one exception of Kurt Scharf, who became only later bishop. Therefore, the chairperson was also called the leading bishop (Leitender Bischof) even though this title is not used for the spiritual leaders of three of the former member churches. Due to the intensifying East German obstruction of cross-border cooperation within the Evangelical Church of the Union it formed separate governing bodies for the regions of the GDR with East Berlin and West Germany with West Berlin in 1972. The bodies reunited in 1991. Leading bishops and chairmen of the Council (1951–1972) 1951–1957: (*1897–1957*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland 1957–1960: Kurt Scharf, then one of the provosts of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg 1960–1963: Joachim Beckmann (*1901–1987*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland 1963–1969: (*1901–1989*), praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia 1970–1972: (*1909–1997*), bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Görlitz Ecclesiastical Region (formerly Evangelical Church of Silesia till 1968) Western region bishops (1972–1991) 1972–1975: (*1916–1984*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland 1975–1981: (*1909–2006*), praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia 1981–1987: (*1921–1999*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland 1987–1991: (*1930), praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia Eastern region bishops (1972–1991) 1972–1976: (*1930), bishop of the Evangelical Church in Greifswald (formerly Pomeranian Evangelical Church till 1968) 1976–1979: (*1917–2009*), bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Ecclesiastical Province of Saxony 1979–1983: (*1932), church president of the Evangelical State Church of Anhalt 1984–1987: (*1923–1996*), bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg (eastern synod) 1987–1989: Horst Gienke, resigned under synodal pressure after unmasking as Stasi spy IM "Orion" 1989–1991: (*1929–2000*), bishop of the ecclesiastical region of Görlitz Reunited church bishops and chairmen (1992–2003) 1992–1993: Joachim Rogge, bishop of the Evangelical Church of Silesian Upper Lusatia (formerly Ecclesiastical Region of Görlitz till 1992); later unmasked as Stasi IM "Ferdinand" 1994–1996: (*1934–1996*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland 1996–1998: (*1944), bishop of the Pomeranian Evangelical Church (formerly Evangelical Church in Greifswald till 1991) 1998–2000: (*1944), church president of the Evangelical State Church of Anhalt 2000–2003: (*1938), praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia See also Johann Gottfried Scheibel Georg Philipp Eduard Huschke Heinrich Ernst Ferdinand Guericke Friedrich Julius Stahl August Kavel Johannes Andreas August Grabau Neo-Lutheranism Anglican-Evangelical Bishopric of Jerusalem Kirchenkampf References Further reading Bigler, Robert M. The Politics of German Protestantism: The Rise of the Protestant Church Elite in Prussia, 1815-1848 (Univ