- Roland Weisselberg
Roland Weisselberg (Roland Weißelberg) (
July 4 1933 –October 31 ,2006 ) was a retiredLutheran Vicar who received public attention by hisself-immolation in a Germanmonastery .Weisselberg was born in
Königsberg ,East Prussia . A critic of the rulers of theGerman Democratic Republic , he retired in 1989 because of his state of health. After theGerman reunification he was worried about the weakness ofChristianity in East Germany and aboutIslam , whose rise was, as he believed, furthered by the "ambiguity of the church". Shortly before his death he sent a letter to a newspaper, in which he advocated the dropping of the performances of the opera "Idomeneo " at theDeutsche Oper Berlin , claiming that its featuring of the severed heads ofJesus andMuhammad is a vilification of Christianity and Islam.Weisselberg poured petrol over himself and set fire to himself in the
Erfurt monastery (whereMartin Luther took his monastic vows in 1505), shouting repeatedly "Jesus" and "Oscar" (referring toOskar Brüsewitz ). Despite efforts by many on the scene who rushed to extinguish the flames, Weisselberg later died of his injuries. He left a farewell letter to his wife, which she refused to release to the public.External links
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2434625,00.html Priest burns himself to death over Islam]
* [http://www.faz.net/s/Rub501F42F1AA064C4CB17DF1C38AC00196/Doc~ECE58E40C548B452DB36C894CD9EE0C3A~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html „Nicht aus Angst, sondern aus Protest“] de icon
* [http://www.taz.de/index.php?id=archiv&dig=2006/11/06/a0173 Der Abschied eines Pfarrers] de icon
* [http://www.3sat.de/3sat.php?http://www.3sat.de/kulturzeit/themen/100147/index.html Wider das christliche Tabu - Warum hat sich ein Pfarrer in Erfurt selbst verbrannt?] de icon
* [http://www.welt.de/data/2006/11/01/1095370.html Nach Selbstverbrennung eines Pfarrers übt die Kirche Selbstkritik] de icon
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