Charlotte von Kirschbaum

Charlotte von Kirschbaum (June 25, 1899 – July 24, 1975)[1][2] was a German theologian who assisted Karl Barth in writing his Church Dogmatics. She was born in Ingolstadt. In 1916 her father died in the war, which inspired her to be trained as a nurse. In 1924 she met Karl Barth, and became his pupil; she later contributed to all of Karl Barth's academic publications. Historians have discussed at length her romantic relationship with Barth, and its possible impact on his theology.[3][4][5][6] The letters between von Kirschbaum and Barth express "the deep, intense, and overwhelming love between these two human beings."[7][8]

Relationship with Karl Barth and Nelly Hoffman-Barth

Von Kirschbaum met Barth at the University of Göttingen in 1924, when she was 25 years old; at the time she was a Red Cross nurse with an interest in theology, and economically destitute. By 1929 she was working full-time for Barth as a secretary and assistant preparing his lectures.[9][10] They developed an intimate relationship that threatened Barth's marriage. In October 1929 she moved into the Barth household, where she would live with his wife Nelly and their children until 1966.[11] [12] During this time, von Kirschbaum and Barth cowrote the volumes of Church Dogmatics and many other theological works; Barth's children referred to her as "Aunt Lollo".[13] Long a matter of speculation,[14] the relationship between Barth and Kirschbaum was confirmed by the release of many personal letters in 2017.[15] However, even after Barth's death, Nelly continued to visit von Kirschbaum in the hospital.[16]

Church Dogmatics

Although von Kirschbaum is not listed as a co-author of Church Dogmatics, Barth admitted that it would not have been written without her. In the preface to CD III/3 he wrote:

"I should not like to conclude this Preface without expressly drawing the attention of readers of these seven volumes to what they and I owe to the twenty years of work quietly accomplished at my side by Charlotte von Kirschbaum. She has devoted no less of her life and powers to the growth of this work than I have myself. Without her co-operation it could not have been advanced from day to day, and I should hardly dare contemplate the future which may yet remain to me. I know what it really means to have a helper."[17]

Work with Karl Barth

For the sake of the work she learned Latin and Greek.[18] She was also assigned to attend the philosophical lectures of Heinrich Scholz, have an hour of discussion with him, and later relay the content thereof to Barth.[19] Scholz made a marriage proposal to her, but she declined.[20][21] She made an important contribution to the production of Barth's Church Dogmatics.[22] In 1935 Barth moved to Basel, Switzerland, followed by Charlotte.[23] From there they supported the German Resistance.[24]

Theological work

In 1949 her theological book Die wirkliche Frau (The Real Woman) was published. It discussed the role of women.

End of life and burial
Charlotte von Kirschbaum, Hörnli Cemetery (Friedhof am Hörnli), Basel

In the early 1962, Charlotte von Kirschbaum became ill and moved to a nursing home in Riehen, and was hospitalized for the rest of her life[25] and she died ten years later. Nelly Hoffman buried Charlotte von Kirschbaum in the Barth family tomb where Karl Barth was previously buried and where Nelly was later buried too.

Writings
  • von Kirschbaum, Charlotte (1996), The Question of Woman: The Collected Writings of Charlotte Von Kirschbaum, Eerdmans, ISBN 0-8028-4142-2.

References
  1. Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts
  2. FemBio
  3. Suzanne Selinger (1998). Charlotte Von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth: A Study in Biography and the History of Theology. Penn State Press. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-0-271-01864-5.
  4. Stephen J. Plant, "When Karl met Lollo: the origins and consequences of Karl Barth's relationship with Charlotte von Kirschbaum." Scottish Journal of Theology 72.2 (2019): 127-145 online.
  5. Susanne Hennecke, "Biography and theology. On the connectedness of theological statements with life on the basis of the correspondence between Karl Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum (1925–1935)." International Journal of Philosophy and Theology 77.4-5 (2016): 324-336.
  6. Houtz, Wyatt (9 October 2017). "A Bright and Bleak Constellation: Karl Barth, Nelly Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum". The PostBarthian. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  7. Tietz, Christiane (1 July 2017). "Karl Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum". Theology Today. 74 (2): 86–111. doi:10.1177/0040573617702547. ISSN 0040-5736. S2CID 171520544.
  8. "A Bright and Bleak Constellation: Karl Barth, Nelly Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum". The PostBarthian. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  9. "A Bright and Bleak Constellation: Karl Barth, Nelly Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum". The PostBarthian. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  10. Suzanne Selinger (1 January 1998). Charlotte Von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth: A Study in Biography and the History of Theology. Penn State Press. pp. 2–, 9–. ISBN 0-271-01864-X.
  11. "A Bright and Bleak Constellation: Karl Barth, Nelly Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum". The PostBarthian. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  12. Selinger, 1998
  13. "A Bright and Bleak Constellation: Karl Barth, Nelly Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum". The PostBarthian. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  14. "A Bright and Bleak Constellation: Karl Barth, Nelly Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum". The PostBarthian. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  15. "What to Make of Karl Barth's Steadfast Adultery: Do the recent revelations discredit his theology?". Christianity Today. 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  16. "A Bright and Bleak Constellation: Karl Barth, Nelly Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum". The PostBarthian. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  17. "The Life of Karl Barth: Church Dogmatics Vol III: The Doctrine of Creation 1945-1951 (Part 6)". The PostBarthian. 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  18. Plant, Stephen J. "When Karl met Lollo: the origins and consequences of Karl Barth's relationship with Charlotte von Kirschbaum". Cambridge Core. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  19. Selinger, Suzanne (1998). Charlotte Von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth: A Study in Biography and the History of Theology. Penn State Press. p. 37.
  20. Nimmo, Paul T. (2020). The Oxford Handbook of Karl Barth. Oxford University Press. p. 41.
  21. Selinger, Suzanne (1998). Charlotte Von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth: A Study in Biography and the History of Theology. Penn State Press. p. 37.
  22. Plant, Stephen J. "When Karl met Lollo: the origins and consequences of Karl Barth's relationship with Charlotte von Kirschbaum". Cambridge Core. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  23. Selinger, Suzanne (1998). Charlotte Von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth: A Study in Biography and the History of Theology. Penn State Press. p. 63.
  24. Selinger, Suzanne (1998). Charlotte Von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth: A Study in Biography and the History of Theology. Penn State Press. p. 66.
  25. "A Bright and Bleak Constellation: Karl Barth, Nelly Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum". The PostBarthian. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2019-04-05.

Sources
  • Busch, Eberhard (1975), Karl Barths Lebenslauf, nach seinen Briefen und autobiographischen Texten [Karl Barth’s biography, according to his letters and autobiographical texts] (in German), München: Christian Kaiser.

Further reading
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