Barbara Aland (née Ehlers, 12 April 1937 – 10 November 2024) was a German theologian and professor of New Testament Research and Church History at the University of Münster until 2002. She was internationally recognized for her work on the Novum Testamentum Graece and the Greek New Testament, which she undertook with her husband, Kurt Aland.

Life and career

Barbara Ehlers was born in Hamburg on 12 April 1937. After completing her degree in Theology and Classical Philology in Frankfurt, Marburg, and Kiel, she received her Ph.D. (dissertation on the Socratic Aeschines) in 1964 in Frankfurt. In 1969, she earned her licentiate from the Oriental faculty of the Pontificio Istituto Biblico in Rome. In 1972, she completed her habilitation in Göttingen on the Syrian Gnostic Bardesanes of Edessa. From 1972, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Münster. She was appointed professor of Church History and New Testament research, with a focus on the Christian Orient, at the Protestant Theological Faculty there in 1980. In 1983, she became director of the Institute for New Testament Textual Research, founded in 1959 by her husband, Kurt Aland, as well as of the associated Bible Museum Münster. The institute gained worldwide significance through its publication of the Novum Testamentum Graece, known as the Nestle–Aland, and the UBS Greek New Testament. Until her retirement, Aland also directed the Hermann Kunst-Stiftung to promote New Testament research. She retired in 2002 but continued to head the institute until 2004. Aland died on 10 November 2024, at the age of 87.

Relevance

Aland gained an international profile through her work on the Novum Testamentum Graece and the Greek New Testament, which she conducted with her husband, Kurt Aland. Together, they collaborated extensively with an international and interfaith group of theologians to update the Novum Testamentum Graece and the Greek New Testament. These editions, published by the institute in Münster, serve as foundational texts for education and research worldwide. In 1997, she published the first installments of the Editio Critica Maior. This edition was the first to be based on the complete tradition of Greek manuscripts, patristic citations, and ancient versions. In 1999, she became a founding member of the Academia Platonica Septima Monasteriensis, which focuses not only on the works of Plato but also on the writings of his early interpreters, spanning from ancient times to the Renaissance. The academy's goal is to promote the study of Platonist writings.

Honours

Aland achieved the following honorary doctoral degrees: She received following awards:

Works

Dissertation Monographs Editions of the New Testament Publications