Wolfgang Huber - Life

Life

Huber is the youngest of five brothers and grew up in Falkau in the Black Forest and later in Freiburg im Breisgau. He married the primary school teacher and author Kara Huber in 1966 and they have three children and two grandchildren. His father was Ernst Rudolf Huber, a well-known lawyer and German constitutional scholar. Huber’s mother was the attorney Tula Huber-Simons.

Huber studied Protestant theology from 1960 to 1966 at the University of Heidelberg, University of Göttingen and at the University of Tübingen where he received his doctorate in 1966. He finished his Habilitation at the University of Heidelberg in 1972.

After working in the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg from 1966 to 1968 Huber was appointed as researcher and later director of the Protestant Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Heidelberg from 1968 until 1980. He served as member of a number of church organizations and committees: From 1973 to 1984 as member of the EKD’s Chamber for Public Responsibility, from 1975 to 1980 as member of the Evangelical Church of the Union’s Board, from 1980 to 1994 as member of the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag’s executive committee from 1983 to 1985 as its president. He was appointed as Professor of Social Ethics at the University of Marburg in 1980, and Professor of Systematic Theology (with a focus on ethics) at the University of Heidelberg in 1984. In 1989 he was also Lilly Visiting Professor at Emory University. In 1993 he was chosen as Bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, in 1997 as member of the Council of the EKD and in 2003 as Chairperson of the Council. From 1998 to 2001 Huber served as member of the Central and Executive Committees of the World Council of Churches.

Huber retired in November 2009. Markus Dröge succeeded him as Bishop and Margot Käßmann succeeded him as Chairperson of the EKD’s Council. Since retiring Huber has resumed many of his honorary and voluntary positions, amongst others his position as Chairperson of the Stiftung Garnisonkirche Potsdam and Dean of the Domstift Brandenburg. He continues to be engaged in public ethical debates and was chosen by the German Cabinet to serve on Germany’s Ethics Council in 2010. His research on ethics currently concerns the mediation of values in business and society.

Since choosing the position of Bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg above a seat in the German Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1993 Huber has not associated himself with any political party publicly. His was consequently considered as potential neutral candidate to replace the then President of Germany Horst Köhler after his resignation in 2010.