Lichtgedanken 02

S C HW E R P U N K T 30 Scarcely anyone — outside of the Theological Faculty and the Historical Institute — has studied the events surrounding the Reformation at the University of Jena in the last few years as assiduously as the former Rec- tor Klaus Dicke. He has played a major role in ensuring that besides the festivities, science, too, has not been short-changed during the Luther decade. But where does the political scientist and practising Catholic draw his passion for this of all subjects? »Sometimes it’s a help, sometimes a hindrance« BY SEBASTIAN HOLLSTEIN If you ask Klaus Dicke what he intends to do after the anniversary of the Re- formation is over, he does not have to ponder long: »On All Souls Day, the first thing I’ll do is enjoy a morning-after breakfast for the mind.« After all, in the last ten years, Luther and related items have occupied no small amount of time in the diary of the former Rector of the Friedrich Schiller University. Since lea- ving the management of the university in 2014, he has given many presentati- ons, attended conferences, written ar- ticles and explained his view of things in discussions. And all such work natu- rally has to be prepared, researched and organized. »Adecade like this is a pretty long time,« says Dicke betraying a de- gree of exhaustion. But where does this extraordinary com- mitment to the anniversary of the Re- formation actually come from? Why is Klaus Dicke so preoccupied with the events surrounding the schism within the Church 500 years ago? The answer may lie in a fruitful blend of profession and confession, as Dicke is a political scientist and a Catholic. Born near Kob- lenz, he grew up in the Rhineland of the 1950s and 1960s. Catholicism was om- nipresent here and a part of the public sphere that was taken for granted. »Al- tar boy, processions, sacristan duties – I also experienced the full gamut,« says the 63-year-old. »The Church supplied a framework for the course of the who- le year.« He left his familiar faith envi- ronment when he went to university.