Joachim Beckmann

Joachim Beckmann (18 July 1901 – 18 January 1987) was a German evangelical theologian. He served between 1958 and 1971 as "Präses" (synod president) of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland.

Life Joachim Wilhelm Beckmann was born into a conservative traditionalist family At Münster his principal focus was on Kantianism and Neo-Kantianism.

During the summer of 1924 Beckmann transferred to Göttingen, where he became "Inspector of the Protestant College" ("Inspektor des reformierten Studienhauses") and, during 1924/25, completed his "Vikariat" (formal ministerial traineeship). Joachim Beckmann had been a huge admirer of the written work of Karl Barth since the start of the decade. Barth had accepted an honorary professorship from the university in 1921. By moving to Göttingen, Beckmann was able to become a pupil of the man who became, for him, something of a theological mentor. In August 1925 he started working in Berlin as an assistant with Reinhold Seeberg at the National Committee for the Domestic Mission of the German Evangelical Churches ("Central-Ausschuss für die Innere Mission der Deutschen Evangelischen Kirche"). Soon after that he took on a succession of leading roles within the anti-government Confessing Church of which, in the Rhineland, he was a co-founder during 1933. In 1934 Beckmann attended the important inaugural synod of the Confessing Church at Wuppertal-Barmen and the second synod at Berlin-Dahlem, held respectively in May and October 1934. During 1934 he became a member of the National Brothers' Council ("Reichsbruderrat"), the leadership committee of the Confessing Church. His suspension was later reversed, however. On 15 May 1935 Beckmann was served with a banning order which forbad him from staying in the Düsseldorf district: this time the ban lasted for only two months, however.

In 1937,

The end of the war in 1945 also put an end to the twelve Hitler years. Beckmann emerged as a member of the leadership team of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, serving as president of the Rhineland consistory between 1945 and 1949. In 1947 he was elected deputy president of the National Brothers' Council ("Reichsbruderrat" or "synod") of the Evangelical Church, serving a two-year term till 1949, under the leadership of Heinrich Held.

In 1945 or 1948 Beckmann took over responsibility for publishing the Evangelical Church Year Book, for which he continued to serve as editor-compiler till 1975.

On 1 January 1958 Beckmann's election as "Präses" (synod president) of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland took effect. Beckmann remained in the post till his retirement on 31 July 1971.

After his retirement, a couple of weeks after his seventieth birthday, Beckmann returned to teaching at the Barmen Church College, where he remained on the payroll between the start of the 1971/72 winter term, on 1 October 1971, and his eightieth birthday, 18 July 1981.