Wilhelm Menn

Nationality

Germany

Date of Birth

1888

Date of Death

1956

Political
Preference

Wilhelm Menn studied Theology in Halle and Berlin, graduating in 1913. In the First World War, he served as a field chaplain in the army. Based on the 1925 Stockholm conference of the Life and Work movement, he, together with Hans Schönfeld, set up the International Social Institute in Geneva, which would later transform into the Life and Work study Department. In 1939, he took part in the WCC in formation’s conference in Beau-Séjour on ‘The Churches and the International Crisis’, where John Foster Dulles also spoke and which would have a profound influence on the latter. Throughout the war, he remained in touch with Visser ‘t Hooft in Geneva. With Schönfeld and other, he set up the ecumenical programme for reconstruction and aid in Germany after the Second World War. Later, this would be built into a permanent ecumenical office in Frankfurt am Main to serve as the official German link with the World Council. Post-war, Menn joined the CCIA and later also the Ecumenical Commission for European Cooperation.