Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian, a major figure of Christian resistance to Nazism. A member of the Confessing Church, he became involved in a plot against Hitler and was executed in 1945. His theological work left a profound mark on twentieth-century Christian thought.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer(1906 — 1945)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Allemagne
6 min read
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.»
« Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church.»
Key Facts
- Born on February 4, 1906, in Breslau into an upper-middle-class German family.
- Co-founder in 1934 of the Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche), opposed to the Nazi takeover of the Protestant churches.
- Author of major works such as “Life Together” (1939) and the unfinished “Ethics.”
- Arrested by the Gestapo in April 1943 for his involvement in the resistance and the plot against Hitler.
- Executed by hanging on April 9, 1945, at the Flossenbürg camp, just weeks before the end of the war.
Works & Achievements
His thesis on the sociology of the Church, laying the foundations of his theology of the Christian community as “Christ existing as community”.
A meditation on the Sermon on the Mount and “costly grace,” set against a faith of comfort. One of his most influential works.
An account and reflection on the experience of communal life at the Finkenwalde seminary, which became a classic of Christian spirituality.
A major work left unfinished, in which he develops an ethics of concrete responsibility in the face of the historical evil of Nazism.
A collection of his letters and prison notes, in which he sketches the idea of a “religionless Christianity” in a world come of age.
Beyond his writings, his active participation in the plots against Hitler makes him a witness to Christian moral courage unto martyrdom.
Anecdotes
In 1939, Bonhoeffer was safely in the United States, invited to teach in New York. But after only a few weeks, he decided to return to Germany, believing he would have no right to take part in the Christian reconstruction of his country after the war if he had not shared the trials of his people.
Bonhoeffer led a clandestine seminary of the Confessing Church at Finkenwalde, shut down by the Gestapo in 1937. The students there lived a strict communal life, blending prayer, meditation on the Bible, and shared work — an experience he recounts in his book *Life Together*.
Imprisoned at Tegel from 1943 onward, he continued to write letters and theological reflections on scraps of paper, sometimes smuggled out by guards who respected him. These texts would form *Letters and Papers from Prison*, one of his most widely read works.
The doctor at the Flossenbürg camp, a witness to his execution on 9 April 1945, said he had never seen a man die with such serenity, recounting that Bonhoeffer knelt to pray before being led to the gallows, just a few weeks before the end of the war.
Bonhoeffer took part in the plot of 20 July 1944 to assassinate Hitler, alongside members of his own family such as his brother-in-law Hans von Dohnányi. This pacifist theologian came to regard the assassination of the dictator as a moral responsibility he had to bear before God.
Primary Sources
I believe that God can and will bring good out of everything, even the worst. For this He needs people who make the best use of everything.
Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. Our struggle today is for costly grace.
The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God's Word to him, and he needs this again and again when doubt and discouragement assail him.
The responsible person acts in freedom, without the support of others, of people or of circumstances, yet he is never alone before the gaze of God.
Key Places
Bonhoeffer's birthplace in 1906, then in Germany (today Wrocław, in Poland). His family lived there before moving to Berlin.
The place of his studies and his doctorate in theology, then of his teaching as a Privatdozent. Berlin was also the center of his resistance to Nazism.
The clandestine seminary of the Confessing Church that he directed from 1935 to 1937, near Stettin. A place of intense Christian communal life, closed down by the Gestapo.
The military prison where Bonhoeffer was incarcerated from April 1943. There he wrote the letters and reflections of 'Letters and Papers from Prison'.
The site of his execution by hanging on 9 April 1945, on a direct order linked to his involvement in the conspiracy against Hitler. A memorial there honors his memory today.
The seminary where Bonhoeffer studied and taught during his stays in the United States. It was from here that, in 1939, he chose to return to Germany despite the danger.
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Sanctorum Communio (thèse de doctorat)
1927
Le Prix de la grâce (Nachfolge)
1937
De la vie communautaire (Gemeinsames Leben)
1939
Éthique (Ethik)
1940-1943
Résistance et soumission (Widerstand und Ergebung)
1951 (posthume)
Engagement dans la résistance anti-nazie
1940-1945
