Hartmut Hegeler (born 11 June 1946 in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

) is a German Protestant

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

and author, who is committed to rehabilitating the victims of the

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

hunts in Europe which reached a peak during the early seventeenth century. He has a homepage about

Anton Praetorius Anton Praetorius (1560 – 6 December 1613) was a German Calvinist pastor who spoke out against the persecution of witches ( witchhunts, witchcraft trials) and against torture. Life and writings Praetorius was born in Lippstadt as the son ...

Biography

Hegeler attended school in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

and was an exchange student in Senior High School in

Renton, Washington Renton is a city in King County, Washington, United States, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 202 ...

in 1964. He studied theology in Germany in Bethel, at the university of

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. As a vicar of the

Evangelical Church of Westphalia The Protestant Church of Westphalia () is a United Protestant church body in North Rhine-Westphalia. The seat of the praeses (, the head of the church) is Bielefeld. The EKvW emerged on 13 June 1945, when the ecclesiastical province of Westphali ...

he was in India. Here he made a survey of an irrigation project of the Tamilnad Christian Council by Joseph John and

Lüder Lüers Kindernothilfe (KNH) is a charity organization and was founded in 1959 by a group of Christians in Duisburg, Germany, in order to help needy children in India. Over time, it has become one of the largest Christian organizations in Europe for ch ...

. As pastor he served in Recklinghausen. 1974-1976 he worked in the field of development aid in

North Yemen North Yemen () is a term used to describe the Kingdom of Yemen (1918-1962), the Yemen Arab Republic (1962-1990), and the regimes that preceded them and exercised sovereignty over that region of Yemen. Its capital was Sanaa from 1918 to 1948 an ...

. 1976-1982 he was parish pastor in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, afterwards he worked as a pastor and religious education teacher in a vocational training college in

Unna Unna () is a city of around 59,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the seat of the Unna (district), Unna district. The newly refurbished Unna station has trains to all major cities in North Rhine Westphalia including Dortmund, Köln H ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, where he lives. Since 2010 he is retired. Questions of his students in 2001 about the persecution of witches were the impulse for his studies on this subject: writing books and holding lectures. He is fighting for the exoneration of the victims of the witchcraft trials, that they should be given back their dignity as human beings and as Christians. Places of remembrance should give witness to their fate. At the 2010 Ecumenical Church Congress in Munich he was supported by

Traudl Kleefeld Traudl (Gertraud) Kleefeld, née Herrmann (August 17, 1936 in Bayreuth – February 27, 2024 in Erlangen), was a German modern philologist, historian, author and volunteer in the Protestant Church. Biography In 1954, she began studying modern l ...

in conducting the memorial service for the victims of the witch trials in the Herz-Jesu-Kirche. There have been many reports in the media about his activities.Berlino Magazine. 14.06.2019 Marta Miotto: ''In Germania un prete vuole scagionare le streghe''
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References

Publications

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"Anton Pretorius" Homepage of Hegeler about witchcraft trials

Hegeler in the lexicon of authors in Westphalia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegeler, Hartmut 1946 births Living people People from Unna 20th-century German Lutheran clergy 21st-century German Lutheran clergy