Dorothee Sölle (September 30, 1929 - April 27, 2003) was a socially-engaged theologian and writer. She died at a congress in Göppingen, Germany. September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 92 days remaining, as the final day of September. ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ...

Dorothee Sölle studied theology, philosophy and literature at the University of Cologne, earning a doctorate with a thesis on the connections between theology and poetry. She taught briefly in Aachen before returning to Cologne as a university lecturer. She became active in politics, speaking out against the Vietnam War, the arms race of the Cold War and injustices in the developing world. Notably, from 1968 to 1972 she organized Cologne's Politisches Nachtgebet (political night-prayers). Between 1975 and 1987, she spent six months a year at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where she was a professor of systematic theology. Although she never held a professorship in Germany, she received an honorary professorship from the University of Hamburg in 1994. After the introduction of tuition fees for long-time students, the University of Cologne (German Universität zu Köln) is now the second-largest university in Germany with approximately 45,000 students; it is surpassed only by Munich University and followed by the University of Münster. ... Map of Germany showing Aachen Aachen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km to the west of Cologne, and the westernmost city in Germany, at 50°46 N, 6°6 E. Population: 256,605 (2003). ... Map of Germany showing Cologne Cologne skyline at night. ... An arms race is a competition between two or more countries for military supremacy. ... The Cold War ( 1947- 1991) was the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between groups of nations practicing different ideologies and political systems. ... For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ... Union Theological Seminary is an independent college of theology, located in Manhattan, in New York City. ...

She wrote a large number of books, including The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance (2001) and her autobiography Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian (1999). Perhaps her best-known work in English was "Suffering," which offers a critique of "Christian masochism" and "theological sadism." Solle's critique is against the assumption that God is all-powerful and the cause of suffering; humans thus suffer for some greater purpose. Instead, God suffers and is powerless alongside us. Humans are to struggle together against oppression, sexism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of authoritarianism.

Sölle was married twice and had four children. First, in 1954 she married the artist Dietrich Sölle, whom she divorced in 1964. In 1969, she married former Benedictine monk Fullbert Steffensky, with whom she organized the Politisches Nachtgebet.