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The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by
Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, w ...
that united both
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 ...
and Reformed denominations in
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
. Although not the first of its kind, the Prussian Union was the first to occur in a major German state. It became the biggest independent religious organization in the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
and later Weimar Germany, with about 18 million parishioners. The church underwent two
schisms A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
(one permanent since the 1830s, one temporary 1934–1948), due to changes in governments and their policies. After being the favoured state church of Prussia in the 19th century, it suffered interference and oppression at several times in the 20th century, including the persecution of many parishioners. In the 1920s, the
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...
and
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, and in the 1950s to 1970s,
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
, the
People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...
, and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, imposed permanent or temporary organizational divisions, eliminated entire congregations, and expropriated church property, transferring it either to secular uses or to different churches more favoured by these various governments. In the course of the
Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, church property was either damaged or destroyed by strategic bombing, and by war's end, many parishioners had fled from the advancing Soviet forces. After the war, complete ecclesiastical provinces vanished following the flight and expulsion of Germans living east of the Oder-Neiße line. The two post-war periods saw major reforms within the Church, strengthening the parishioners' democratic participation. The Church counted many renowned theologians as its members, including
Friedrich Schleiermacher Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional ...
, Julius Wellhausen (temporarily), Adolf von Harnack, Karl Barth (temporarily), Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Niemöller (temporarily), to name only a few. In the early 1950s, the church body was transformed into an umbrella, after its prior ecclesiastical provinces had assumed independence in the late 1940s. Following the decline in number of parishioners due to the German demographic crisis and growing
irreligion Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ...
, the Church was subsumed into the
Union of Evangelical Churches The Union of Evangelical Churches (German: ''Union Evangelischer Kirchen'', UEK) is an organisation of 13 United and Reformed evangelical churches in Germany, which are all member churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Member church ...
in 2003.


Status and official names

The many changes in the Church throughout its history are reflected in its several name changes. These include: * 1817–1821: The church union was still being regulated by Prussian officials, and no official name was taken up for it yet. Informal names reported elsewhere included Prussian Union of Churches and the Union of Churches in Prussia. * 1821–1845: Evangelical Church in the Royal Prussian Lands – the state church * 1845–1875: Evangelical State Church of Prussia – the state church besides other recognised Protestant church bodies * 1875–1922: Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces – the state church in the old provinces of Prussia besides other recognised Protestant church bodies * 1922–1933, 24 June: Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union – an independent church among other recognised Protestant church bodies * 24 June to 15 July 1933: State control abolished the freedom of religion and a
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
-loyal leadership was imposed * 15 July 1933 – 28 February 1934: Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union under new streamlined leadership * 1 March to 20 November 1934: The streamlined leadership abolished the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union as an independent church body and merged it in the new Nazi-submissive German Evangelical Church * 29 May 1934 – 1945: Confessing Christians declared that the imposed Nazi-inspired (so-called German Christian) leadership had brought the church to a
schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
, with the
Confessing Church The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German ...
and their newly created bodies (partially established since January 1934) representing the true Evangelical church. *20 November 1934 – 1945: The Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union restored by the verdict of the ''(''Berlin court), resulting in two church bodies–one Nazi-recognised and one gradually driven underground–each claiming to represent the true church. * 1945–1953: The Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union partially cleansed its leading bodies of German Christians and appointed Nazi opponents and persons of moderate neutrality. * 1953–2003 Evangelical Church of the Union, an independent ecclesiastical umbrella among other recognised Protestant umbrellas and church bodies. * 2004 The Evangelical Church of the Union merged in the
Union of Evangelical Churches The Union of Evangelical Churches (German: ''Union Evangelischer Kirchen'', UEK) is an organisation of 13 United and Reformed evangelical churches in Germany, which are all member churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Member church ...
.


History

The Calvinist (Reformed) and Lutheran Protestant churches had existed in parallel after Prince-Elector John Sigismund declared his conversion from
Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
to
Calvinism 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 C ...
in 1617, with most of his subjects remaining Lutheran. However, a significant Calvinist minority had grown due to the reception of thousands of Calvinists refugees fleeing oppression by the Catholic
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
in
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, France (
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 ...
), the
Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, and
Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...
or migrants from Jülich-Cleves-Berg, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, Poland, or
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Their descendants made up the bulk of the Calvinists in Brandenburg. At issue over many decades was how to unite into one church.


Royal attempts to merge Lutherans and Calvinists

One year after he ascended to the throne in 1798, Frederick William III, being ''summus episcopus'' (Supreme Governor of the Protestant Churches), decreed a new common liturgical agenda (service book) to be published for use in both the Lutheran and Reformed congregations. The king, a Reformed Christian, lived in a denominationally mixed marriage with the Lutheran Queen Louise (1776–1810), which is why they never partook of Communion together.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 16. A commission was formed in order to prepare this common agenda. This liturgical agenda was the culmination of the efforts of his predecessors to unify the two Protestant churches in Prussia and in its predecessor, the Electorate of Brandenburg. Major reforms to the administration of Prussia were undertaken after the defeat by
Napoléon 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 who ...
's army at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. As a part of these reforms, the separate leadership structures of both the Lutheran Church (with its chief body, the all-Prussian (Lutheran Upper Consistory), 1750–1808, and the Reformed Churches (with their chief bodies, the all-Prussian Französisches Oberkonsistorium /Consistoire supérieur (French Supreme Consistory); 1701–1808, and the all-Prussian German-speaking Reformed Kirchendirektorium (Church Directory); 1713–1808) were abolished and the tasks of the three administrations were taken on by the t (Section for the
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. Thi ...
and public instruction), also competent for the Catholic church and the Jewish congregations, forming a department in the Prussian Ministry of the Interior. Since the Reformation, the two Protestant denominations in Brandenburg had had their own ecclesiastical governments under state control through the crown as Supreme Governor. However, under the new absolutism then in vogue, the churches were under a civil bureaucratic state supervision by a ministerial section. In 1808, the Reformed
Friedrich Schleiermacher Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional ...
, pastor of Trinity Church (Berlin-Friedrichstadt), issued his ideas for a constitutional reform of the Protestant Churches, also proposing a union. Under the influence of the centralising movement of
absolutism Absolutism may refer to: Government * Absolute monarchy, in which a monarch rules free of laws or legally organized opposition * Absolutism (European history), period c. 1610 – c. 1789 in Europe ** Enlightened absolutism, influenced by the En ...
and the Napoleonic Age, after the defeat of Napoléon I in 1815, rather than reestablishing the previous denominational leadership structures, all religious communities were placed under a single consistory in each of the then ten Prussian provinces. This differed from the old structure in that the new leadership administered the affairs of all faiths; Catholics, Jews, Lutherans,
Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the R ...
s,
Moravians Moravians ( cs, Moravané or colloquially , outdated ) are a West Slavic ethnographic group from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, who speak the Moravian dialects of Czech or Common Czech or a mixed form of both. Along with the Si ...
, and Calvinists (Reformed Christians). In 1814, the
Principality of Neuchâtel A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...
had been restituted to the Berlin-based
Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...
, who had ruled it in
personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interli ...
from 1707 until 1806. In 1815, Frederick William III agreed that this French-speaking territory could join the Swiss Confederation (which was not yet an integrated federation, but a mere confederacy) as the
Canton of Neuchâtel The Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel (french: République et Canton de Neuchâtel); rm, Chantun Neuchâtel; it, Cantone di Neuchâtel is a French-speaking canton in western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782, of whom 39,654 (or ...
. The church body of the prevailingly Calvinist Neuchâtelians did not rank as a state church but was independent, since at the time of its foundation in 1540, the ruling princely House of Orléans-Longueville (Valois-Dunois) was Catholic. Furthermore, no Lutheran congregation existed in Neuchâtel. Thus the was not an object of Frederick William's Union policy. In January 1817, the cult and public instruction section was separated off as the , usually called Cult Ministry (Kultusministerium). Karl vom Stein zum Altenstein was appointed as minister. The Reformed churches and the Lutheran church were thus administered by one department within the same ministry. The ministry introduced the preaching gown (german: link=no, Talar) as the usual clerical clothing. On 27 September 1817, Frederick William announced, through a text written by Eylert, that
Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of ...
's Reformed court and garrison congregation, led by Court Preacher , and the Lutheran garrison congregation, both of whom used the Calvinist Garrison Church, would unite into one
Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
Christian congregation on Reformation Day, 31 October, the 300th anniversary of the
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 in ...
. Already the day before Lutherans and Reformed Christians celebrated the Lord's Supper together in Berlin's Lutheran St. Nicholas' Church. On 7 November, Frederick William expressed his desire to see the Protestant congregations around Prussia follow this example, and become ''Union'' congregations. Lutherans of the Lutheran state church of Nassau-Saarbrücken, and Calvinists in the southerly Saar area had already formed a church united in administration on 24 October (). However, because of the unique constitutive role of congregations in Protestantism, no congregation was forced by the King's decree into merger. Thus, in the years that followed, many Lutheran and Reformed congregations did follow the example of Potsdam, and became merged congregations, while others maintained their former Lutheran or Reformed denomination. Especially in many Rhenish places, Lutherans and Calvinists merged their parishes to form United Protestant congregations.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß" Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992: Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 17. When Prussia finally received a parliament in 1847, some church leadership offices included a seat in the first chamber of non-elected, but appointed members (succeeded by the
House of Lords of Prussia The Prussian House of Lords (german: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Repre ...
as of 1854). A number of steps were taken to effect the number of pastors that would become Union pastors. Candidates for ministry, from 1820 onwards were required to state whether they would be willing to join the Union. All of the
theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...
faculty at the Rhenish Frederick William's University in Bonn belonged to the Union. An
ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...
vow in which the pastor avowed allegiance to the Evangelical Church was also formulated.


