The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg () is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

member church of the

Protestant Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (, EKD), also known as the Protestant Church in Germany, is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed, and United Protestant regional Churches in Germany, collectively encompassing the vast majority of the count ...

in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

former state of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, now part of the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

. The seat of the church is in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. It is a full member of the

(EKD), and is a

Church. The presiding bishop ( Landesbischof) of the church is since 2022 Ernst-Wilhelm Gohl; he succeeded bishop Frank Otfried July (2005). There are four regional bishops (Regionalbischöfe). The regional bishops are located at Heilbronn, Stuttgart, Ulm, and Reutlingen. The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Württemberg is one of 20 Lutheran, united and

reformed church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

es of the EKD. The church has 1,914,425 members (2020) in about 1,300 parishes. It is the most important Protestant denomination in eastern

. The Lutheran Church of Württemberg is a member church of the

Community of Protestant Churches in Europe The Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE; German: ''Gemeinschaft Evangelischer Kirchen in Europa'', GEKE) is a fellowship of over 100 Protestant churches which have signed the Leuenberg Agreement. Together they strive for realizing ...

. It is a member of the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; ) is a global Communion (religion), communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of L ...

and a guest member of the

United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany The United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (German: Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands, VELKD) was founded on July 8, 1948, in Eisenach, Germany. Its total membership is 7.5 million people. All its member churches belong ...

. The Church runs a minister training house in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

called

Tübinger Stift The Tübinger Stift () is a hall of residence and teaching; it is owned and supported by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg, and located in the university city of Tübingen, in South West Germany. The Stift was founded as an Augu ...

. Its most prominent churches are the ''Stiftskirche'' in

, the Minster in Ulm, the Kilians church in

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...

, the St. Mary's Church, Reutlingen, the city church St. Dionysius in Esslingen, as well as the church St. Michael in Schwäbisch Hall. The

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

like in all other EKD churches has been allowed. In March 2019, the Church allowed

blessing of same-sex unions The blessing or wedding of same-sex marriages and same-sex unions is an issue about which leaders of Christian churches are in ongoing disagreement. Traditionally, Christianity teaches that sexual practices between men and sexual practices bet ...

History

In 1534,

Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg Duke Ulrich of Württemberg (8 February 14876 November 1550) succeeded his kinsman Eberhard II as Duke of Württemberg in 1498. He was declared of age in 1503. His volatile personality made him infamous, being called the "Swabian Henry VIII" by ...

enforced the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

in his

Duchy of Württemberg The Duchy of Württemberg () was a duchy located in the south-western part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was a Imperial Estate, state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1495 to 1803. The dukedom's long survival for over three centuries was mainly du ...

. The Duke, who later became the King of Württemberg, was the head of the state church as the '' summus episcopus'', meaning the ruler united secular and religious power in his person. The former Catholic bishops lost all privileges. Johannes Brenz was empowered to reform the state church following the teachings of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

. He is entombed in the Stuttgart Stiftskirche. The state church in Württemberg was from the beginning a Lutheran church. However, the form of the church service followed the Reformed tradition, meaning that it is rather plain. The form of the Lutheran church service is hardly ever practised. It is however practised in Hohenzollern.Antonia Lezerkoss
''Kirche: Liturgie nach alter Preußenweise''.
Südwest Presse Online, 3 February 2017, retrieved 18 February 2018.
Dagmar Stuhrmann
''Kirche: Ausstellung "Evanglisch in Hohenzollern" macht Halt in Ebingen''.
Südwest Presse Online, 26 January 2017, retrieved 18 February 2018.

Schwarzwälder Bote, 13 February 2013, retrieved 18 February 2018.

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...

and

Waldensians The Waldensians, also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi, or Vaudois, are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the Poor of Lyon in the l ...

immigrants had found refuge the duchy. The Bible Institute was established in Urach the lord of Sonneck, Hans III. Ungnad von Weißenwolff printed 30000 bibles and smuggled over the borders guarded by local hunters. Up to 1806 the Duchy of Württemberg was a purely Protestant territory. Only after Württemberg became a kingdom and, due to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, larger Catholic territories (

Upper Swabia Upper Swabia ( or ) is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.''Brockhaus Enzyklopädie.'' 19. Auflage. Band 16, 1991, p. 72. The name refers to the area between the Swabian Jura, Lake Con ...

