The Protestant theologian and representative of the Christian resistance against the Nazis, Dietrich von Bonhoeffer, was murdered on April 9, 1945 in the Flossenbürg concentration camp.
On the occasion of the 76th anniversary of his death, the Geretsried City Museum is dedicating an exhibition to him.
Geretsried - Bonhoeffer's life stages are traced on 18 boards made available by the Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria (EPV). "He was a man from whom we can still learn something today," said Mayor Michael Müller at the opening of the exhibition. “Namely, to stand by your opinion and to represent it - even if, like then, you have to reckon with the worst.” This was also emphasized by the Protestant pastor Dr. Theo Heckel. In his speech he outlined how Bonhoeffer devoted his life to the resistance, and reported on his arrest and execution. "He was already safe from his stay abroad, but did not want to abandon his brothers." Shortly before Bonhoeffer was murdered, he asked his fellow British prisoner Payne Best, his friend George Bell, toto deliver a final message to the Bishop of Chichester if possible. "This is the end. For me the beginning of life. "
Heckel himself has a special relationship with Bonhoeffer, because his grandfather was Bishop Theo Heckel, head of the ecclesiastical external office of the German Evangelical Church (DEK) responsible for ecumenism - and thus Bishop von Bonhoeffer's superior when he accepted a position as pastor abroad in London in 1933 . "At first the two men got along well," said Heckel. "So much so that Bonhoeffer sent my grandfather his doctoral thesis with a dedication." A document that is still in the family's possession. Later the relationship cooled noticeably. "As a member of the Confessing Church, Bonhoeffer became a leading theologian, while the bishop tended to hinder their work."
Almost everyone knows one work by Bonhoeffer: the poem “Von guten Mächten”, which was later set to music.
The theologian wrote it from the prison of the Reich Security Main Office in Berlin in December 1944 to his young fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer.
He was executed four months later.
The exhibition runs until June 15th.
In addition, the city's cultural office is planning a theater performance in the council chambers in cooperation with the adult education center.
A performance for adults and one for children is planned.
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The municipal museum and the special exhibition can currently only be visited after prior registration: Telephone 0 81 71/62 98 161 or by email to anita.zwicknagl@geretsried.de.
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