R.H. Offergeld

R.H. Offergeld (Rüdiger.H.)  is a German writer, journalist and human rights activist. Born in June 1941, he studied Catholic theology, philosophy, German and French literature in  Paris and Munich and graduated with a teacher’s degree for  secondary schools  in 1972. In 1973 he was elected as a chairman of the German Teachers Union (GEW). It was the reason for the Bavarian government to put him under special observation.  Being a longtime member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and a critical theologian, he was supposed to undermine the system of government. One year later, in 1974, he was dismissed from teaching by the Bavarian Minister of Education in cooperation with Cardinal Ratzinger, now ex-Pope Benedict XVI, then Archbishop of Munich. It was the era of professional bans in Germany, the time of student revolts all over the world, the political struggle of conservatives against left-wing students, teachers and intellectuals. R.H. Offergeld´s  political profile as a social democrat, trade unionist and Catholic theologian did not  fit in. Simultaneously, Hans Küng, the well-known German theologian, lost his professorship due to his questioning of the infallibility of the Pope.
The so-called „Offergeld Case“  caused  quite a stir among the German public. It was considered as manifestation of official hostility towards critically minded intellectuals. After his discharge from the Bavarian school system he worked as a freelance journalist for print media (Spiegel, Stern) and German radio. In  he produced several features and reports on the Bayreuth Festival and its „myth“. In 2005 he published his first (crime) novel „Kundry weint“ (Allitera-Verlag, 4th edition in 2013).
This year it was published  in English language  under  the title “Hitlers Parsifal. (Amazon Kindle). In 2012 his the biographical story „Freundinnen” (Amazon Kindle) was published.

R.H. Offergeld is married and has three sons. He lives in Munic/Germany  and Gargnano/Italy
In early summer 2010, R.H. Offergeld was elected to PEN Center Germany.

Read more on his German Radio activities  in this PDF.