Ludwig Beck Award for Civil Courage

The former Leipzig pastor Christoph Wonneberger was honoured with the Ludwig Beck Prize for Civil Courage from the State Capital of Wiesbaden this year. The award is worth 10,000 euros.

Wiesbaden is delighted that the selection committee has awarded the prize to Christoph Wonneberger. He has shown outstanding civil courage. By awarding the prize to Wonneberger, one of the leading pioneers of the peaceful revolution in East Germany, Wiesbaden is also marking the 25th anniversary of German Reunification.

Christoph Wonneberger was one of the major players in the peaceful revolution in East Germany. He advocated peace, freedom and justice from the beginning of the 1980s. The Lord Mayor Sven Gerich was impressed by this commitment. In spite of enduring constant threats from the State Security Service and in spite of difficulties within the church, he continued to give people courage and take away their fear in the St. Nicholas Church of Leipzig.
Christoph Wonneberger suffered from a stroke before the wall came down at the end of October 1989, which initially robbed him of speech and from which he required many years to recover. This year the Ludwig Beck Prize was awarded in the context of “Freedom Week” which will be held from 25 September to 2 October 2015 in Wiesbaden to mark the 25th anniversary of reunification. The laudation Christian Dietrich, Thuringian commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship.

The regional capital of Wiesbaden
Central Office – The office of the Magistrate
Schlossplatz 6
D-65183 Wiesbaden
Phone: 0611 / 31-3316
Fax: 0611 / 31-3907
E-Mail: magistratsbuerowiesbadende