Quarrels over the union

In 1821, the administrative umbrella comprising the Protestant congregations in Prussia adopted the name Evangelical Church in the Royal Prussian Lands (german: link=no, Evangelische Kirche in den Königlich-Preußischen Landen).Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 13. At Christmas time the same year, a common liturgical agenda was produced, as a result of a great deal of personal work by Frederick William, as well by the commission that he had appointed in 1798. The agenda was not well received by many Lutherans, as it was seen to compromise the wording of the Words of Institution to the point that the
Real Presence The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically, but in a true, real and substantial way. There are a number of Christian denomin ...
was not proclaimed. More importantly, the increasing coercion of the civil authorities into church affairs was viewed as a new threat to Protestant freedom of a kind not seen since the Papacy. In 1822, the Protestant congregations were directed to use only the newly formulated Agenda for
worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogni ...
. This met with strong objections from Lutheran pastors around Prussia. Despite the opposition, 5,343 out of 7,782 Protestant congregations were using the new agenda by 1825. Frederick William III took notice of , who had become his subject by the annexation of Royal Saxon territory in 1816, and who had helped the king to implement the agenda in his Lutheran congregations. In 1823, the king made him the Provost of St. Petri Church(then the highest ranking ecclesiastical office in Berlin) and an ''Oberkonsistorialrat'' (supreme consistorial councillor) and thus a member of the Marcher Consistory. He became an influential confidant of the king and one of his privy councillors and a referee to Minister Stein zum Altenstein. After in 1818, 16 provincial synods – in German parlance a
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 a church parliament rather than the district it represents – had convened. Minister Stein zum Altenstein and the King were disappointed over the outcome, especially after the Marcher provincial synod, disliking the whole idea of parishioners' participation in church governance.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 18. The king then preferred a rather top-down organization and introduced the ecclesiastical leadership function of general superintendents, which had already existed in some provinces before the reform. In 1828, Neander was appointed first General Superintendent of the
Kurmark The German term ''Kurmark'' (archaic ''Churmark'', "Electoral March") referred to the Imperial State held by the margraves of Brandenburg, who had been awarded the electoral (''Kur'') dignity by the Golden Bull of 1356. In early modern times, ...
(1829–1853). Thus Neander fought in three fields for the new agenda, on the governmental level, within the church, and in the general public, by publications such as ''Luther in Beziehung auf die evangelische Kirchen-Agende in den Königlich Preussischen Landen'' (1827). In 1830, the king bestowed him the very unusual, title of honorary bishop. The king also bestowed titles on other collaborators in implementing the Union, with the honorary title of bishop, such as Eylert (1824), (1832), and (1836). Debate and opposition to the new agenda persisted until 1829, when a revised edition of the agenda was produced. This liturgy incorporated a greater level of elements from the Lutheran liturgical tradition. With this introduction, the dissent against the agenda was greatly reduced. However, a significant minority felt this was merely a temporary political compromise with which the king could continue his ongoing campaign to establish a civil authority over their
freedom of conscience Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. Overview Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency ...
. In June 1829, Frederick William ordered that all Protestant congregations and clergy in Prussia give up the names ''Lutheran'' or ''Reformed'' and take up the name ''Evangelical''. The decree was not to enforce a change of belief or denomination, but was only a change of nomenclature. Subsequently, the term ''Evangelical'' (german: link=no, evangelisch) became the usual general expression for Protestant in the German language. In April 1830, Frederick William, in his instructions for the upcoming celebration of the 300th anniversary of the presentation of the
Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...
, ordered all Protestant congregations in Prussia to celebrate the
Lord's Supper The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was institut ...
using the new agenda. Rather than having the unifying effect that Frederick William desired, the decree created a great deal of dissent amongst Lutheran congregations. In 1830, Johann Gottfried Scheibel, professor of theology at the Silesian Frederick William's University, founded in Breslau the first Lutheran congregation in Prussia, independent of the Union and outside of its umbrella organisation Evangelical Church in the Royal Prussian Lands. In a compromise with some dissenters, who had now earned the name '' Old Lutherans'', in 1834 Frederick William issued a decree, which stated that Union would only be in the areas of governance, and in the liturgical agenda, and that the respective congregations could retain their denominational identities.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here footnote 11 on p. 27. However, in a bid to quell future dissensions of his Union, dissenters were also forbidden from organising
sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...
groups. In defiance of this decree, a number of Lutheran pastors and congregations – like that in Breslau  – believing it was contrary to the Will of God to obey the king's decree, continued to use the old liturgical agenda and sacramental rites of the Lutheran church. Becoming aware of this defiance, officials sought out those who acted against the decree. Pastors who were caught were suspended from their ministry. If suspended pastors were caught acting in a pastoral role, they were imprisoned. Having now shown his hand as a tyrant bent on oppressing their religious freedom, and under continual police surveillance, the Evangelical Church in the Royal Prussian Lands began disintegrating.


Old Lutheran schism

By 1835, many dissenting Old Lutheran groups were looking to emigration as a means to finding
religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...
. Some groups emigrated to the United States and to Australia in the years leading up to 1840. They formed what are today the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The L ...
(the second largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S), and the Lutheran Church of Australia, respectively. With the death of Frederick William III in 1840, King Frederick William IV ascended to the throne. He released the pastors who had been imprisoned, and allowed the dissenting groups to form religious organisations in freedom. In 1841, the Old Lutherans who had stayed in Prussia convened in a general
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 ...
in Breslau and founded the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Prussia, which merged in 1972 with Old Lutheran church bodies in other German states to become today's
Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church (german: Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, abbreviated SELK) is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and of the International ...
(german: link=no, Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, or SELK). On 23 July 1845, the royal government recognised the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Prussia and its congregations as legal entities. In the same year the Evangelical Church in the Royal Prussian Lands reinforced its self-conception as the Prussian State's church and was renamed as the Evangelical State Church of Prussia (german: link=no, Evangelische Landeskirche Preußens).


Protestant churches in Prussia's new provinces

In 1850, the predominantly Catholic principalities of
Hohenzollern-Hechingen Hohenzollern-Hechingen was a small principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to the Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. History The County of Hohenzollern-Hechingen was created in 1576, upon the partition of the Co ...
and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, ruled by Catholic princely branches of the Hohenzollern family, joined the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
and became the Province of Hohenzollern. There had hardly been any Protestants in the tiny area, but with the support from Berlin congregational, structures were built up. Until 1874, three (later altogether five) congregations were founded and in 1889, organised as a
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 ...
of its own. The congregations were stewarded by the Evangelical Supreme Church Council (see below) like congregations of expatriates abroad. On 1 January 1899, the congregations became an integral part of the Prussian state church. No separate ecclesiastical province was established, but the deanery was supervised by that of the Rhineland. In 1866, Prussia annexed the
Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Ha ...
(then converted into the Province of Hanover), the Free City of Frankfurt upon Main, the
Electorate of Hesse The Electorate of Hesse (german: Kurfürstentum Hessen), also known as Hesse-Kassel or Kurhessen, was a landgraviate whose prince was given the right to elect the Emperor by Napoleon. When the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, its pr ...
, and the Duchy of Nassau (combined as Province of Hesse-Nassau) as well as the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein (becoming the Province of Schleswig-Holstein), all prevailingly Lutheran territories, where Lutherans and the minority of Calvinists had not united. After the trouble with the Old Lutherans in pre-1866 Prussia, the Prussian government refrained from imposing the Prussian Union onto the church bodies in these territories. Also the reconciliation of the Lutheran majority of the citizens in the annexed states with their new Prussian citizenship was not to be further complicated by religious quarrels. Thus the Protestant organisations in the annexed territories maintained their prior constitutions or developed new, independent Lutheran or Calvinist structures.


Foreign commitment of the Church

At the instigation of Frederick William IV the Anglican
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
and the Evangelical Church in the Royal Prussian Lands founded the Anglican-Evangelical Bishopric in Jerusalem (1841–1886). Its bishops and clergy proselytised in the
Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
among the non-Muslim native population and German immigrants, such as the Templers. But Calvinist, Evangelical, and Lutheran expatriates in the Holy Land from Germany and Switzerland also joined the German-speaking congregations. A number of congregations of Arabic or German language emerged in Beit Jalla (Ar.),
Beit Sahour Beit Sahour or Beit Sahur ( ar, بيت ساحور pronounced ; Palestine grid 170/123) is a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem, in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine. The city is under the administration of the Palestinian Natio ...
(Ar.), Bethlehem of Judea (Ar.), German Colony (Haifa) (Ger.), American Colony (Jaffa) (Ger.),
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
(Ar. a. Ger.),
Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
(Ar.), and Waldheim (Ger.). With financial aid from Prussia, other German states, the , the , and others, a number of churches and other premises were built. But there were also congregations of emigrants and expatriates in other areas of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
(2), as well as in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
(3),
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
(10),
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
(1),
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
(3),
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
(2),
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
(2), the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
(2),
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
(1),
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
(8),
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
(1), Spain (1),
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
(1),
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
(5), and
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
(1) and the foreign department of the Evangelical Supreme Church Council (see below) stewarded them.


Structures and bodies of the ''Evangelical State Church of Prussia''

