Unitarier - Religionsgemeinschaft freien Glaubens ("Unitarians - Religious Community of Free Faith") is a unitarian religious organization in Germany. It was founded in 1876 in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Rheinhessen Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...

region under the name ''Religionsgemeinschaft Freier Protestanten'' ("Religious Community of Free Protestants"). Between 1950 and 2015 the organization was called ''Deutsche Unitarier Religionsgemeinschaft'' ("German Unitarian Religious Community"). The Unitarier are a liberal, non-Christian religious community that has been described as both pantheistic and humanistic. They do not have any dogmas, but the community has a set of non-binding basic principles (''Grundgedanken'') that the members have agreed upon.

History

The organization was founded in 1876 in

region under the name ''Religionsgemeinschaft Freier Protestanten'' ("Religious Community of Free Protestants"). In 1911 their

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

took on the subtitle "Deutsch-Unitarische Blätter" ("German Unitarian Gazette") because leader Rudolf Walbaum wanted to connect to

American Unitarians American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. In 1950 they changed their name to ''Deutsche Unitarier Religionsgemeinschaft'' ("German Unitarian Religious Community"). By 1977, the group was led by Friedrich Ehrlicher who was a former nazi. In 1989, an extremely rightist group led by

Sigrid Hunke Sigrid Hunke (26 April 1913, Kiel – 15 June 1999) was a German author. She is known for her work in the field of religious studies. Biography Sigrid Hunke was born in Kiel, Germany on 26 April 1913, the daughter of the publisher (1879-1953) an ...

left and founded "Bund Deutscher Unitarier, Religionsgemeinschaft europäischen Geistes". In a declaration from 2011, the organization expressed regret for the fact that it took until the late 1980s to separate itself from the rightists, and declared that there is no place in the organization for "antidemocratic, extremist or neofascist ideologies".

Theology

Most members have either pantheistic or atheistic views. The community is open to members irrespective of their theological views, and supports religious pluralism.

Organization

Congregations are lay-led. It is the only Unitarian group in Germany to belong to the ICUU.

Bibliography

Gunde Hartmann,Ed. (2000) "Was glauben Sie eigentlich?" Hamburg/Ravensberg
Verlag Deutsche Unitarier

References

External links

Deutsche Unitarier Religionsgemeinschaft
{{Authority control Religious organisations based in Germany Religious organizations established in 1876 1876 establishments in Germany