Barth:Karl Barth Gesamtausgabe

In the summer of 1925, Karl Barth met the Munich nurse Charlotte von Kirschbaum, who would become the closest companion of his life and work for over 40 years. Barth emphatically stated in 1950 about her: "I know what it means to have help." The correspondence from 1925 to 1935 documents the beginning and the first decade of this unique relationship in 231 letters. In addition to providing personal-biographical insights, the letters primarily offer an immediate impression of Barth's academic and ecclesiastical activities, his theological and political judgments and convictions, and the influence and contribution that Charlotte von Kirschbaum had in this regard. In 1953, Barth wrote to Georg Merz about "the decisive involvement" of Charlotte von Kirschbaum in his work: "You have no idea what she - the ministry of the inner and outer in one person - accomplishes, unparalleled, irreplaceable. If later literature does not act too foolishly, but brings this to light calmly, factually, and thoughtfully." These extensively commented letters make an important contribution to this.