The Evangelical State Church of Prussia stayed abreast of the changes and was renamed in 1875 as the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces (german: link=no, Evangelische Landeskirche der älteren Provinzen Preußens). Its central bodies were the executive Evangelical Supreme Church Council (german: link=no, Evangelischer Oberkirchenrat, EOK, est. in 1850, renamed the Church Chancery in 1951), seated in Jebensstraße # 3 (Berlin, 1912–2003) and the legislative General Synod (german: link=no, Generalsynode). The General Synod first convened in June 1846, presided by Daniel Neander, and consisting of representatives of the clergy, the parishioners, and members nominated by the king. The General Synod found agreement on the teaching and the ordination, but the king did not confirm any of its decisions. After 1876 the general synod comprised 200 synodals, 50 laymen parishioners, 50 pastors, 50 deputies of the Protestant theological university faculties as ex officio members, and 50 synodals appointed by the king.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 19. The Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces had substructures, called ecclesiastical province (german: link=no, Kirchenprovinz; see ecclesiastical province of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia), in the nine pre-1866 political provinces of Prussia, to wit in the Province of East Prussia (homonymous ecclesiastical province), in Berlin, which had become a separate Prussian administrative unit in 1881, and the
Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...
(Ecclesiastical Province of the March of Brandenburg for both), in the Province of Pomerania (homonymous), in the
Province of Posen The Province of Posen (german: Provinz Posen, pl, Prowincja Poznańska) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920. Posen was established in 1848 following the Greater Poland Uprising as a successor to the Grand Duchy of Posen, ...
(homonymous), in the Rhine Province and since 1899 in the Province of Hohenzollern (Ecclesiastical Province of the Rhineland), in the Province of Saxony (homonymous), in the
Province of Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...
(homonymous), in the
Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 191 ...
(homonymous), and in the Province of West Prussia (homonymous). Every ecclesiastical province had a provincial synod representing the provincial parishioners and clergy, and one or more consistories led by general superintendents. The ecclesiastical provinces of Pomerania and Silesia had two (after 1922), those of Saxony and the ''March of Brandenburg'', three – from 1911 to 1933 the latter even four – general superintendents, annually alternating in the leadership of the respective consistory. The two western provinces, Rhineland and Westphalia, had the strongest Calvinist background, since they included the territories of the former Duchies of Berg,
Cleves Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...
, and Juliers and the Counties of
Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...
, Tecklenburg, the
Siegerland The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen (now part of the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia) and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoi ...
, and the Principality of Wittgenstein, all of which had Calvinist traditions. Already in 1835, the provincial church constitutions (german: link=no, Provinzial-Kirchenordnung) provided for a general superintendent and congregations in both ecclesiastical provinces with presbyteries of elected presbyters. While this level of parishioners' democracy emerged in the other Prussian provinces only in 1874, when
Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...
, in his second term as Prussian Minister-President (9 November 1873 – 20 March 1890), gained the parliamentary support of the National Liberals in the Prussian State Diet (german: link=no, Landtag). Prussia's then minister of education and religious affairs,
Adalbert Falk Paul Ludwig Adalbert Falk (10 August 18277 July 1900) was a German politician. Falk was born in Metschkau (Mieczków), Silesia. In 1847, he entered the Prussian state service, and in 1853, he became public prosecutor at Lyck (now Ełk). In 1858 ...
, put the bill through, which extended the combined Rhenish and Westphalian presbyterial and consistorial church constitution to all the ''Evangelical State Church in Prussia''. Therefore, the terminology is differing: In the Rhineland and Westphalia a presbytery is called in german: link=no, Presbyterium, a member thereof is a ''Presbyter'', while in the other provinces the corresponding terms are ''Gemeindekirchenrat'' (''congregation council'') with its members being called ''Älteste'' (''elder''). Authoritarian traditions competed with liberal and modern ones. Committed congregants formed ''Kirchenparteien'', which nominated candidates for the elections of the parochial presbyteries and of the provincial or church-wide general
synods 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 ...
. A strong ''Kirchenpartei'' were the ''Konfessionellen'' (''the denominationals''), representing congregants of Lutheran tradition, who had succumbed in the process of uniting the denominations after 1817 and still fought the Prussian Union. They promoted Neo-Lutheranism and strictly opposed the liberal stream of , promoting rationalism and a reconcialition of belief and modern knowledge, advocated by Deutscher Protestantenverein.Claus Wagener, "Die evangelische Kirche der altpreußischen Union", p. 24. A third ''Kirchenpartei'' was the anti-liberal ''Volkskirchlich-Evangelische Vereinigung'' (VEV, established in the mid-19th century, ''People's Church-Evangelical Association''), colloquially ''Middle party'' (german: link=no, Mittelpartei), affirming the Prussian Union, criticising the Higher criticism in Biblical science, but still claiming the freedom of science also in
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
. The middle party's long-serving president and member of the general synod (1891–1915) was the known law professor ( DVP), who co-authored the Weimar Constitution.Eckhard Lessing, "Gemeinschaft im Dienst am Evangelium: Der theoligische Weg der EKU", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 29–37, here p. 36. By far the most successful ''Kirchenpartei'' in church elections was the anti-liberal '' Union'',Eckhard Lessing, "Gemeinschaft im Dienst am Evangelium: Der theologische Weg der EKU", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 29–37, here p. 32. being in common sense with the ''Konfessionellen'' in many fields, but affirming the Prussian Union. Therefore, the ''Positive Union'' often formed coalitions with the ''Konfessionellen''. King William I of Prussia sided with the ''Positive Union''. Before 1918 most consistories and the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' were dominated by proponents of the ''Positive Union''. In 1888 King
William II of Prussia Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Emp ...
could only appoint the liberal Adolf von Harnack as professor of theology at the Frederick William University of Berlin after long public debates and protests by the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council''. The ever-growing societal segment of the workers among the Evangelical parishioners had little affinity to the Church, which was dominated in their pastors and functionaries by members of the bourgeoisie and aristocracy. A survey held in early 1924 determine that in 96
churches in Berlin Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...
, Charlottenburg, and Schöneberg, only 9 to 15% of the parishioners actually attended the services. Congregations in workers' districts, often comprising several ten thousands of parishioners, usually counted hardly more than a hundred congregants in regular services.Claus Wagener, "Die Vorgeschichte des Kirchenkampfes", p. 33. William II and his wife
Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , house = Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , father = Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein , mother = Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , birth_date = , birth_place = Dolzig Palac ...
, who presided over the Evangelical Association for the Construction of Churches, often financed church construction for poor congregations and promoted massive programmes of church constructions especially in workers' districts, but could not increase the attraction of the State Church for the workers. However, it earned the queen the nickname ''Kirchen-Juste''. More impetus reached the charitable work of the State Church, which was much carried by the Inner Mission and the diaconal work of deaconesses. Modern anti-Semitism, emerging in the 1870s, with its prominent proponent Heinrich Treitschke and its famous opponent
Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th centur ...
, a son of a pastor and later Nobel Prize laureate, found also supporters among the proponents of traditional Protestant
Anti-Judaism Anti-Judaism is the "total or partial opposition to Judaism as a religion—and the total or partial opposition to Jews as adherents of it—by persons who accept a competing system of beliefs and practices and consider certain genuine Judai ...
as promoted by the Prussian court preacher
Adolf Stoecker Adolf Stoecker (December 11, 1835 – February 2, 1909) was a German court chaplain to Kaiser Wilhelm I, a politician, leading antisemite, and a Lutheran theologian who founded the Christian Social Party to lure members away from the S ...
. The new King William II dismissed him in 1890 for the reason of his political agitation by his anti-Semitic Christian Social Party, neo-paganism and personal scandals. The intertwining of most leading clerics and church functionaries with traditional Prussian elites brought about that the State Church considered the First World War as a just war. Pacifists, like Hans Francke (Church of the Holy Cross, Berlin), Walter Nithack-Stahn ( William I Memorial Church, Charlottenburg part of today's Berlin, and
Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (14 June 1885, in Görlitz – 11 July 1969, in Soest) was a German academic working in theology, social pedagogy and social ethics, as well as a pioneer of peace movements. Life After studying at several gymnasia ...
(Evangelical ''Auferstehungsheim'', Friedensstraße No. 60, Berlin) made up a small, but growing minority among the clergy. The State Church supported the issuances of nine series of war bonds and subscribed itself for war bonds amounting to 41 million marks (ℳ).


Territorial and constitutional changes after 1918

With the end of the Prussian monarchy in 1918 also the king's function as ''summus episcopus'' (Supreme Governor of the Evangelical Church) ceased to exist. Furthermore, the Weimar Constitution of 1919 decreed the
separation of state and religion The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...
. Thus its new constitution of 29 September 1922Eckhard Lessing, "Gemeinschaft im Dienst am Evangelium: Der theologische Weg der EKU", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 29–37, here p. 35. the ''Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces'' reorganised in 1922 under the name Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union (german: link=no, Evangelische Kirche der altpreußischen Union, EKapU or ApU). The church did not bear the term ''State Church'' within its name any more, taking into account that its congregations now spread over six sovereign states. The new name was after a denomination, not after a state any more. It became a difficult task to maintain the unity of the church, with some of the annexing states being opposed to the fact that church bodies within their borders keep a union with German church organisations. The territory comprising the ''Ecclesiastical Province of Posen'' was now largely Polish, and except of small fringes that of West Prussia had been either seized by
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
or Danzig. The trans- Niemen part of East Prussia (
Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...
) became a
League of Nations mandate A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...
as of 10 January 1920 and parts of
Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official ...
were either annexed by
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
(
Hlučín Region Hlučín Region ( cs, Hlučínsko, german: Hultschiner Ländchen, pl, Ziemia hulczyńska) is a historically significant part of Czech Silesia, now part of the Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic. It is named after its largest town, H ...
) or Poland ( Polish Silesia), while four congregations of the Rhenish ecclesiastical province were seized by
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
, and many more became part of the Mandatory
Saar (League of Nations) The Territory of the Saar Basin (german: Saarbeckengebiet, ; french: Territoire du bassin de la Sarre) was a region of Germany occupied and governed by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate. It had i ...
. The Evangelical congregation in Hlučín, annexed by Czechoslovakia in 1920, joined thereafter the Silesian Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession of Czech Silesia. The Polish government ordered the disentanglement of the ''Ecclesiastical Province of Posen'' of the ''Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces'' – except of its congregations remaining with Germany. The now Polish church body then formed the (german: link=no, Unierte Evangelische Kirche in Polen, pl, link=no, Ewangelicki Kościół Unijny w Polsce),Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 22. which existed separately from the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland until 1945, when most of the former's congregants fled the approaching Soviet army or were subsequently denaturalised by Poland due to their German native language and expelled (1945–1950). The ''United Evangelical Church in Poland'' also incorporated the Evangelical congregations in
Pomerellia Pomerelia,, la, Pomerellia, Pomerania, pl, Pomerelia (rarely used) also known as Eastern Pomerania,, csb, Pòrénkòwô Pòmòrskô Vistula Pomerania, prior to World War II also known as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Po ...
, ceded by Germany to Poland in February 1920, which prior used to belong to the ''Ecclesiastical Province of West Prussia'', as well as the congregations in Soldau and 32 further East Prussian municipalities,Konrad Müller, ''Staatsgrenzen und evangelische Kirchengrenzen: Gesamtdeutsche Staatseinheit und evangelische Kircheneinheit nach deutschem Recht'', Axel von Campenhausen (ed. and introd.), Tübingen: Mohr, 1988 (=Jus ecclesiasticum; vol. 35), p. 96; simultaneously Göttingen, Univ., Diss., 1948. . which Germany ceded to Poland on 10 January 1920, prior belonging to the ''Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia''. A number of congregations lay in those northern and western parts of the
Province of Posen The Province of Posen (german: Provinz Posen, pl, Prowincja Poznańska) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920. Posen was established in 1848 following the Greater Poland Uprising as a successor to the Grand Duchy of Posen, ...
, which were not annexed by Poland and remained with Germany. They were united with those congregations of the westernmost area of West Prussia, which remained with Germany, to form the new
Posen-West Prussia The Frontier March of Posen-West Prussia (german: Grenzmark Posen-Westpreußen, pl, Marchia Graniczna Poznańsko-Zachodniopruska) was a province of Prussia from 1922 to 1938. Posen-West Prussia was established in 1922 as a province of the Fre ...
n ecclesiastical province. The congregations in the eastern part of West Prussia remaining with Germany, joined the ''Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia'' on 9 March 1921. The 17 congregations in East Upper Silesia, ceded to Poland in 1922, constituted on 6 June 1923 as (german: link=no, Unierte Evangelische Kirche in Polnisch Oberschlesien, pl, link=no, Ewangelicki Kościół Unijny na polskim Górnym Śląsku). The church formed an old-Prussian ecclesiastical province until May 1937, when the German Polish Geneva Accord on Upper Silesia expired. Between 1945 and 1948 it underwent the same fate like the ''United Evangelical Church in Poland''. The congregations in
Eupen Eupen (, ; ; formerly ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, from the German border ( Aachen), from the Dutch border ( Maastricht) and from the "High Fen ...
,
Malmedy Malmedy (; german: Malmünd, ; wa, Måmdiy) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Malmedy had a total population of 12,654. The total area is 99.96 km2 which gives a popula ...
,
Neu-Moresnet Neu-Moresnet is a village and sub-municipality of Kelmis in the German-speaking community of the province of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. The village was founded as Prussian-Moresnet ( German: ''Preußisch-Moresnet'') as part of the Lower Rhine Pr ...
, and
St. Vith St. Vith (german: Sankt Vith ; french: Saint-Vith ; lb, Sankt Väit ; wa, Sint-Vit) is a city and municipality of East Belgium located in the Walloon province of Liège. It was named after Saint Vitus. On January 1, 2006, St. Vith had a total ...
, located in the now Belgian East Cantons, were disentangled from the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' as of 1 October 1922 and joined until 1923/1924 the ''Union des églises évangéliques protestantes de Belgique'', which later transformed into the United Protestant Church in Belgium. They continue to exist until this very day. The congregations in the territory seized by the
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
, which prior belonged to the ''Ecclesiastical Province of West Prussia'', transformed into the
Regional Synodal Federation of the Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
(german: link=no, Landessynodalverband der Freien Stadt Danzig). It remained an ecclesiastical province of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', since the Danzig
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
(government) did not oppose cross-border church bodies. The Danzig ecclesiastical province also co-operated with the ''United Evangelical Church in Poland'' as to the education of pastors, since its Polish theological students of German native language were hindered to study at German universities by restrictive Polish pass regulations. The congregations in the ''League of Nations mandate of the
Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...
'' (german: link=no, Memelgebiet) continued to belong to the . When from 10 to 16 January 1923 neighbouring
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
conquered the mandatory territory and annexed it on 24 January, the situation of the congregations there turned precarious. On 8 May 1924 Lithuania and the mandatory powers
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, Japan and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
signed the
Klaipėda Convention The Klaipėda Convention (or Convention concerning the Territory of Memel) was an international agreement between Lithuania and the countries of the Conference of Ambassadors (United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Japan) signed in Paris on May 8, 1 ...
, granting autonomy to the inhabitants of the Klaipėda Region. This enabled the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' to sign a contract with the Memel autonomous government (german: link=no, Landesdirektorium) under Viktoras Gailius on 23 July 1925 in order to maintain the affiliation of the congregations with the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. The Evangelical congregations in the Klaipėda Region were disentangled from the ''Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia'' and formed the
Regional Synodal Federation of the Memel Territory In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
(Landessynodalverband Memelgebiet), being ranked an ecclesiastical province directly subordinate to the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' with an own consistory in Klaipėda (est. in 1927), led by a general superintendent (at first Franz Gregor, after 1933 ). On 25 June 1934 the tiny church body of the Oldenburgian exclave Birkenfeld merged in the Rhenish ecclesiastical province. The 1922 constitution of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' included much stronger presbyterial structures and forms of parishioners' democratic participation in church matters. The parishioners of a congregation elected a presbytery and a ''congregants' representation'' (german: link=no, Gemeindevertretung). A number of congregations formed a
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 ...
(german: link=no, Kirchenkreis), holding a ''deanery synod'' (german: link=no, Kreissynode) of synodals elected by the presbyteries. The deanery synodals elected the ''deanery synodal board'' (german: link=no, Kreissynodalvorstand), in charge of the ecclesiastical supervision of the congregations in a deanery, which was chaired by a superintendent, appointed by the ''provincial church council'' (german: link=no, Provinzialkirchenrat) after a proposal of the general superintendent. The parishioners in the congregations elected synodals for their respective ''provincial synod'' – a legislative body – which again elected its governing board the ''provincial church council'', which also included members delegated by the consistory. The consistory was the provincial administrative body, whose members were appointed by the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council''. Each consistory was chaired by a general superintendent, being the ecclesiastical, and a consistorial president (german: link=no, Konsistorialpräsident), being the administrative leader. The ''provincial synods'' and the ''provincial church councils'' elected from their midst the synodals of the ''general synod'', the legislative body of the overall ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. The general synod elected the ''church senate'' (german: link=no, Kirchensenat), the governing board presided by the
praeses ''Praeses'' (Latin  ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. ...
of the general synod, elected by the synodals. Johann Friedrich Winckler held the office of praeses from 1915 until 1933. The ''church senate'' appointed the members of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', the supreme administrative entity, which again appointed the members of the consistories.


