Margot Käßmann - the bishop of hearts

On June 5, 1999, Margot Käßmann was elected Bishop of Hanover, and in 2009 she became Chairwoman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Even her resignation for drinking and driving did not dampen her popularity.

by Jan Ehlert

"Because the ways of every man are open before the Lord, and he watches over all people's ways." It was in 1972 that Margot Schulze, who was born in Marburg on June 3, 1958, took this Bible verse with her on her journey through life. At the time, she probably would hardly have guessed how diverse, winding and full of ups and downs this path would be. Margot Schulze became the Hanoverian state bishop and EKD council chairwoman Margot Käßmann, who, even after resigning from both offices in February 2010, is still considered one of the most popular theologians in Germany.

"You won't get elected anyway"

Her election as Bishop of Hanover on June 5, 1999 was also a big surprise for Margot Käßmann. "You won't be elected anyway. Hanover is too traditional," she had been told beforehand, but at least it had to be shown that a woman could also be considered for the office of bishop. So Käßmann ran for office - and prevailed. "I think it was a surprise for everyone in the synod that I suddenly had a majority," she later recalled. "So I had to deal with it myself first. But we changed a lot in those years, together with others, and I really enjoyed it."

At her consecration service on September 4, 1999, her predecessor in office, the regional bishop of the Hanoverian regional church, Horst Hirschler, had already warned her that her many offices would also entail many obligations:"And also the busy schedule - you'll see it , Mrs. Käßmann - ensures that the scope is restricted."

"What can happen to you"

But being restricted by others was out of the question for Käßmann. She went forward to the music of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's double quartet to give her first sermon as state bishop in the Marktkirche in Hanover. "The music also carried me because I thought, yes, if God commands his angels to protect you, what should happen to you, and I have to say, that was of course also very, very moving for me. "

Margot Käßmann is changing the world of bishops

The young pastor from Kurhessen-Waldeck was the first woman to be elected to this office in Hanover. Just as Käßmann was often the first in her life:in 1983 she became the youngest member of the central committee of the World Council of Churches. 1994 first general secretary of the Evangelical Church Congress. However, her election as state bishop came as a surprise to many within the Hanoverian state church. Which also brought criticism:A 41-year-old mother of four - that didn't seem to fit into the image of the bishop's world.

"It used to be said that you have to be over 50 to become a bishop, because you can't do anything else afterwards," Käßmann said in retrospect in one of her interviews with NDR. "I did a lot of other things after I was bishop, so it's good that it's not just the image of the serious, settled older gentleman in your head of what a bishop could look like. And that took a long time to change has."

Controversial speech:"Nothing is good in Afghanistan"

Margot Käßmann played a big part in that. She preached the message of the Evangelical Church in an approachable, friendly manner and with clearly understandable images. But she was also able to make herself clear:a few weeks after she was elected Council President of the Evangelical Church in Germany in Ulm, she unleashed a storm of indignation in her New Year's sermon with her sentence "Nothing is good in Afghanistan". "By the way, I didn't criticize the Bundeswehr, but the politicians," she said. "What are our soldiers' goals with? I got the impression that what we're doing with our foreign missions and that it's war isn't being questioned enough. But I didn't expect it to hit such a nerve , I have to say."

Margot Käßmann:theologian, author and above all human being

But Käßmann made no secret of her own painful experiences. The divorce from her husband, her cancer - Käßmann spoke and wrote about it. Her book "In the Middle of Life" became a bestseller.

Resignation after driving under the influence of alcohol

Another difficult moment followed for Käßmann in February 2010:After driving under the influence of alcohol and ignoring a red traffic light, she resigned from all church leadership positions on February 24. "Last Saturday I made a serious mistake that I deeply regret," she said in her statement. "Even if I regret it, I cannot and do not want to overlook the fact that the office and my authority as state bishop and as chairwoman of the council have been damaged."

This step did not harm their popularity. Events with Margot Käßmann at church conventions were always filled to capacity. And through her work as ambassador for the Reformation anniversary in 2017, she also remained in the public eye - and her appointment calendar was full. That changed on June 30, 2018. Margot Käßmann said goodbye to her retirement with a festive service - in the Marktkirche in Hanover, where so much of her life had begun in 1999.

Margot Käßmann in the podcast on current life issues

However, she has not withdrawn from the public and her attitude towards faith, life and politics. She also reads and talks regularly at events, on the radio and on television - and in the podcast "Mensch Margot" from NDR 1 Niedersachsen, the theologian regularly provides orientation and help on a wide variety of life issues.