen Inquisitoren. Religionsfreiheit und Glaubensneid''. Zurich 1999, Teil 1: , Teil 2: * ''Die Rufmordkampagne. Kirchen & Co vor Gericht''. Bergisch Gladbach 2002, * ''Konzern Kirche. Das Evangelium und die Macht des Geldes''. Hänssler Verlag, 2002, * ''Repression und Selbstbehauptung. Die Zeugen Jehovas unter der NS- und der SED-Diktatur'', Duncker und Humblot, Berlin 2003, (with Clemens Vollnhals) * ''Der Heilige Stuhl und Hitler-Deutschland: Die Faszination des Totalitären''. Munich 2004, * ''Religionsfreiheit und Konformismus. Über Minderheiten und die Macht der Mehrheit''. Lit. Verlag, Münster 2004, * ''Das Europa der Diktaturen. Eine neue Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts''. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Munich 2006, * ''Im Namen der Freiheit. Die amerikanische Mission''. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2006, * ''Jehovas Zeugen in Europa – Geschichte und Gegenwart'', Band 1, Lit Verlag, Münster 2013, (with Katarzyna Stokłosa) * ''Jehovas Zeugen in Europa – Geschichte und Gegenwart'', Band 2, Lit Verlag, Münster 2015, (with Katarzyna Stokłosa)

References

External links

CV
Dresden University {{DEFAULTSORT:Besier, Gerhard 1947 births Living people 20th-century German historians German Lutheran theologians 20th-century German Protestant theologians Die Linke politicians German male non-fiction writers 21st-century German historians