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Christa Blanke

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Christa Blanke

Christa Blanke, 2015.

Christa Blanke-Weckbach (born September 18, 1948 in Giessen, Germany) is a German theologian and animal welfare activist/animal protectionist. She is the founder of the European animal protection organisation Animals’ Angels. From 1995 to 1998 she chaired the animal welfare advisory board of the government of the Hesse land.

Biography

Christa Blanke was born in Giessen in 1948, the daughter of Heinz and Ilse Weckbach. She spent her youth in Frankfurt, where she attended the Herder high school and was involved in the Evangelical Youth Group, among other activities. From 1966 to 1972 she studied evangelical theology at the universities of Hamburg, Heidelberg and Frankfurt.[1] In 1971-2 together with other theologians she was an organiser of the pilot project set up in Hamburg by Helmut Thielicke, Faith Info (since renamed Different Times). After serving as curate for the German community in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1972 she was appointed vicar/curate to the parish of Offenbach am Main.[2] From 1978 until 1999 Christa Blanke and her family lived in Glauberg, where she worked as a psychotherapist in private practice and also on an honorary, unsalaried basis for the Glauberg church community. It was at this time that she was asked by the Hanau Telephone Hotline to train and supervise volunteers manning this service for people in spiritual distress.[1]

In addition to volunteering on the helpline, Christa Blanke began working for animal protection from the mid-1980s. To draw attention to the suffering of laboratory animals at Hoechst’s Frankfurt chemical plant, she conducted a church service in 1986 in full view of the factory windows, under the slogan "Hoechst, have pity!".[3] In 1987 she celebrated a church service, with animals present, on Frankfurt’s Römerberg as part of the 22nd German Evangelical Church Day. In the same year she collected 13,000 signatures on a petition addressed to the Evangelical Church of the Hesse and Nassau regions, asking that no eggs from hens in battery cages be used in church establishments.[4] In 1988 she celebrated the first animal service in Glauberg parish church, an event which was broadcast live on the German ZDF television channel.[5] In 1988 Christa Blanke and her husband, the Reverend Michael Blanke, formulated the Glauberg document, We are all Guilty/ Admission of Guilt[6][7], and together they created AKUT – Action Church and Animals – in 1989 to advocate the rights of animals within the Church and society.[8] In 1995, thanks to reports in the media, Christa Blanke became aware of the suffering involved in the transport of animals throughout Europe; in 1998 she founded the animal protection society Animals’ Angels which under her leadership became internationally known as the only organisation focusing on the protection of animals during transport.[9]

In 1987 Christa Blanke and Michael Blanke wrote the book for the musical Jesus, One of Us; the Holy Rock composer Peter Janssens wrote the music. The musical was performed at the Frankfurt Old Opera theatre and elsewhere.

In 1995 Christa Blanke was instrumental in setting up an exhibition of work by the sculptor Gustav Nonnenmacher under the title Noah’s Ark in the evangelical church in Glauberg.

In 2008 Christa Blanke founded the first German refuge for old/spent cows.[10] In 2011 she was a leading light in the Europe-wide 8hours campaign and petition, which collected 1.2 million signatures from citizens demanding a limit of 8 hours journey time for animals transported for slaughter within the EU.[1]

In 2015 under the aegis of Animals’ Angels Ltd, Christa Blanke created the website Animal Memorial.[11] The site honours the memory of some of the so-called utility animals the Animals’ Angels teams have met in the course of their investigations into how food animals are transported and killed. Each animal’s photograph and name are recorded.

Awards and honors

  • 1999: Honour prize of Hans-Rönn-Stiftung
  • October 1999: Franziskuspreis
  • November 1999: Hessischer Tierschutzpreis[12]
  • February 2001: Lord Houghton Award
  • 2003: Marchig Trust Animal Welfare Award
  • October 2004: Karl-Adolf-Laubscher-Preis
  • 2008: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany[13]
  • 2010: EUROGROUP-Award
  • 2010: Fairness-Award by Cavallo

Publications

  • Kleine Pferde – großes Glück. Liebesbriefe um Ponys. Mueller Rueschlikon Verlag, 1968.
  • Da krähte der Hahn – Kirche für Tiere? Eine Streitschrift. Verlag am Eschbach, Eschbach/Markgräflerland 1995; ISBN 3-88671-159-5.
  • Mit den Augen der Liebe – Wir sind bei den Tieren. Ein Tagebuch der Hoffnung. Animals’ Angels Press, 2011; ISBN 978-3-9814946-0-0:
    • Italian edition: Con gli occhi dell’amore – Siamo con gli animali. Un diario della speranza. Animals’ Angels Press, 2013; ISBN 978-3-9814946-5-5;
    • English edition: With the Eyes of Love – We are there with the animals. Dispatches from the front line. Animals’ Angels Press, 2012; ISBN 978-3-9814946-4-8;
    • Spanish edition: Con los ojos del Amor - Diario desde las trincheras Estamos ahí con los animales. Animals’ Angels Press, 2014.
  • 8 hours is more than enough! Europe calls for an end to long-distance transports of live animals. Animals’ Angels Press, 2012; ISBN 978-3-9814946-6-2.
  • Let my People go - Claiming the Bible for the Animals. Animals’ Angels Press, 2013; ISBN 978-3-9814946-6-2.
  • Tierschutz in Deutschland. Eine Gutachtensammlung. Animals’ Angels Press, 2014; ISBN 978-3-9816696-0-2.

References

  1. ^ a b c „Christa Blanke“ – Biograpie (PDF in German), Website of Animals’ Angels e. V. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  2. ^ "Bundesverdienstkreuz für Christa Blanke-Weckbach - Engagement für Tiere". Osthessen News. 2008-12-15. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  3. ^ Herbert Becker. "Tierrechte - warum?". Tierrechte-TV. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  4. ^ Pressemitteilung des Evangelischen Pressedienstes Hessen/Nassau, 1987-12-03
  5. ^ "Vor 25 Jahren: Wirbel um Tiergottesdienst im TV". Wetterauer Zeitung. 2013-07-11. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  6. ^ "Glauberger Schuldbekenntnis". AKUT e. V. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  7. ^ Egon Spiegel. ""Praedicate Evangelium omni creaturae" (Mk 16,15), die Herausforderung des Glauberger Schuldbekenntnisses" (PDF). Gottes Volk, Bibel und Liturgie im Leben der Gemeinde, Lesejahr B. Hubert Ritt. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  8. ^ "Geschichte von AKUT". AKUT e. V. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  9. ^ "Christa Blanke – Vorstellung". Albert Schweitzer Stiftung. 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  10. ^ Nina Boehme: Einfach nur Gras fressen. In: Ein Herz für Tiere, No. 03, 2008, p. 12–13.
  11. ^ www.animalmemorial.org. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
  12. ^ "Hessischer Tierschutzpreis". Junge Freiheit. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
  13. ^ "Einsatz für Tiere mit Verdienstkreuz gewürdigt". Gießener Allgemeine. 2008-12-15. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
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