Identity and self-conception in the Weimar years

The majority of parishioners stayed in a state of unease with the changes and many were skeptical towards the democracy of the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
. Nationalist conservative groups dominated the general synods. Authoritarian traditions competed with liberal and modern ones. The traditional affinity to the former princely holders of the summepiscopacy often continued. So when in 1926 the leftist parties successfully launched a
plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...
to the effect of the expropriation of the German former regnal houses without compensation, the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' called up for an abstention from the election, holding up the commandment Thou shalt not steal. Thus the plesbiscite missed the minimum turnout and failed. A problem was the spiritual vacuum, which emerged after the church stopped being a state church. Otto Dibelius, since 1925 general superintendent of
Kurmark The German term ''Kurmark'' (archaic ''Churmark'', "Electoral March") referred to the Imperial State held by the margraves of Brandenburg, who had been awarded the electoral (''Kur'') dignity by the Golden Bull of 1356. In early modern times, ...
within the ''Ecclesiastical Province of the March of Brandenburg'', published his book ''Das Jahrhundert der Kirche'' (''The century of the Church''), in which he declared the 20th century to be the era when the Evangelical Church may for the first time develop freely and gain the independence God would have wished for, without the burden and constraints of the state church function. He regarded the role of the church as even the more important, since the state of the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
 – in his eyes – would not provide the society with binding norms any more, thus this would be the task of the church.Claus Wagener, "Die Vorgeschichte des Kirchenkampfes", p. 65. The church would have to stand for the defense of the Christian culture of the Occident. In this respect Dibelius regarded himself as consciously anti-Jewish, explaining in a circular to the pastors in his general superintendency district of ''Kurmark'', "that with all degenerating phenomena of modern civilisation Judaism plays a leading role". His book was one of the most read on church matters in that period. While this new self-conception helped the activists within the church, the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' could not increase the number of its activists. In Berlin the number of activists made up maybe 60,000 to 80,000 persons of an overall number of parishioners of more than 3 million within an overall of more than 4 million Berliners. Especially in Berlin the affiliation faded. By the end of the 1920s still 70% of the dead in Berlin were buried accompanied by an Evangelical ceremony and 90% of the children from Evangelical couples were baptised. But only 40% of the marriages in Berlin chose an Evangelical wedding ceremony. Whereas in 1913, before the end of the monarchy, 20,500 parishioners seceded from the old-Prussian Church, the numbers soared – during the separation of the religions and the Free State of Prussia – to 133,379 in 1919 and 163,819 in 1920.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 21. However, these secessions were still compensated by baptisands and migrants. In the early and mid-1920s the annual number of secessions amounted to about 80,000. From 1928 to 1932 annually about 50,000 parishioners seceded from the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. In the field of church elections committed congregants formed new ''Kirchenparteien'', which nominated candidates for the elections of the presbyteries and synods of different level. In 1919
Christian socialists Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...
founded the Covenant of Religious Socialists. As reaction to this politicisation the ''Evangelisch-unpolitische Liste'' (EuL, ''Evangelical unpolitical List'') emerged, which ran for mandates besides the traditional ''Middle Party'', ''Positive Union'' and another new ''Kirchenpartei'', the ''Jungreformatorische Bewegung'' (''Young Reformatory Movement'').Peter Noss, "Schlussbetrachtung", p. 575. Especially in the country-side, there often were no developed ''Kirchenparteien'', thus activist congregants formed common lists of candidates of many different opinions. In February 1932 Protestant Nazis, above all Wilhelm Kube (presbyter at the Gethsemane Church, Berlin, and speaker of the six
NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
parliamentarians in the Prussian State Diet) initiated the foundation of a new ''Kirchenpartei'', the so-called Faith Movement of German Christians (german: link=no, Glaubensbewegung Deutsche Christen, DC), participating on 12–14 November 1932 for the first time in the elections for presbyters and synodals within the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' and gaining about a third of the seats in presbyteries and synods. In the inter-war years the general synod convened five times. In 1927 it decided with a narrow majority to maintain the title general superintendent instead of replacing it by the title bishop. The same general synod voted for the admittance of women as
vicars A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...
. The old-Prussian Church and the Free State of Prussia formalised their relationship by the concordat of 31 May 1931. By this concordat the church was given a say in appointing professors of Protestant theology and the contents they teach in Prussia's state universities, whereas the Free State could veto the appointment of leading functionaries. After the system of state churches had disappeared with the monarchies in the German states, the question arose, why the Protestant church bodies within Germany did not merge. Besides the smaller Protestant denominations of the Mennonites, Baptists or Methodists, which were organised crossing state borders along denominational lines, there were 29 (later 28) church bodies organised along territorial borders of German states or Prussian provinces. All those, covering the territory of former monarchies with a ruling Protestant dynasty, had been state churches until 1918 – except of the Protestant church bodies of territories annexed by Prussia in 1866. Others had been no less territorially defined Protestant minority church bodies within states of Catholic monarchs, where – before 1918 – the Roman Catholic Church played the role of state church. In fact, a merger was permanently under discussion, but never materialised due to strong regional self-confidence and traditions as well as the denominational fragmentation into Lutheran, Calvinist and United and uniting churches. Following the
Schweizerischer Evangelischer Kirchenbund The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...
(Swiss Federation of Protestant Churches) of 1920, the then 29 territorially defined German Protestant church bodies founded the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchenbund (German Federation of Protestant Churches) in 1922, which was no new merged church, but a loose confederacy of the existing independent church bodies.


Under Nazi rule

In the period of the Third Reich the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' fell into deep disunity. Most clerics, representatives and parishioners welcomed the Nazi takeover. Most Protestants suggested that the mass arrests, following the abolition of central civic rights by
Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fr ...
on 28 February 1933, hit the right persons. On 20 March 1933
Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...
, the first official premise of its kind, was opened, while 150,000 hastily arrested inmates were held in hundreds of spontaneous so-called ''wild'' concentration camps, to be gradually evacuated into about 100 new official camps to be opened until the end of 1933.Claus Wagener, "Nationalsozialistische Kirchenpolitik und protestantische Kirchen nach 1933", p. 77. On 21 March 1933 the newly elected Reichstag convened in the Evangelical Garrison Church of
Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of ...
, an event commemorated as the ''Day of Potsdam'', and the locally competent Gen.-Supt. Dibelius preached. Dibelius downplayed the boycott against enterprises of Jewish proprietors and such of Gentiles of Jewish descent in an address for the US radio. Even after this clearly anti-Semitic action he repeated in his circular to the pastors of Kurmark on the occasion of Easter (16 April 1933) his anti-Jewish attitude, giving the same words as in 1928. The Nazi Reich's government, aiming at streamlining the Protestant churches, recognised the
German Christians Christianity is the largest religion in Germany. It was introduced to the area of modern Germany by 300 AD, while parts of that area belonged to the Roman Empire, and later, when Franks and other Germanic tribes converted to Christianity from t ...
as its means to do so. On 4 and 5 April 1933 representatives of the ''German Christians'' convened in Berlin and demanded the dismissal of all members of the executive bodies of the 28 Protestant church bodies in Germany. The ''German Christians'' demanded their ultimate merger into a uniform German Protestant Church, led according to the Nazi Führerprinzip by a Reich's Bishop (german: link=no, Reichsbischof), abolishing all democratic participation of parishioners in presbyteries and synods. The ''German Christians'' announced the appointment of a Reich's Bishop for 31 October 1933, the Reformation Day holiday. Furthermore, the ''German Christians'' demanded to purify Protestantism of all Jewish patrimony. Judaism should no longer be regarded a religion, which can be adopted and given up, but a racial category which were genetic. Thus ''German Christians'' opposed
proselytising Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between ''evangelism'' or ''Da‘wah'' and proselytism regarding proselytism as involu ...
among Jews. Protestantism should become a pagan kind heroic pseudo-Nordic religion. Of course the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
, which includes the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
and the virtue of charity (taken from the
Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
, Book of Leviticus : "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD."), was to be abandoned. In a mood of an emergency through an impending Nazi takeover functionaries of the then officiating executive bodies of the 28 Protestant church bodies stole a march on the ''German Christians''. Functionaries and activists worked hastily on negotiating between the 28 Protestant church bodies a legally indoubtable unification on 25 April 1933 three men convened, Hermann Kapler, president of the old-Prussian ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' – representing United Protestantism –
August Marahrens August Friedrich Karl Marahrens (11 October 1875, in Hanover – 3 May 1950, in Loccum, Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the ...
, state bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover (for the Lutherans), and the Reformed Hermann-Albert Klugkist Hesse, director of the preacher seminary in
Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...
, to prepare the constitution of a united church which they called the German Evangelical Church too. This caused the later confusion when the streamlined Reich church and the
Confessing Church The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German ...
alike identified as being the legitimate church of that name. The Nazi government compelled the negotiators to include its representative, the former
army chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term '' ch ...
Ludwig Müller from
Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
, a devout ''German Christian''. The plans were to dissolve the ''German Evangelical Church Confederation'' and the 28 church bodies and to replace them by a uniform Protestant church, to be called the '' German Evangelical Church'' (german: link=no, Deutsche Evangelische Kirche). On 27 May 1933 representatives of the 28 church bodies gathered in Berlin, and, against a minority voting for Ludwig Müller, elected
Friedrich von Bodelschwingh Friedrich "Fritz" von Bodelschwingh (; 14 August 1877, Bethel – 4 January 1946), also known as Friedrich von Bodelschwingh the Younger, was a German pastor, theologian and public health advocate. His father was Friedrich von Bodelschwingh the El ...
, head of the Bethel Institution and member of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', Reich's Bishop, a newly created title. The ''German Christians'' strictly opposed that election, because Bodelschwingh was not their partisan. Thus the Nazis, who were permanently breaking the law, stepped in, using the streamlined Prussian government, and declared the functionaries had exceeded their authority.


