Harald Bretschneider, born 1942, retired senior church councillor, Dresden, Germany.
Harald Bretschneider actually wanted to become an architect.
But God the Father had a different plan for him.
As a young adult, Harald Bretschneider had a mystical experience that led him to place himself in the service of God.
Looking back, he knows that it was no coincidence that his first childhood memory was of Dresden on fire.
His mother pulled him out of a burning house on February 13, 1945, when the whole of Dresden was on fire.
Evacuated to Leisnig, he experienced there as a schoolchild how a Russian tank, which had failed to turn the corner, came to a halt 10 cm in front of him in his house.
During the arms race between East and West, God gave him the idea of designing a patch, an emblem with the Bible text “Swords into plowshares” from Micah 4, with which Christians in the GDR could declare their opposition to the arms race and support peace.
He was targeted by 50 to 60 Stasi agents and once survived an attempt on his life.
In Herrnhut, of all places, Harald Bretschneider had the Swords to Plowshares emblem printed hundreds of thousands of times as patches and bookmarks on fabric.
The church peace movement that he was instrumental in building up ultimately caused the GDR government to totter within 9 years.
God used Harald Bretschneider to perform the miracle of the peaceful revolution and the fall of the Wall.
God unexpectedly gave freedom to 17 million GDR citizens and, a short time later, German reunification to all East Germans and all West Germans.
Harald Bretschneider’s work also had a direct influence on the reunification of the two German states.
Harald has also been committed to reconciliation for years.
He helped to found the DenkRaum Sophienkirche in Dresden, a memorial space that was partly built with money that GDR bigwigs had transferred to secret accounts in Switzerland.
And he had organized it.
“The heavens laughed,” says Harald.
A bell is rung every hour in the DenkRaum Sophienkirche and prayers are said for peace and reconciliation.
We want to honor Harald Bretschneider for his life’s work at the conference.
Without Harald Bretschneider’s efforts, history might have taken a different course.
Without the peaceful revolution in the GDR, without the fall of the Berlin Wall and without German reunification, we would probably not be able to meet in Herrnhut for this conference.
You can look forward to meeting this man of God!
Harald Bretschneider will speak to us on Saturday, October 26, 2024 in the afternoon.
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