GERMANY, Munich (BNc) – At the age of 92, Gottfried Reichel passed away on the afternoon of December 29, 2022. He is survived by his wife, Hannelore, and their four children, Matthias, Michael, Katharina and Elisabeth.
Michael commented, “Dad will be missed but it is good to know that his wish was granted. He told me before his death that he wanted to ‘glide over gracefully.’ Now he is in a better place.”
Gottfried Reichel was born on March 9, 1930. He was born again on May 2, 1948. He and his wife, Hannelore (Pusch) Reichel, had four children: Matthias, Michael, Katharina and Elisabeth.
Gottfried began preaching the gospel at Munich, Germany in August of 1948. He first studied at the Kolleg der Gemeinde Christi at Frankfurt, Germany, and in 1953 he received a BA degree from Harding University at Searcy, Arkansas in the United States.
In 1950 and 1951 he preached for the church in Heppenheim, Germany and from 1953 to 1968 he preached for the Munich-Laim congregation.
For 35 years, from June 1965 through December 2000, he was the regular speaker for the German Radio Ministry, a weekly broadcast aired over Radio Luxembourg with its 600,000 watts, the most powerful commercial radio station in the world.
This German-language program called Es grüßen euch die Gemeinden Christi (Romans 16:16) received mail responses from listeners in 39 countries located on four continents: Europe, Asia, Africa and America.
Over five hundred known new births through water and the Spirit were reported among radio listeners, and New Testament churches have come into being as a result of the broadcasts.
In 1971-72 Gottfried served as visiting Professor of Missions at Harding University and in 1979 he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Harding. From 1973-82 he taught at the Bibelschule Heidelberg, a Bible School that was accredited by Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. In 1985 he was awarded the Excellence in Mass Communications Evangelism Award by Abilene Christian University. In the November 1999 issue of the Gospel Advocate he was listed among 100 Special Servant Leaders (Trailblazers) of churches of Christ in the 20th Century.
A collection of his radio sermons in German was published by Roy Davison at https://www.vorzeitpfade.org/ who also arranged for the collection to be placed in the Harding digital library at https://scholarworks.harding.edu/old-paths-reichel/
For background information, watch an interview with Gottfried from 1985. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth779604/m1/
The picture is from a portrait by Adolf Böhm, March 2000.
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