2024-09-10 12:47:49
Friedrich Schorlemmer became known for his bold “Swords into Plowshares” campaign – later the leitmotif of the Christian-based GDR peace movement. Now, the theologian and civil rights activist is dead.
He was one of the harshest critics of the government in the GDR. In the fall of 1989 he was one of the most famous symbolic figures of the Peace Revolution. Wittenberg philosopher Friedrich Schorlemmer died on Sunday at the age of 80, as former Saxony-Anhalt Minister of Culture Stephan Dorgerloh told the German Press Agency, who worked closely with Schorlemmer.
The civil rights activist made history with his call for non-violence in a mass demonstration on November 4, 1989 in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz.
Just like in the GDR. On September 24, 1983, a Wittenberg blacksmith fashioned a sword into a plow. At that time, Schorlemmer was a preacher of Schloßkirchen and a bold activist. The slogan “Swords into plowshares” became a staple of the GDR’s Christian-based peace movement.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Saxony Martin Dulig (SPD) reminded this again. With this blacksmith campaign in Wittenberg, Schorlemmer became world famous, Dulig explained on Tuesday when the scientist died. “I join you with more than one social democratic intellectual from Wittenberg, but also a philosopher who established the Peace Revolution in 1989. Schorlemmer was always a wise adviser – whose thoughtful, clever inspiration will be missed by all of us, especially in these times of political turmoil.
Schorlemmer was born on May 16, 1944 in Wittenberge (Brandenburg). In the GDR it meant revenge – you were not allowed to take your Abitur at school and go to night school. Finally he studied theology at the University of Halle. With peaceful protests and non-violent non-violence, for example during the invasion of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia, it came into the sights of public security.
During the Peaceful Revolution, Schorlemmer was one of the founders of the “Democratic Awakening” and joined the SPD in 1990. In addition to his work for the Evangelical Church, he was also involved in the Wittenberg city council. “Democracy is like a garden, if you don’t take care of it, it goes wild quickly,” he once said.
For his tireless efforts, the city of Wittenberg honored him with an honorary citizenship on October 3, 2015. The left-wing politician Gregor Gysi said about him on this occasion: “You can never buy, uncomfortable, critical and not never allow it.”
Block criticism of Gauck
Even in retirement, the peace prize winner and author of numerous books continues to raise voice for democracy and against hatred. In Leipzig he was the founder of the “Peaceful Revolution Foundation”. The author is also not afraid to express his opinion to those in power: Federal Chancellor Joachim Gauck, for example – who was also a member of civil rights at the end of the GDR – has publicly criticized his statements about foreign missions of the Bundeswehr. When he thought about what happened in the past, he once said: “My life was not very easy, but it was rich.”
dpa/jm
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