Diakon wurde man, weil man anders war

Die Geschichte des Kirchlich-Diakonischen Lehrgangs in Berlin-Weissensee (1952-1991)

by Margit Herfarth

Book cover: Diakon wurde man, weil man anders war

Extent: 376 pages

Publisher: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt

Subjects: Religious Studies

Series: Diakonat - Kirche - Diakonie

Series volume number: 3

Language: German

Paperback (Out of print)

(July 2017)

ISBN: 9783374051649

5.75 x 8.46 inches

Price: $36.00

On back order

After the partition of Germany, it had become impossible to train East and West German students of deaconry together. While the latter remained at the Johannesstift, the former lived and studied at a new training facility – known as a ‘Bruderhaus’ – that had been established at the Stephanus Foundation in Weissensee. This book charts the history of a school which, although fraught with tension and conflict, enabled young male (and later female) Christians – despite the numerous obstacles posed by the East German political and social order – to devote themselves to Christian social work and care for those ‘on the fringes’ of society.


After the partition of Germany, it had become impossible to train East and West German students of deaconry together. While the latter remained at the Johannesstift, the former lived and studied at a new training facility – known as a ‘Bruderhaus’ – that had been established at the Stephanus Foundation in Weissensee. This book charts the history of a school which, although fraught with tension and conflict, enabled young male (and later female) Christians – despite the numerous obstacles posed by the East German political and social order – to devote themselves to Christian social work and care for those ‘on the fringes’ of society.

  • By (author) Margit Herfarth