Honorary Doctorate Awarded to Manfred Stolpe

On 14 November 1989, the University of Greifswald’s Faculty of Theology awarded an honorary doctorate to Dr. Manfred Stolpe, Chairman of the Conference of Governing Bodies of the Lutheran Churches of the GDR and Consistorial President of the Council of the Protestant Church in Berlin-Brandenburg. 

The Faculty of Theology honoured Manfred Stolpe for his diverse commitment and his work for the Protestant Church. As a member of the board of the Petersburger Dialog e.V., he promoted understanding between the civil societies of Germany and Russia. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the Foundation for the Reconstruction of the Garrison Church Potsdam and Chairman of the State Advisory Council on Monuments, which dealt with general issues related to monument protection and preservation. As a member of the Evangelisch-Kirchlicher Hilfsverein (Protestant Church Aid Society), he supported the charitable tasks of the Protestant Church and promoted Christian literature. He was also committed to helping people in need, development aid and religious and social education work. 

Career

Manfred Stolpe was born in Stettin on 16 May 1936. After graduating from secondary school in Greifswald and studying law in Jena, he was active in the Protestant Church in Berlin-Brandenburg from 1959 to 1969. There he was head of the Conference of Governing Bodies of the Lutheran Churches of the GDR from 1962. He also headed the administration of the Federation of Protestant Churches in the GDR from 1969 to 1981, served as Consistorial President of the Eastern Region of the Protestant Church Berlin-Brandenburg from 1982 to 1990, and was Vice-Chairman of the Federation of Protestant Churches in the GDR. After the upheavals in the GDR, Stolpe joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in July 1990 and was the first Minister-President of Brandenburg after reunification from November 1990 to June 2002. From November 2002 to October 2005, he was Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building and Government Commissioner for the New Federal States.

In addition to an honorary doctorate from the University of Greifswald, he has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zurich, the Faculty of Economics at the University of Szczecin and Toyoda University in Tokyo. In 1999, Stolpe received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Great Cross with Star, and in 2006 the Order of Merit of the State of Brandenburg.

Manfred Stolpe passed away on 29 December 2019 in Potsdam.