The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg (german: Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg) is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

member church of the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in German ...

in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **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 Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

, now part of the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...

. The seat of the church is in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

. It is a full member of the

(EKD), and is a

Church. The presiding bishop ( Landesbischof) of the church is 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 Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

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 Evangelical Lutheran Church of Württemberg is a member church of the

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

. It is a member of the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...

and a guest member of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany. The Church runs a minister training house in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional 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 rivers. about one in three ...

called Tübinger Stift. The most prominent churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Württemberg are the ''Stiftskirche'' in

, the Minster in

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

, the Kilians church in

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Middle Ages, it developed into an important trading centre. A ...

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

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...

. The

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordin ...

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

blessing of same-sex unions The blessing or wedding of same-sex marriages and same-sex unions is an issue about which Christian churches are in ongoing disagreement. Traditionally, Christianity teaches that homosexual acts are sinful and that holy matrimony can only exi ...

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 (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

in his

Duchy of Württemberg The Duchy of Württemberg (german: Herzogtum Württemberg) was a duchy located in the south-western part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was a member of the Holy Roman Empire from 1495 to 1806. The dukedom's long survival for over three centuries ...

. The Duke, who later became the King of Württemberg, was the head of the

state church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...

as the '' summus episcopus'', meaning the ruler united secular and religious power in his person. The former Catholic bishops lost all privileges.

Johannes Brenz Johann (Johannes) Brenz (24 June 1499 – 11 September 1570) was a German Lutheran theologian and the Protestant Reformer of the Duchy of Württemberg. Early advocacy of the Reformation Brenz was born in the then Imperial City of Weil der S ...

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, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

. He is entombed in the Stuttgart Stiftskirche. The Evangelical 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 ''Schwarzwälder Bote'', also known as ''Schwabo'', is a German regional daily newspaper for the Black Forest and Upper Neckar region. ''Schwabo'' operates a network of 15 branches, three service points, and 18 local editorial offices. The m ...

, 13 February 2013, retrieved 18 February 2018.

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster B ...

Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Huss ...

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 Men of Lyon" in ...

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 evangelical territory. Only after Württemberg became a kingdom and, due to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, larger Catholic territories (

Upper Swabia Upper Swabia (german: Oberschwaben 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 Swa ...

) were added, the uniform religious structure ended. Evangelical 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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, King

William II of Württemberg , spouse = , issue = Pauline, Princess of WiedPrince Ulrich , house = Württemberg , father = Prince Frederick of Württemberg , mother = Princess Catherine of Württemberg , birth_date = , birth_place = St ...

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 Evangelical 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, YMCA was involved in supporting millions of

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is 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 ...

."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 Roman 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 reside ...

(Kirchenkreis) of the

Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in ...

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 Evangelical 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 Theophil Heinrich Wurm (7 December 1868, Basel – 28 January 1953, Stuttgart) was the son of a pastor and was a leader in the German Protestant Church in the early twentieth century. Wurm was active in politics. He was a member of the Christia ...

, 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 – today: Frank Otfried July, bishop

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 meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mean ...

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 Evangelical-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 (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

Choir Day (Landesposaunentag) takes place in

. In 1946, a big crying startet on the song

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme "" (literally: Awake, the voice is calling us) is a Lutheran hymn written in German by Philipp Nicolai, first published in 1599 together with "". It appears in German hymnals and in several English hymnals in translations such as "Wake, Awake, f ...

. The bishop,

, 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 evangelical 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 Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg, in Tailfingen by the elected youth church council.Jugendkirchengemeinderat in german
/ref>

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

*
International Information

Online Württemberg Church History

Association for Württemberg Church History

Evangelic Community Paper of Württemberg

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