Relationship With Charlotte Von Kirschbaum
Charlotte von Kirschbaum was Barth's secretary and theological assistant for more than three decades. When Barth first met Charlotte von Kirschbaum in 1924 he had already been married for 12 years and in 1929, von Kirschbaum moved into the Barth family household, which included Nelly and five children. George Hunsinger summarizes the influence of von Kirschbaum on Barth's work: "As his unique student, critic, researcher, adviser, collaborator, companion, assistant, spokesperson, and confidant, Charlotte von Kirschbaum was indispensable to him. He could not have been what he was, or have done what he did, without her.
The long-standing work relationship was not without its difficulties. It caused offense among some of Barth's friends, as well as his mother. While Nelly supplied the household and the children, von Kirschbaum and Barth shared an academic relationship. The feminist scholar, Suzanne Selinger says "Part of any realistic response to the subject of Barth and von Kirschbaum must be anger," because she has been largely unrecognized by Barthian scholars. Barth lauds von Kirschbaum for her assistance in the preface of Church Dogmatics: Volume 3 - The Doctrine of Creation Part 3.
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