Abolition of religious autonomy

Once the Nazi government figured out that the Protestant church bodies would not be streamlined from within using the ''German Christians'', they abolished the constitutional
freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...
and religious organisation, declaring the unauthorised election of Bodelschwingh had created a situation contravening the constitutions of the Protestant churches, and on these grounds, on 24 June the Nazi Minister of Cultural Affairs, Bernhard Rust appointed August Jäger as Prussian ''State Commissioner for the Prussian ecclesiastical affairs'' (german: link=no, Staatskommissar für die preußischen kirchlichen Angelegenheiten). This act clearly violated the status of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' as statutory body (german: link=no, Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts) and subjecting it to Jäger's orders (see Struggle of the Churches, german: link=no, Kirchenkampf).Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 157. Bodelschwingh resigned as Reich's Bishop the same day. On 28 June Jäger appointed Müller as new Reich's Bishop and on 6 July as leader of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', then with 18 million parishioners by far the biggest Protestant church body within Germany, with 41 million Protestants altogether (total population: 62 millions). Kapler resigned as president of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', after he had applied for retirement on 3 June, and Gen.-Supt. Wilhelm Haendler (competent for Berlin's suburbia), then presiding the ''March of Brandenburg Consistory'' retired for age reasons. Jäger furloughed Martin Albertz (superintendent of the
Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...
deanery), Dibelius, Max Diestel (superintendent of the Cölln Land I deanery in the southwestern suburbs of Berlin), Emil Karow (general superintendent of Berlin inner city), and Ernst Vits (general superintendent of Lower Lusatia and the New March), thus decapitating the complete spiritual leadership of the ''Ecclesiastical Province of the March of Brandenburg''.Ralf Lange and Peter Noss, "''Bekennende Kirche'' in Berlin", p. 117. Then the ''German Christian'' Dr. iur. was appointed as provisional president of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', which he remained after his official appointment by the re-elected old-Prussian general synod until 1945. For 2 July, Werner ordered general thanksgiving services in all congregations to thank for the new imposed streamlined leadership. Many pastors protested that and held instead services of
penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It also plays a part ...
bearing the violation of the church constitution in mind. The pastors ( William I Memorial Church, Berlin), Fritz (Friedrich) Müller, Martin Niemöller, Eberhard Röhricht (all the three Dahlem Congregation, Berlin) and Eitel-Friedrich von Rabenau (Apostle Paul Church, Berlin, formerly Immanuel Church (Tel Aviv-Yafo), 1912–1917) wrote a letter of protest to Jäger. Pastor Otto Grossmann ( within Steglitz Congregation) criticised the violation of the church constitution in a speech on the radio and was subsequently arrested and interrogated (July 1933). On 11 July ''German-Christian'' and intimidated non-such representatives of all the 28 Protestant church bodies in Germany declared the ''German Evangelical Church Confederation'' to be dissolved and the ''German Evangelical Church'' to be founded. On 14 July Hesse, Kapler and Marahrens presented the newly developed constitution of the ''German Evangelical Church'', which the Nazi government declared to be valid. The same day
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
discretionarily decreed an unconstitutional premature re-election of all presbyters and synodals in all 28 church bodies for 23 July. The new synods of the 28 Protestant churches were to declare their dissolution as separate church bodies. Representatives of all 28 Protestant churches were to attend the newly created ''National Synod'' to confirm Müller as Reich's Bishop. Müller already now regarded himself as leader of that new organisation. He established a '' Spiritual Ministerium'' (german: link=no, Geistliches Ministerium, seated in Berlin, Marchstraße # 2 in the former premises of the ''German Evangelical Church Confederation''), being the executive body, consisting of four persons, who were not to be elected, but whom he appointed himself.


Church under streamlined leadership

On 15 July, the Nazi government lifted state control over the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', claiming the counter-constitutional situation were healed. Since the day Müller had become leader of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' he systematically abolished the intra-organisational democracy. On 4 August Müller assumed the title ''State Bishop'' (german: link=no, Landesbischof), a title and function non-existing in the constitution of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', and claimed hierarchical supremacy over all clerics and other employees as is usual for Catholic
bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
. In the campaign for the premature re-election of all presbyters and synodals on 23 July the Nazi Reich's government sided with the ''German Christians''. Under the impression of the government's partiality the other existing lists of opposing candidates united to form the list ''Evangelical Church''. The
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
(est. 26 April 1933) ordered the list to change its name and to replace all its election posters and flyers issued under the forbidden name. Pastor Wilhelm Harnisch () hosted the opposing list in the office for the homeless of his congregation in Mirbachstraße # 24 (now Bänschstraße # 52). The Gestapo confiscated the office and the printing-press there, in order to hinder any reprint.Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, "Die Glaubensbewegung Deutsche Christen", p. 104. Thus the list, which had renamed into (german: link=no, Evangelium und Kirche), took refuge with the ''Evangelical Press Association'' (german: link=no, Evangelischer Preßverband), presided by Dibelius and printed new election posters in its premises in Alte Jacobstraße # 129, Berlin. The night before the election Hitler appealed on the radio to all Protestants to vote for candidates of the ''German Christians'', while the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
declared, all its Protestant members were obliged to vote for the ''German Christians''. Thus the turnout in the elections was extraordinarily high, since most non-observant Protestants, who since long aligned with the Nazis, had voted. 70–80% of the newly elected presbyters and synodals of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' were candidates of the ''German Christians''. In Berlin e.g., the candidates of ''Gospel and Church'' only won the majority in two presbyteries, in Niemöller's ''Dahlem Congregation'', and in the congregation in Berlin-
Staaken Staaken () is a locality at the western rim of Berlin within the borough of Spandau. Geography Staaken borders on the localities of Spandau proper, Falkenhagener Feld and Wilhelmstadt. In the west it shares border with the Brandenburg municipal ...
-Dorf. In 1933 among the pastors of Berlin, 160 stuck to ''Gospel and Church'', 40 were ''German Christians'' while another 200 had taken neither side. ''German Christians'' won a majority within the general synod of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–27, here p. 23. . and within its provincial synods – except of the one of Westphalia –, as well as in many synods of other Protestant church bodies, except of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria right of the river Rhine, the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover, and the Lutheran Evangelical State Church in Württemberg, which the opposition thus regarded as uncorrupted ''intact churches'', as opposed to the other than so-called ''destroyed churches''. On 24 August 1933 the new synodals convened for a ''March of Brandenburg'' provincial synod. They elected a new provincial church council with 8 seats for the ''German Christians'' and two for Detlev von Arnim-Kröchlendorff, an esquire owning a manor in Kröchlendorff (a part of today's Nordwestuckermark), and Gerhard Jacobi (both ''Gospel and Church''). Then the ''German Christian'' majority of 113 synodals over 37 nays decided to appeal to the general synod to introduce the so-called
Aryan paragraph An Aryan paragraph (german: Arierparagraph) was a clause in the statutes of an organization, corporation, or real estate deed that reserved membership and/or right of residence solely for members of the "Aryan race" and excluded from such rights a ...
(german: link=no, Arierparagraph) as church law, thus demanding that employees of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' – being all baptised Protestant church members -, who had grandparents, who were enrolled as Jews, or who were married with such persons, were all to be fired. Gerhard Jacobi led the opposing provincial synodals. Other provincial synods demanded the ''Aryan paragraph'' too. On 7 April 1933 the Nazi Reich's government had introduced an equivalent law for all state officials and employees. By introducing the Nazi racist attitudes into the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', the approving synodals betrayed the Christian sacrament of
baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
, according to which this act makes a person a Christian, superseding any other faith, which oneself may have been observing before and knowing nothing about any racial affinity as a prerequisite of being a Christian, let alone one's grandparents' religious affiliation being an obstacle to being Christian. Rudolf Bultmann and , professors of Protestant theology at the Philip's University in Marburg upon Lahn, wrote in their assessment in 1933, that the ''Aryan paragraph'' contradicts the Protestant confession of everybody's right to perform her or his faith freely. "The Gospel is to be universally preached to all peoples and races and makes all baptised persons insegregable brethren to each other. Therefore, unequal rights, due to national or racial arguments, are inacceptable as well as any segregation." On 5 and 6 September the same year the ''General Synod'' of the whole ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' convened in the building of the former ''Prussian State Council'' (Leipziger Straße No. 3, now seat of the Federal Council (Germany)).Ralf Lange and Peter Noss, "''Bekennende Kirche'' in Berlin", p. 119. Also here the ''German Christians'' used their new majority, thus this ''General Synod'' became known among the opponents as the ''Brown Synod'', for brown being the colour of the Nazi party. When on 5 September , then
praeses ''Praeses'' (Latin  ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. ...
of the unadulterated Westphalian provincial synod, tried to bring forward the arguments of the opposition against the ''Aryan paragraph'' and the abolition of synodal and presbyterial democracy, the majority of German Christian synodals shouted him down. The German Christians abused the general synod as a mere acclamation, like a Nazi party convention. Koch and his partisans left the synod. The majority of German Christians thus voted in the ''Aryan paragraph'' for all the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. On 5 September the brown synodals passed the retroactive church law, which only established the function and title of bishop. The same law renamed the ecclesiastical provinces into bishoprics (german: link=no, Bistum/Bistümer, sg./pl.), each led – according to the new law of 6 September – by a provincial bishop (german: link=no, Provinzialbischof) replacing the prior general superintendents.Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 158. By enabling the dismissal of all Protestants of Jewish descent from jobs with the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', the official church bodies accepted the Nazi racist doctrine of anti-Semitism. This breach with Christian principles within the range of the church was unacceptable to many church members. Nevertheless, pursuing
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 ...
's
Doctrine of the two kingdoms The two kingdoms doctrine is a Protestant Christian doctrine that teaches that God is the ruler of the whole world and that he . The doctrine is held by Lutherans and represents the view of some Calvinists. John Calvin significantly modified Mart ...
(God rules within the world: Directly within the church and in the state by means of the secular government) many church members could not see any basis, how a Protestant church body could interfere with the anti-Semitism performed in the state sphere, since in its self-conception the church body was a religious, not a political organisation. Only few parishioners and clergy, mostly of Reformed tradition, followed Jean Cauvin's doctrine of the ''Kingdom of Christ'' within the church and the world. Among them were Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who demanded the church bodies to oppose the abolition of democracy and the unlawfulness in the general political sphere. Especially pastors in the countryside – often younger men, since the traditional pastoral career ladder started in a village parish – were outraged about this development. Herbert Goltzen, Eugen Weschke, and Günter Jacob, three pastors from Lower Lusatia, regarded the introduction of the ''Aryan paragraph'' as the violation of the confession. In late summer 1933 Jacob, pastor in Noßdorf (a part of today's Forst in Lusatia/Baršć), developed the central theses, which became the self-commitment of the opponents. In reaction to the anti-Semitic discriminations within the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' the church-aligned ''Breslauer Christliches Wochenblatt'' (''Breslau Christian Weekly'') published the following criticism in the October edition of 1933: "Vision: Service. The introit faded away. The pastor stands at the altar and begins: ›Non-Aryans are requested to leave the church!‹ Nobody budges. ›Non-Aryans are requested to leave the church!‹ Everything remains still. ›Non-Aryans are requested to leave the church!‹ Then
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
descends from the
Crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (La ...
of the
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in pagan ...
and leaves the church."


