Bonhoeffer- House

A few weeks ago, Lisa and I had the opportunity to visit the Bonhoeffer-House here in Berlin. This is actually Dietrich Bonhoeffer's parent's retirement house in Berlin, but Dietrich spent a good amount of time writing here and was arrested by the Gestapo here in 1943.

Bonhoeffer was part of the Confessing Church in Germany, which opposed Nazism in Germany and was in direct contrast to the national churches' allegiance to Hitler.





Both Lisa and I had known about Bonhoeffer and I had read his book Life Together, about community, while at Word Made Flesh. We were delighted that, upon making an appointment, we could view the house. We were able to spend 1.5 hours with a volunteer guide as he told us about the history of the house and about Bonhoeffer.




Much of the furniture in the house are reproductions due to renovations and lending the collections to other museums/memorial centers/libraries. However, the bookshelves, writing desk, and piano in his study are original. His manuscript After Ten Years was hidden in these rafters and was not found until after the war.




A historical timeline of the Bonhoeffer-House located in the front lobby:


We truly enjoyed paying respect to such a celebrated theologian, one who wrestled with nonviolence, but came to another conclusion in the midst of the evil of Hitler. We made a small donation at the end and also purchased a few pamphlets.

A nearby old train station, still in use, that Lisa and I imagined that Bonhoeffer would take frequently as he made his way to various Christian fellowships.



Also, Lisa and I happened upon a luxury condo building in west Germany that used to be The Imperial War Court. This is where Bonhoeffer was indicted and from where he was sent to prison. He was arrested and indicted because of a power struggle between the Abwehr (military intelligence) and the SS; his participation in the failed plot against Hitler was not found out until early April 1945.





A picture in the house shows the Flossenbürg concentration camp where Bonhoeffer was taken, tried, and executed in less than 24 hours. He was hanged less than 23 days before the Nazi's surrendered.



Lisa and I hope to visit more memorials for Dietrich Bonhoeffer and read more of his writing. For more information about Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life, here is the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer