Niklaus Peter was born in Zurich in 1956 and grew up in Basel. He studied theology in Basel, Berlin and Princeton (NJ USA), and completed a dissertation in the field of systematic theology. In 1995 he took on the position of university pastor in Bern; from 2000 to 2004 he was director of the publishing house “Theologischer Verlag Zürich”. From 2004 to 2021 he was pastor at the Fraumünster church in Zurich and dean of the parish chapter of the City of Zurich. Niklaus Peter is active as an editor (academic editions of F. Schleiermacher, F. Overbeck, sermon volumes) and was a freelance journalist for the Swiss NZZ newspaper until 2017. He is currently a columnist for the Das Magazin, a publication of the Swiss Tagesanzeiger newspaper. He is married to Vreni Peter-Barth, a flutist and music teacher, and is the father of four adult children.