Emergency Covenant of Pastors

On 11 September 1933 Gerhard Jacobi gathered c. 60 opposing pastors, who clearly saw the breach of Christian and Protestant principles. Weschke and Günter Jacob proposed to found the Emergency Covenant of Pastors (german: link=no, Pfarrernotbund), and so they did, electing Pastor Niemöller their president. On the basis of the theses of Günter Jacob its members concluded that a
schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
was a matter of fact,"Erklärung zur theologischen Grundbestimmung der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (EKU)", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 38–49, here p. 42. a new Protestant church was to be established, since the official organisation was anti-Christian, heretical and therefore illegitimate. Each pastor joining the Covenant – until the end of September 1933 2,036 out of a total of 18,842 Protestant pastors in Germany acceded – had to sign that he rejected the ''Aryan paragraph''. In 1934 the Covenant counted 7,036 members, after 1935 the number sank to 4,952, among them 374 retired pastors, 529 auxiliary preachers and 116 candidates. First the pastors of Berlin, affiliated with the Covenant, met biweekly in Gerhard Jacobi's private apartment. From 1935 on they convened in the premises of the
Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, original ...
(YMCA, german: link=no, Christlicher Verein Junger Männer) in
Wilhelmstraße Wilhelmstrasse (german: Wilhelmstraße, see ß) is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin, Germany. Until 1945, it was recognised as the centre of the government, first of the Kingdom of Prussia, later of ...
No. 24 in Berlin-
Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it h ...
, opposite to the headquarters of Heinrich Himmler's Sicherheitsdienst (in 1939 integrated into the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, RSHA) in Wilhelmstraße # 102. In 1941 the Gestapo closed the YMCA house.


Abolition of synods

On 18 September 1933 Werner was appointed praeses of the old-Prussian general synod, thus becoming president of the church senate. In September Ludwig Müller appointed
Joachim Hossenfelder Joachim Hossenfelder (29 April 1899, Cottbus – 28 June 1976, Lübeck) was a German Protestant theologian. Works * ''Die Richtlinien der deutschen Christen.'' ed. Joachim Hossenfelder. Berlin 1932 * ''Unser Kampf'' (= ''Schriftenreihe der „ ...
, Reichsfuhrer of the ''German Christians'', as provincial bishop of Brandenburg (resigned in November after the éclat in the Sportpalast, see below), while the then furloughed Karow was newly appointed as provincial bishop of Berlin. Thus the ''Ecclesiastical Province of the March of Brandenburg'', which included Berlin, had two bishops. Karow, being no ''German Christian'', resigned in early 1934 in protest against Ludwig Müller. On 27 September the pan-German ''First National Synod'' convened in the highly symbolic city of
Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...
, where the Protestant Reformer
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 ...
nailed the ''
Ninety-five Theses The ''Ninety-five Theses'' or ''Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences''-The title comes from the 1517 Basel pamphlet printing. The first printings of the ''Theses'' use an incipit rather than a title which summarizes the content ...
'' to the door of the church in 1517. The synodals were not elected by the parishioners, but two-thirds were delegated by the church leaders, now called bishops, of the 28 Protestant church bodies, including the three intact ones, and one third were emissaries of Müller's ''Spiritual Ministerium''. Only such synodals were admitted, who would "uncompromisingly stand up any time for the National Socialist state" (german: link=no, »jederzeit rückhaltlos für den nationalsozialistischen Staat eintritt"). The national synod confirmed Müller as Reich's Bishop. The synodals of the national synod decided to waive their right to legislate in church matters and empowered Müller's ''Spiritual Ministerium'' to act as he wished. Furthermore, the national synod usurped the power in the 28 Protestant church bodies and provided the new so-called bishops of the 28 Protestant church bodies with hierarchical supremacy over all clergy and laymen within their church organisation. The national synod abolished future election for the synods of the 28 Protestant church bodies. Henceforth synodals had to replace two-thirds of the outgoing synodals by co-optation, the remaining third was to be appointed by the respective bishop.


Attempted merger into the Reich Church

The general synod (german: link=no, Generalsynode) of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' decided with the majority of the ''German Christian'' synodals to merge the church in the ''German Evangelical Church'' as of 1 March 1934 on. The synods of 25 other Protestant church bodies decided the same until the end of 1933. Only the synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria right of the river Rhine, led by Hans Meiser, and the Evangelical State Church in Württemberg, presided by
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 ...
, opposed and decided not to merge. This made also the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover (one of the few Protestant churches in Germany using the title of bishop already since the 1920s, thus prior to the Nazi era), with State Bishop
August Marahrens August Friedrich Karl Marahrens (11 October 1875, in Hanover – 3 May 1950, in Loccum, Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the ...
, change its mind. But the ''Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover'' hesitated to openly confront the Nazi Reich's government, still searching for an understanding even after 1934. Niemöller, Rabenau and
Kurt Scharf Kurt Scharf (October 21, 1902 – March 28, 1990) was a German clergyman and bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg. Life Kurt Scharf was born in Landsberg an der Warthe in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg (now Gorzó ...
(Congregation in Sachsenhausen (Oranienburg)) circulated an appeal, calling the pastors up not to fill in the forms, meant to prove their ''Aryan'' descent, distributed by the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council''. Thus its president Werner furloughed the three on 9 November.Ralf Lange and Peter Noss, "''Bekennende Kirche'' in Berlin", p. 120. For more and more purposes Germans had to prove their so-called ''Aryan'' descent, which usually was confirmed by copies from the baptismal registers of the churches, certifying that all four grandparents had been baptised. Some pastors soon understood, that people lacking four baptised grandparents are helped a lot – and later even rescued their lives – if they were certified to be ''Aryan'' by false copies from the baptismal registers.Klaus Drobisch, "Humanitäre Hilfe – gewichtiger Teil des Widerstandes von Christen", p. 28. Pastor Paul Braune (Lobetal, a part of today's Bernau bei Berlin) issued a memorandum, secretly handed out to pastors of confidence, how to falsify the best. But the majority of pastors in their
legalist Legalist, Inc. is an investment firm that specializes in alternative assets in the private credit industry. Today the firm manages approximately $750 million across three separate strategies: litigation finance, bankruptcy ( debtor-in-possession ...
attitude would not issue false copies. On 13 November 20,000 ''German Christians'' convened in the Berlin Sportpalast for a general meeting. Dr. Reinhold Krause, then president of the Greater Berlin section of the ''German Christians'', held a speech, defaming the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
for its alleged "Jewish morality of rewards" (german: link=no, jüdische Lohnmoral), and demanding the cleansing of the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
from the "scapegoat mentality and theology of inferiority" (german: link=no, Sündenbock- und Minderwertigkeitstheologie des Rabbiners Paulus), whose emergence Krause attributed to the Rabbi (Sha'ul) Paul of Tarsos. Through this speech the ''German Christians'' showed their true colours and this opened the eyes of many sympathisers of the ''German Christians''. On 22 November, the ''Emergency Covenant of Pastors'', led by Niemöller, issued a declaration about the heretic belief of the ''German Christians''. On 29 November the Covenant gathered 170 members in Berlin-Dahlem in order to call up Ludwig Müller to resign so that the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' could return into a constitutional condition.Ralf Lange and Peter Noss, "''Bekennende Kirche'' in Berlin", p. 121. A wave of protest flooded over the ''German Christians'', which ultimately initiated the decline of that movement. On 25 November the complete Bavarian section of the ''German Christians'' declared its secession.Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, "Die Glaubensbewegung Deutsche Christen", p. 109. So Krause was dismissed from his functions with the ''German Christians'' and the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''.Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, "Die Glaubensbewegung Deutsche Christen", p. 107. Krause's dismissal again made the radical Thuringian subsection declare its secession by the end of November. This pushed the complete Faith Movement into crisis so that its Reich's leader Joachim Hossenfelder had to resign on 20 December 1933. The different regional sections then split and united and resplit into half a dozen of movements, entering into a tiresome self-deprecation. Many presbyters of ''German Christian'' alignment retired, tired from disputing. So until 1937/1938 many presbyteries in Berlin congregations lost their ''German Christian'' majority by mere absenteeism. However the ''German Christian'' functionaries on the higher levels mostly remained aboard. On 4 January 1934 Ludwig Müller, claiming to have by his title as Reich's Bishop legislative power for all Protestant church bodies in Germany, issued the so-called ''muzzle decree'', which forbade any debate about the ''struggle of the churches'' within the rooms, bodies and media of the church. The ''Emergency Covenant of Pastors'' answered this decree by a declaration read by opposing pastors from their pulpits on 7 and 14 January. Müller then prompted the arrestment or disciplinary procedures against about 60 pastors alone in Berlin, who had been denounced by spies or congregants of ''German Christian'' affiliation. The Gestapo tapped Niemöller's phone and thus learned about his and Walter Künneth's plan to personally plea Hitler for a dismissal of Ludwig Müller. The Gestapo – playing
divide et impera Divide and rule policy ( la, divide et impera), or divide and conquer, in politics and sociology is gaining and maintaining power divisively. Historically, this strategy was used in many different ways by empires seeking to expand their terr ...
 – publicised their intention as a conspiracy and so the Lutheran church leaders Marahrens, Meiser, and Wurm distanced themselves from Niemöller on 26 January. The same day Ludwig Müller decreed the Führerprinzip, a hierarchy of subordination to command, within the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. Thus having usurped the power the ''German Christian'' Müller forbade his unwelcome competitor as church leader, the ''German Christian'' Werner, to discharge his duties as praeses of the ''Church Senate'' and president of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council''. Werner then sued Müller at the ''Landgericht I'' in Berlin. The verdict would have major consequences for the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. Also opponents, legally consulted by Judge Günther (judge at the Landgericht court), Horst Holstein, Friedrich Justus Perels, and Friedrich Weißler, covered Ludwig Müller and his willing subordinates with a wave of litigations in the ordinary courts in order to reach verdicts on his arbitrary anticonstitutional measures. Since Müller had acted without legal basis the courts usually proved the litigants to be right.Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 159. On 3 February Müller decreed another ordinance to send functionaries against their will into early retirement. Müller thus further cleansed the staff in the consistories, the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' and the deaneries from opponents. On 1 March Müller pensioned Niemöller off, the latter and his ''Dahlem Congregation'' simply ignored that. Furthermore, Müller degraded the legislative provincial synods and the executive provincial church councils into mere advisory boards. Müller appointed Paul Walzer, formerly county commissioner in the Free City of Danzig, as president of the ''March of Brandenburg'' provincial consistory. In the beginning of 1936 Supreme Consistorial Councillor Georg Rapmund, member of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', succeeded Walzer as consistorial president. After Rapmund's death Supreme Consistorial Councillor Ewald Siebert followed him. In a series of provincial synods the opposition assumed shape. On 3/4 January 1934 Karl Barth presided a synod in Wuppertal-Barmen for Reformed parishioners within the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''; on 18/19 February a so-called free synod convened the Rhenish opponents and the Westphalians met at the first ''Westphalian Synod of Confession'' on 16 March. On 7 March the so-called free synod for the ''Ecclesiastical Province of the March of Brandenburg'', much influenced by the Reformed pastor Supt. Martin Albertz, elected its first ''provincial brethren council'', comprising Supt. Albertz, Arnim-Kröchlendorff, Wilhelm von Arnim-Lützow, sculpturist Wilhelm Groß, Walter Häfele, Justizrat Willy Hahn, Oberstudienrat Georg Lindner, H. Michael, Willy Praetorius, Rabenau, Scharf, Regierunsgrat Kurt Siehe, and Heinrich Vogel, presided by Gerhard Jacobi. The Gestapo shut down one office of the ''provincial brethren council'' after the other. Werner Zillich and Max Moelter were the executive directors, further collaborators were Elisabeth Möhring (sister of the opposing pastor Gottfried Möhring at St. Catharine's Church in Brandenburg upon Havel) and Senta Maria Klatt (Congregation of St. John's Church, Berlin-
Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2016, around 77,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial and working-class neighbourhood ...
). The Gestapo summoned her more than 40 times and tried to intimidate her, confronting her with the fact that she, being partly of Jewish descent, would have to realise the worst possible treatment in jail.Ralf Lange and Peter Noss, "''Bekennende Kirche'' in Berlin", p. 126. In the eleven deaneries covering Greater Berlin, six were led by superintendents, who joined the ''Emergency Covenant of Pastors''.


