Overview

• The City of Leipzig confirmed he died Monday at age 95, with Mayor Burkhard Jung calling his death a major loss and pledging to keep his example alive.
• As leader of Aktion Sühnezeichen in the GDR from 1974 to 1982, he promoted reconciliation with Eastern Europe, gaining esteem in Poland and later receiving honorary citizenship from Kraków in 2005.
• He served as pastor in Einsiedel, at Dresden’s Kreuzkirche, and at Leipzig’s Nikolaikirche, becoming superintendent of the Leipzig-Ost district in 1982 and co-organizing peace prayers with Christian Führer.
• During the Peaceful Revolution he moderated Leipzig’s Round Table in early 1990 and briefly served as transitional city president, helping to restructure the administration through 1994.
• His honors included the Goldene Kamera and Gustav Heinemann Citizens’ Prize in 1990 and the French Legion of Honour (Officer) in 1995; he became an honorary citizen of Leipzig in 2022 and is survived by his wife, three children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.