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Military Bishop Dr. theol.

Bernhard Felmberg

Protestant Church in Germany

Christian Thiel/Deutscher Ethikrat

“In a time of profound global and social shifts, the German Ethics Council is faced with the task of providing guidance in complex areas of human action. As a Protestant military bishop, I can offer a perspective shaped by the daily encounters with people who take responsibility for peace and security at the risk of their own lives. My goal is to promote dialogue between theology, social sciences and political practice in order to contribute to solutions that focus on the human being as a whole – in both their strength and their fragility.”

Focus of the commitment in the German Ethics Council

  • Peace and military ethics in transformation
  • Social ethics and intergenerational justice
  • Institutional responsibility

Professional background

  • Since 2020 Bishop for Protestant Chaplaincy in the Bundeswehr
  • 2018–2020 Director-General Z (Central Directorate-General; civil society; churches) at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
  • 2014–2018 Deputy Director-General 11 (civil society; churches and economy in development cooperation) at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
  • 2009–2013 Prelate, Representative of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany to the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union
  • 2002–2009 Senior Consistorial Councillor, Head of the Department for Theological Education, Training and Continuing Education in the Consistory of the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
  • 2000–2002 Federal Managing Director of the Protestant Working Group of the CDU/CSU
  • 2000 Ordination at the Sophienkirche in Berlin-Mitte
  • 1998–2000 Research Assistant at the Chair of Church History, Humboldt University of Berlin
  • 1997 Doctorate and 1998 Second Theological Examination
  • 1991–1996 Research Assistant at the Chair of Church History, Protestant University of Applied Sciences Berlin and, from 1993, at the Humboldt University of Berlin
  • 1984–1991 Studied Protestant theology at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Berlin and at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Memberships

  • Since 2025 Member of the German Ethics Council
  • Since 2022 Ombudsperson at Engagement Global
  • Since 2020 Member of the Board of Trustees of the German Hardship Foundation
  • Since 2006 Protestant Sports Chaplain at Hertha BSC
  • Since 1999 Representative of the Protestant Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia for church sports work

Distinctions

  • 1998 Kurt Hellmich Foundation Prize for Ecumenical Theology for the dissertation „De Indulgentiis: Die Ablasstheologie Kardinal Cajetans 1469–1534“

Selected publications

  • Felmberg, B. (2026): Vorwort. In: Ahrens, P.-A. et al. (ed.): Was kann und was leistet Militärseelsorge? Seelsorge und Religion in den deutschen Streitkräften. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 7–8.
  • Felmberg, B. (2025): Nie wieder ratlos. Herder Korrespondenz, 79 (8), 6.
  • Felmberg, B. (2025): Die Härten des Lebens mildern. Heilsam für die Seele. In: Heidinger, B.; Kraft, P. (ed.): Klare Worte. Gedenkschrift für Bernhard Gertz (Forum Innere Führung, 46). Baden-Baden: Nomos, 57–62.
  • Felmberg, B. (2023): „Denken Sie darüber nach!“. 1-Minuten-Andachten. Berlin: Evangelisches Kirchenamt für die Bundeswehr.
  • Felmberg, B. (2023): Wer sich für den Frieden einsetzt … In: Evangelische Militärseelsorge (ed.): Maß des Möglichen. Perspektiven evangelischer Friedensethik angesichts des Krieges in der Ukraine. Berlin: Evangelisches Kirchenamt für die Bundeswehr, 3–4.
  • Felmberg, B. (2018): Das Potenzial des Glaubens für Frieden. Herder Korrespondenz, 72 (12), 38–41.
  • Felmberg, B. (2015): Das Spektrum kirchlicher Aufgabenwahrnehmung in unserem Gemeinwesen. In: Kämper, B.; Pfeffer, K. (ed.): Der kirchliche Auftrag zur Mitgestaltung unserer freiheitlichen Demokratie (Essener Gespräche, 48). Münster: Aschendorff, 7–26.
  • Felmberg, B. (2015): Gestaltungskraft nutzen. E+Z Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit, 56 (10), 28–30.
  • Felmberg, B.A.R. (1998): Die Ablasstheologie Kardinal Cajetans (1469–1534). Leiden: Brill.