Peter Maser

Peter Maser (born 3 August 1943) is a German protestant church historian.

Life Peter Maser was born in Berlin at the height of the Second World War. He grew up at Bad Kösen in the Soviet occupation zone, relaunched in October 1949 as the Soviet sponsored German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Identified as a war orphan he was adopted by Lorenz and Elisabeth-Charlotte Bertheau: their views in many ways provided the intellectual basis for his own adult life. However, he was excluded from the school "on political ground" after two years. He had organised a school visit to attend the Christmas Oratorio in nearby Naumburg Cathedral. In the context of the frequently tense relationship between church and state, this was seen as an inappropriate interpretation of his responsibilities as "Kulturbeauftragter" (loosely: student arts officer). He then attended a church "pre-seminary" in Naumburg until he was able to progress to university in 1962.

Between 1962 and 1968 Maser studied at the University of Halle, emerging with a degree in protestant theology. His habilitation (higher academic qualification) would follow only in 1988.

The changes that opened the way for German reunification in 1990 provided new opportunities for Peter Maser to contribute to national life. He was appointed as the Theology expert in the parliamentary Commission set up to re-evaluate the History and Consequences of the Communist Dictatorship in [East] Germany ("Aufarbeitung von Geschichte und Folgen der SED-Diktatur in [Ost-]Deutschland"). He then served, between 1995 and 1998, as an expert (non-party) member of the follow-up parliamentary Commission mandated to "overcome the impact of the Communist Dictatorship on the implementation of German unity" ("Überwindung der Folgen der SED-Diktatur im Prozeß der deutschen Einheit"). In 1998 he joined the Board of Trustees for the National Archives' Foundation for Political Parties and Mass Organisations in the German Democratic Republic ("Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der DDR im Bundesarchiv" / SAPMO). and been a member of the 24 person advisory board for the "Luther Decade" project.

Honour In June 1998 Maser was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1st Class.