rectory in Langenbeutingen. He spent his childhood there, but his mother died in 1911 and in 1915 he went to live with his grandmother in Berlin-Steglitz. He went to school there until 1919, when he moved to a school in Göppingen. In 1922, he entered the theological seminary in Urach, and from 1922 to 1923 he attended the seminary in Schöntal
. His room-mate there was Gerd Gaiser. He passed his university exams and in 1924 entered the advanced seminary in Urach.
In 1926, he read German studies and history in Tübingen, then switched to theology. In 1928, he went to Berlin to continue his theology studies, and there he met and was influenced by Romano Guardini. In 1930 Goes was ordained for the Evangelical Church in Württemberg as a parson in Tuttlingen's main church, and in 1931 became a vicar at the Martinskirche in Stuttgart. In 1933, he began his first rectorate in Unterbalzheim in Illertissen. In the same year he married Elisabeth Schneider, with whom he had three daughters: Christin, Brigitte and Rose. In 1938, he took up a rectorate in Gebersheim (which today is a part of the city of Leonberg).
His involvement with the
Berlin Academy of Arts
.
Goes's first volumes of poetry were Verse in 1932 and Der Hirte (The Herdsman) in 1934. The story Unruhige Nacht (Restless Night) was published in 1950. The novel Das Brandopfer (The Burnt Offering) examined the Holocaust during the Third Reich from the perspective of an ordinary butcher's wife, who eventually tries to find justice by sacrificing herself. The book, written in simple language, is considered a significant contribution to the dialogue and reconciliation between Jews and Christians in the post-Third Reich era. This was recognised in 1978 when Goes was awarded the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal. Both Unruhige Nacht and Das Brandopfer were turned into films. Unruhige Nacht was translated into English as Arrow to the Heart and adapted for broadcast by BBC Television in the United Kingdom in 1952.
1998: Honours from the cities of Stuttgart and Leonberg, the Protestant Academy of Bad Boll, and the monastery in Schöntal to mark his 90th birthday
2000: Albrecht-Goes-Platz was named after him in Stuttgart, and there were celebrations of his life and work in Marbach and Leonberg
2001: A memorial stone was placed in front of the house in which he was born in Langenbeutingen, inscribed with lines from his poem Die Schritte (The Steps)
2004: Albrecht-Goes-Stube (The Albrecht Goes Room), a small museum, was opened in Langenbeutingen
Bas-relief of Goes by Hermann Koziol is unveiled in the Place of Remembrance for the Fallen at Bretzfeld cemetery
2008: A series of events take place at around twenty locations in Baden-Württemberg and Leipzig to mark Goes's one hundredth birthday
2008: Commemorative plaque unveiled in the Protestant diocese of Tübingen
References
"B.B.C. Television — Arrow to the Heart". The Times. 1956-04-23. p. 3.
