Helmut Claß und die Diakonie

Helmut Claß (1913-1998) was as bishop of the Evangelical Church of Württemberg and chairman of the Council of Evangelical Churches in Germany (EKD) not only one of the most important representatives of the German Protestantism in the 1970s but also from the late 1950s to the mid 1980s as leading pastor of Evangelische Diakonieschwesternschaft Herrenberg and as chairman of the Diaconical Council of Diakonisches Werk der EKD committed to diaconia. This paper shows Claß' understanding of diaconia and his efforts toward the practical implementation during his time in Herrenberg (1958-1968) and places his diaconical theory and practice in the context of the expansion of the West German welfare state and the consequent identity crisis of diaconia.