Blue plaque for Dietrich Bonhoeffer at Goulston Street

A blue plaque commemorating Dietrich Bonhoeffer German Lutheran pastor and theologian was unveiled at a ceremony earlier this month at the entrance of London Metropolitan University's Goulston Street building, Aldgate.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 –1945) was a participant in the German Resistance movement against Nazism. His involvement in plans by members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office) to assassinate Adolf Hitler resulted in his arrest in April 1943 and his subsequent execution by hanging in April 1945, shortly before the war's end.

In Autumn 1933, a 27-year-old Dietrich Bonhoeffer accepted a two-year appointment as a pastor of two German-speaking Protestant churches in London. One of these churches was St Paul’s German Evangelical Reformed Church stood on the site of 16 Goulston Street until 1941.
Bonhoeffer returned to Germany in 1935 and St Paul’s was destroyed in 1941 during the Blitz bombings. Today the London Met building houses the Department of Law, Governance and International Relations.

The blue-plaque unveiling event was organised by the Historic Chapels Trust. The Bishop of London, Dr Eckhard Lübkemeier, Deputy Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith MP and representatives of London Met and the Historic Chapels Trust spoke at the event.

Speaking at the event, Paul Lister, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Development at London Met said: ‘We are glad that there is now a permanent reminder to people in the 21st century of Bonhoeffer's work in the area in the 1930s. It is fitting that the Goulston Street building now houses the University’s Department of Law, Governance and International Relations. We hope that as our students develop into the leaders and safe-keepers of justice for the future, that they will pause to look up at the plaque and read about the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.’

The event concluded at St George’s German Lutheran Church where guests were treated to tea and snacks provided by the German Food Company Ltd, and some organ music.

Bonhoeffer view of Christianity's role in the secular world has become very influential. He is commemorated as a theologian and martyr by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Church of England and the Church in Wales.

Bonhoeffer's life as a pastor and theologian of great intellect and spirituality was inspiration for Christians across broad denominations and ideologies including figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He is commemorated in the Gallery of 20th Century Martyrs at Westminster Abbey.


19 November 2009