German Christian schism

Some functionaries and laymen in the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' opposed the unification of the 28 Protestant church bodies, but many more agreed, but they wanted it under the preservation of the true Protestant faith, not imposed by Nazi partisans. In reaction to the convention and claims of the ''German Christians'' non-Nazi Protestants met in Barmen from 29 to 31 May 1934. On 29 May those coming from congregations within the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' held a separate meeting, their later on so-called first ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' (german: link=no, erste altpreußische Landes-Bekenntnissynode, also ''Barmen Synod''). The old-Prussian synodals elected the ''Brethren Council'' of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', chaired by the Westphalian synodal praeses , then titled Praeses of the ''Brethren Council''. Further members were Gerhard Jacobi, Niemöller and Fritz Müller. In the convention, following suit on 30 and 31 May, the participants from all 28 Protestant church bodies in Germany – including the old-Prussian synodals – declared Protestantism were based on the complete
Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...
, the
Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...
and the
New Covenant The New Covenant (Hebrew '; Greek ''diatheke kaine'') is a biblical interpretation which was originally derived from a phrase which is contained in the Book of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 31:31-34), in the Hebrew Bible (or the Old Testament of the ...
. The participants declared this basis to be binding for any Protestant Church deserving that name and confessed their allegiance to this basis (see Barmen Theological Declaration). Henceforth the movement of all Protestant denominations, opposing Nazi adulteration of Protestantism and Nazi intrusion into Protestant church affairs, was called the
Confessing Church The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German ...
(german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, BK), their partisans ''Confessing Christians'', as opposed to ''German Christians''. Later this convention in Barmen used to be called the first ''Reich's Synod of Confession'' (german: link=no, erste Reichsbekenntnissynode). Presbyteries with ''German Christian'' majorities often banned ''Confessing Christians'' from using church property and even entering the church buildings. Many church employees, who opposed, were dismissed. Especially among the many rural Pietists in the Ecclesiastical Province of Pomerania the opposition found considerable support. While the ''German Christians'', holding the majority in most official church bodies, lost many supporters, the ''Confessing Christians'', comprising many authentical persuasive activists, still remained a minority but increased their number. As compared to the vast majority of indifferent, non-observing Protestants, both movements were marginal. One pre-1918 tradition of non-ecclesiastical influence within church structures had made it into the new constitution of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' of 1922. Many of the churches, which had been founded before the 19th century, had a patron holding the ius patronatus, meaning that either the owner of a manor estate (in the countryside) or a political municipality or city was in charge of maintaining the church buildings and paying the pastor. No pastor could be appointed without the consent of the patron (
advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...
). This became a curse and a blessing during the Nazi period. While all political entities were Nazi-streamlined they abused the patronage to appoint Nazi-submissive pastors on the occasion of a vacancy. Also estate owners sometimes sided with the Nazis. But more estate owners were conservative and thus rather backed the opposition in the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. So the congregations under their patronage could often keep or appoint anew a pastor of the intra-church opposition. On 9 August 1934 the ''Second National Synod'', with all synodals again admitted by the ''Spiritual Ministerium'', severed the uniformation of the formerly independent Protestant church bodies, disenfranchising their respective synods to decide in internal church matters. These pretensions increased the criticism among church members within the streamlined church bodies. On 23 September 1934 Ludwig Müller was inaugurated in a church ceremony as Reich's Bishop. The Lutheran church bodies of Bavaria right of the river Rhine and Württemberg again refused to merge in September 1934. The imprisonment of their leaders, Bishop Meiser and Bishop Wurm, evoked public protests of congregants in Bavaria right of the river Rhine and Württemberg. Thus the Nazi Reich's government saw, that the ''German Christians'' aroused more and more unrest among Protestants, rather driving people into opposition to the government, than domesticating Protestantism as useful beadle for the Nazi reign. A breakthrough was the verdict of 20 November 1934. The court Landgericht I in Berlin decided that all decisions, taken by Müller since he decreed the Führerprinzip within the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' on 26 January, the same year, were to be reversed. Thus the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' reconstituted on 20 November 1934. But the prior dismissals of opponents and impositions of loyal ''German Christians'' in many church functions were not reversed. Werner regained his authority as president of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council''.