) were added, the uniform religious structure ended. Protestant parishes have also been established in the former Catholic territories of (southern) Württemberg since the late 19th century. After the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, King William II of Württemberg was forced to resign. The church therefore formally had no ruler because his children had also been disqualified for royal succession due to improper marriage. Since the 1890s the head of a Catholic ducal branch line of the royal house has been named as his legitimate successor, but the Lutheran state church could obviously not accept him as ''summus episcopus''. As a result, leading clergymen took over the church. After King William II had died in October 1921, the state church in Württemberg enacted a new constitution in 1923/24 and installed a church president as the leader of the church; in 1933 the leader was given the title ''Landesbischof''.1939 During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, YMCA was involved in supporting millions of

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

."One of the most important tasks of the Y.M.C.A. delegates was, if time permitted, to sit down and talk to the internees about their personal problems and, thereafter, try to establish the contacts with families and friends in the outside world and to secure the items wished for." "Wartime Logs", William Hilsleys ''Tagebuch eines internierten Musikers'' In 1945, the Protestant

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

(Kirchenkreis) of the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union in the Province of Hohenzollern adopted provisional supervision by the Evangelical State Church in Württemberg. On April 1, 1950, the deanery joined the latter church body and terminated its supervision by the prior old-Prussian Ecclesiastical Province of the Rhineland. The state church in Württemberg hosted the 11th General Assembly of the

, Germany, on 20–27 July 2010.

Leading persons and bishops in history

* 1924–1929: Johannes von Merz, church president * 1929–1948: Theophil Wurm, bishop (until 1933 church president) * 1948–1962: Dr. Martin Haug, bishop * 1962–1969: Dr. Erich Eichele, bishop * 1969–1979: Helmut Claß, bishop * 1979–1988: Hans von Keler, bishop * 1988–1994: Theo Sorg, bishop * 1994–2001: Eberhardt Renz, bishop * 2001–2005: Gerhard Maier, bishop * 2005 –2022: Frank Otfried July, bishop * since 2022: Ernst-Wilhelm Gohl, bishoph

Synod

The election of the

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

is for six years.

Youth

Child and Youth work is running on the YMCA (CVJM-Gesamtverband). The local state office (Landesstelle) is a free democratic organisation "Evangelisches Jugendwerk in Württemberg "working in order of the Lutheran Church in Württemberg. Trumpet choir (Posaunenchor) groups without age limit may take part in the "Evangelisches Jugendwerk in Württemberg ". The biennial

Trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

Choir Day (Landesposaunentag) takes place in Ulm. In 1946, a big crying startet on the song Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. The bishop, Theophil Wurm, could not speak over 12 years, trombone players killed in action WW2, Ulm was destroyed by an air raid, feel great gratitude to be here...Gisela Schweiker
''Lebendig gewordene Kirchengeschichte''
landesposaunentag.de 27 June 2016, retrieved 1 July 2020. "Gloria". The Überbündische meeting (in short "ÜT") took place in 1977 and 2017 in the Böttingen (Heuberg) courtyard of the Protestant church youth. A total of 3,400 people took part in over 45 different societies and institutions of scouts and the youth movement. A total of 70.000 people attended the European young adults meeting in Stuttgart in 1996. The Parish Youth is working stably on a largely self-organising basis in order of the Lutheran Church in Württemberg, in Tailfingen by the elected youth church council.

Parishioners

*1922: 1,668,000 membersSebastian Müller-Rolli in collaboration with Reiner Anselm, ''Evangelische Schulpolitik in Deutschland 1918–1958: Dokumente und Darstellung'', Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999, (=Eine Veröffentlichung des Comenius-Instituts Münster), p. 29. . *2007: 2,286,893 members

Notes

External links

*
Online Württemberg Church History

Association for Württemberg Church History

Protestant Community Paper of Württemberg

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Wurttemberg Baden-Württemberg Württemberg Wurttemberg Wurttemberg Wurttemberg Wurttemberg