Mourning for Prof. a.D. Dr phil. Dr theol. h.c. Barbara Aland D.D. (USA), D. Litt. (USA) (1937-2024)

The former long-standing director of the Institute for New Testament Textual Research at the University of Münster and the former managing director of the Hermann Kunst Foundation, Prof. Dr. Barbara Aland, passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Barbara Aland had worked at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Münster since 1972. She was appointed Professor of ‘Church History and New Testament Textual Research with an emphasis on the Christian Orient’ in 1980, following her work as a lecturer and an adjunct professorship. In 1983, she became the director of the Institute for New Testament Textual Research and the associated Bible Museum. She was also the managing director of the Hermann Kunst-Foundation, which was a position she held until her retirement in 2004.

Barbara Aland became internationally recognized above all for her text critical work on the Greek New Testament. In the so-called ‘Nestle-Aland’, she constantly worked on updating the manuscript editions. She was also instrumental in the work on the ‘Greek New Testament’. The ‘Nestle-Aland’ and the ‘Greek New Testament’ are still the basis for research and teaching worldwide today.

In 1997, under the direction of Barbara Aland, the first volume of the ‘Editio Critica Maior’, or the ‘Great Edition’, of the Catholic Epistles of the Greek New Testament was published. The ‘Great Edition’ documents the Greek textual history of the New Testament on the basis of the Greek manuscripts, versions, and church father quotations. It is the definitive edition for the reconstruction of the Ausgangstext of the New Testament.

In addition to New Testament textual criticism, her work on Gnosticism and the Platonic tradition in antiquity and Christianity were central fields of her research, in which she made great achievements.

Barbara Aland has been honored many times for her work. Among the honors she received is The Order of the Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany with Ribbon. She was awarded honorary doctorates from Wartburg College (Waverly/Ohio), Mount Saint Mary's College (Emmitsburg, Maryland) and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.

Barbara Aland always remained closely associated with the Institute for New Testament Textual Research, the museum and the Hermann Kunst-Foundation. With her passing, we have lost an important pioneer of New Testament textual research, a profound theologian, an important scholar and an endearing personality.

We will honor her memory.