Old-Prussian confessing church

In autumn 1934 the Gestapo ordered the closure of the existing free preachers' seminaries, whose attendance formed part of the obligatory theological education of a pastor. The existing Reformed seminary in Wuppertal-Elberfeld, led by Hesse, resisted its closure and was accepted by the ''Confessing Church'', which opened more preachers' seminaries (german: link=no, Predigerseminar) of its own, such as the seminary in Bielefeld-Sieker (led by Otto Schmitz), Bloestau (East Prussia) and Jordan in the New March (both led by Hans Iwand 1935–1937), Naumburg am Queis (Gerhard Gloege), Stettin-Finkenwalde, later relocated to Groß Schlönwitz and then to Sigurdshof (forcibly closed in 1940, led by Dietrich Bonhoeffer). These activities completely depended on donations. In 1937 the Gestapo closed the seminaries in the east. Iwand, on whom in 1936 the Gestapo had inflicted the nationwide prohibition to speak in the public, reopened a seminary in
Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
in January 1938. This earned him an imprisonment of four-month in the same year. On 11 October 1934 the ''Confessing Church'' established in Achenbachstraße No. 3, Berlin, its own office for the examination of pastors and other church employees, since the official church body discriminated against candidates of Nazi opposing opinion. Until 1945 3,300 theologists graduated at this office. Among their examiners were originally professors of the Frederick William University of Berlin, who refrained from examining after their employer, the Nazi government, threatened to dismiss them in 1935. After this there were only ecclesiastical examinators, such as (Berlin-Friedrichshagen), Elisabeth Grauer, ( Fehrbellin), , , (auxiliary preacher Wuppertal- Elberfeld), Susanne Niesel-Pfannschmidt, Barbara Thiele, ( Friedrichswerder Church, Berlin), and Johannes Zippel (Steglitz Congregation, Berlin). On 1 December 1935 the ''Confessing Church'' opened its own ''Kirchliche Hochschule'' (KiHo, ''ecclesiastical college''), seated in Berlin-Dahlem and Wuppertal-Elberfeld. The Gestapo forbade the opening ceremony in Dahlem, thus Supt. Albertz spontaneously celebrated it in . On 4 December, the Gestapo closed the KiHo altogether, thus the teaching and learning continued underground at changing locations. Among the teachers were Supt. Albertz,
Hans Asmussen Hans Christian Asmussen (born 21 August 1898 in Flensburg — died 30 December 1968 in Speyer) was a German Evangelical and Lutheran theologian. Asmussen was a pastor in Altona, Hamburg. He was removed from office by the Nazis because of his act ...
, Joseph Chambon, Franz Hildebrandt, Niesel, , Heinrich Vogel, and Johannes Wolff. Meanwhile, Niemöller and other ''Confessing Church'' activists organised the second ''Reich's Synod of Confession'' in Berlin's ''Dahlem Congregation'' on 19 and 20 October 1934. The synodals elected by all confessing congregations and the congregations of the ''intact churches'' decided to found an independent ''German Evangelical Church''. Since the confessing congregations would have to contravene the laws as interpreted by the official church bodies, the synod developed an emergency law of its own. For the ''destroyed church'' of the old-Prussian Union they provided for each congregation, taken over by a ''German Christian'' majority a so-called ''brethren council'' (german: link=no, Bruderrat) as provisional presbytery, and a ''Confessing congregation assembly'' (german: link=no, Bekenntnisgemeindeversammlung) to parallelise the ''congregants' representation''. The Confessing congregations of each deanery formed a ''Confessing deanery synod'' (german: link=no, Kreis-Bekenntnissynode), electing a ''deanery brethren council'' (german: link=no, Kreis-Bruderrat). If the superintendent of a deanery clung to the ''Confessing Church'', he was accepted, otherwise a ''deanery pastor'' (german: link=no, Kreispfarrer) was elected from the midst of the Confessing pastors in the deanery. Confessing congregants elected synodals for a ''Confessing provincial synod'' as well as ''Confessing State synod'' (german: link=no, Provinzial-, resp. Landes-Bekenntnissynode), who again elected a ''provincial brethren council'' or the ''state brethren council'' of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' (colloquially ''old-Prussian brethren council''), and a ''council of the Confessing ecclesiastical province'' (german: link=no, Rat der Bekennenden Kirche of the respective ecclesiastical province) or the ''council of the Confessing Church of the old-Prussian Union'', the respective administrative bodies. Any obedience to the official bodies of the ''destroyed church'' of the old-Prussian Union was to be rejected. The ''Confessing Christians'' integrated the existing bodies of the opposition – such as the ''brethren councils'' of the ''Emergency Covenant of Pastors'', and the independent synods (est. starting in January 1934) -, or established the described parallel structures anew all over the area of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' in November 1934. The rivalling German Evangelical Church of the ''Confessing Church movement'' constituted in Dahlem. The synodals elected a ''Reich's Brethren Council'', which elected from its midst the executive ''Council of the German Evangelical Church'', consisting of six. In Berlin ''Confessing Christians'' celebrated the constitution of their church on the occasion of the Reformation Day (31 October 1934). The Gestapo forbade them any public event, thus the festivities had to take place in closed rooms with bidden guests only. All the participants had to carry a so-called ''red card'', identifying them as proponents of the ''Confessing Church''. However, 30,000 convened in different convention centres in the city and Niemöller, Peter Petersen (Lichterfelde) and Adolf Kurtz (Twelve Apostles Church) – among others – held speeches. On 7 December the Gestapo forbade the ''Confessing Church'' to rent any location, in order to prevent future events like that. The Nazi government then forbade any mentioning of the ''Kirchenkampf'' in which media whatsoever. Hitler was informed about the proceedings in Dahlem and invited the leaders of the three Lutheran ''intact churches'', Marahrens, Meiser and Wurm. He recognised them as legitimate leaders, but expressed that he would not accept the ''Reich's Brethren Council''. This was meant to wedge the ''Confessing Church'' along the lines of the uncompromising ''Confessing Christians'', around Niemöller from Dahlem, therefore nicknamed the ''Dahlemites'' (german: link=no, Dahlemiten), and the more moderate Lutheran ''intact churches'' and many opposing functionaries and clergy in the ''destroyed churches'', which had not yet been dismissed. For the time being the ''Confessing Christians'' found a compromise and appointed – on 22 November – the so-called first ''Preliminary Church Executive'' (german: link=no, Vorläufige Leitung der Deutschen Evangelischen Kirche, 1. VKL), consisting of Thomas Breit, Wilhelm Flor, Paul Humburg, Koch, and Marahrens. The executive was meant to only represent the ''Reich's Brethren Council'' to the outside. But soon Barth, Hesse, and Niemöller found the first ''Preliminary Church Executive'' to be too compromising so that these ''Dahlemites'' resigned from the ''Reich's Brethren Council''. Between end of 1934 and March 1937 the central office of the ''Preliminary Church Executive'' was located in the Burckhardt-Haus of the ''school for social workers'' (german: link=no, Lehrhaus für Gemeindehelferinnen der ev. Kirche) of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' in Berlin's then # 27, Friedbergstraße (now Rudeloffstraße). With the verdict of the Landgericht I, and this turn in Hitler's policy Jäger resigned from his office as state commissioner. Müller refused to resign as Reich's bishop but had to unwind all measures taken to forcefully unite the church bodies. So besides the ''Confessing Church'' of the old-Prussian Union, founded in October 1934 also the official, ''German Christian''-dominated ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' reconstituted in November. The second ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' (also old-Prussian ''Dahlem Synod'') convened in Berlin-Dahlem on 4 and 5 March 1935. The synodals decided that the ''Confessing Church of the old-Prussian Union'' should unite with the destroyed official ''Church of the old-Prussian Union''. The synodals further adopted a declaration about the Nazi racist doctrine. The same month the declaration was read in all confessing congregations, that the Nazi racist doctrine, claiming there were a Jewish and an ''Aryan'' race, was pure
mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...
. In reaction to that the Nazi government arrested 700 pastors, who had read this declaration from their pulpits. The official church ordered to read a declaration demanding the parishioners' obedience to the Nazi government. On Sunday Judica (7 April 1935) Confessing pastors held
rogation Rogation days are days of prayer and fasting in Western Christianity. They are observed with processions and the Litany of the Saints. The so-called ''major'' rogation is held on 25 April; the ''minor'' rogations are held on Monday to Wednesday ...
s for the imprisoned ''Confessing Christians''. From then on every Tuesday the brethren councils issued updated lists with the names of the imprisoned. Since the 28 Protestant church bodies in Germany levied contributions from their parishioners by a surcharge on the income tax, collected and then transferred by the state tax offices, the official church bodies denied the confessing congregations their share in the contributions. Each congregation had its own budget and the official church authorities transferred the respective share in the revenues to the legitimate presbytery of each congregations, be it governed by ''German Christians'' or ''Confessing Christians''. The Nazi Reich's government now intended to drain this financial influx by a new decree with the euphemising title ''Law on the Wealth Formation within the Evangelical Church Bodies'' (11 March 1935). Thus the Nazi Reich's government subjected the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' to governmental financial control. All budgets and remittances were to be confirmed by state comptrollers. On 11 April an ordinance ordered that salaries were only to be remitted to orderly appointed employees and all future appointments of whomsoever, would only take effect with the consent of the financial departments. Consistorial Councillor von Arnim-Kröchlendorff, a proponent of the ''Confessing Church'', was appointed leader of the financial department for Berlin. He turned out to ignore the rules and to largely use his scope of discretion.Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 160. But many other financial departments were chaired by sharp Nazi officials. Thus Confessing congregations outside of Berlin built up a new network of escrow accounts. It became especially difficult to defray the salaries of the officially non-confirmed employees. ''Confessing Christians'' of laity and Covenant pastors, still undisputedly receiving a full salary from the official church, agreed to substantial contributions to maintain the ''Confessing Church''. On 4 to 6 June 1935, two weeks after the
Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of ...
had been decreed, the synodals of the ''Confessing Church'' convened in
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
for the third ''Reich's Synod of Confession''. Disputes between the ''intact churches'' of Bavaria right of the river Rhine and Württemberg with the first ''preliminary church executive'' could be settled. So Niemöller, Hesse and Immer returned into the Reich's Brethren Council. Prof. Barth, refusing to sign the newly introduced oath of all professors to Hitler, had been dismissed from his chair at the Rhenish Frederick William's University of Bonn and remigrated to Switzerland, where he was appointed professor at the
University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universiti ...
. But the synodals did not adopt a declaration, prepared by Supt. Albertz, condemning the
Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of ...
. Wurm was elected speaker of the ''Confessing Church''. Right after this synod the Nazi Reich's government intensified its fight against the ''Confessing Church''. Since the orderly courts often approved litigations against ''German Christian'' measurements, because they usually lacked any legal basis, on 26 June 1935 the Nazi government passed a law, which would ban all suits about church questions from being decided by orderly jurisdiction. Instead – as was typical for the Nazi government – they established a new parallel authority, the ''Decision-Taking Office for Affairs of the Evangelical Church'' (german: link=no, Beschlußstelle in Angelegenheiten der Evangelischen Kirche). Thus the Nazi government cut off the ''Confessing Church'' from appealing to courts. All lawsuits on church matters, some still pending since 1 May 1933, were to be decided by the ''Decision-Taking Office''. Orderly courts could not overrule its decisions. With this power the ''Decision-Taking Office'' blackmailed the ''Confessing Church'' to compromise. The ''Decision-Taking Office'' refrained from acting as long as the ''Confessing Church'' co-operated. In fact the ''Decision-Taking Office'' only acted up after the compromises failed in 1937. In the following years of compromising
Hermann Ehlers Hermann Ehlers (1 October 1904 – 29 October 1954) was a German politician. He was the 2nd President of the Bundestag from 19 October 1950 to 29 October 1954. He was a member of the Christian Democratic Union. Early life Ehlers was born in ...
became a legal advisor of the ''old-Prussian brethren council'', until he was arrested from June to July 1937, which made him quit his collaboration.


Government response to the schism

On 16 July 1935 Hanns Kerrl was appointed Reich's minister for ecclesiastical affairs, a newly created department. He started negotiations to find a compromise. Therefore, he dropped the extreme ''German Christians'' and tried to win moderate ''Confessing Christians'' and respected neutrals. On 24 September 1935, a new law empowered Kerrl to legislate by way of ordinances within the Protestant church bodies, circumventing any synodal autonomy. On 10 September 1935 the ''old-Prussian brethren council'' convened preparing the upcoming third ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' (also ''Steglitz Synod''). The brethren decided not to unite with the official ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', unless the heretic ''German Christians'' would quit it. Supt. Albertz urged the brethren council to discuss the terrible situation of Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent, as it turned by the ''Nuremberg Laws'' and all the other anti-Semitic discriminations. But the Westphalian Praeses Koch threatened he would secede the ''old-Prussian brethren council'', if – in the synod – the council would advocate to pass a solidarity address to the Jews. On 26 September, Confessing synodals from all over the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' convened for the third ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' in the parish hall of Berlin's Steglitz Congregation in Albrechtstraße No. 81, organised by congregants of . , since 1932 director of the Evangelical Welfare Office for Berlin's borough of Zehlendorf (a part of today's borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf), appealed to the synodals to take action for the persecuted Jews and Christians of Jewish descent. In her memorandum she explained – among other things – that a third of the so-called non-''Aryan'' Protestants was unemployed due to the ever-growing number of jobs prohibited for Jews as defined by the
Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of ...
. She found clear words, calling the systematical impoverishment a ''Cold Pogrom'', aiming for and resulting in – as shown by the demographic development of German Jewry under Nazi persecution so far – the extinction of the German Jewry. She quoted a criticism from the
Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...
, saying the new god of the Germans was the ''Race'', to which they would offer human sacrifices. While Supt. Albertz and Niemöller argued to discuss the memorandum, a majority of synodals refused and the memorandum was then laid ad acta. The synodals could only gain common sense about the fact, that persons of Jewish religion, were to be baptised, if they wished so. This was completely denied by the ''German Christians'' since 1932, reserving Christianity as a religion exclusively for Gentiles, but also some ''Confessing Christians'' refused the baptism of Jews. Kerrl managed to gain the very respected Wilhelm Zoellner (a Lutheran, until 1931 general superintendent of Westphalia) to form the ''Reich's Ecclesiastical Committee'' (german: link=no, Reichskirchenausschuss, RKA) on 3 October 1935, combining neutral, moderate ''Confessing Christians'' and moderate ''German Christians'' to reconcile the disputing church parties. So also the official ''German Evangelical Church'' became subordinate to the new bureaucracy, Ludwig Müller lost his say, but still retained the now meaningless titles of German Reich's Bishop and old-Prussian State Bishop. In the course of November state ecclesiastical committees and provincial ecclesiastical committees were to be formed. Kerrl appointed a state ecclesiastical committee (german: link=no, Landeskirchenausschuss, LKA) for the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', led by Karl Eger, and further staffed with Supreme Consistorial Councillor Walter Kaminski (Königsberg), Pastor Theodor Kuessner (praeses of the East Prussian provincial Synod of Confession), Pastor Ernst Martin (Magdeburg), Supt. Wilhelm Ewald Schmidt ( Oberhausen) und Supt. Richard Zimmermann (, and praeses of the city synod of Berlin).Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 162. In November Kerrl decreed the parallel institutions of the ''Confessing Church'' to be dissolved, which was protested and ignored by the brethren councils. On 19 December Kerrl issued a decree which forbade all kinds of ''Confessing Church'' activities, namely appointments of pastors, education, examinations, ordinations, ecclesiastical visitations, announcements and declarations from the pulpit, separate financial structures and convening Synods of Confession; further the decree established provincial ecclesiastical committees.Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 161. Thus the ''brethren councils'' had to go into hiding. The ''Confessing Church'' in the Rhenish and Westphalian ecclesiastical provinces blocked in fact the formation of provincial ecclesiastical committees until 14 February 1936. The ''March of Brandenburg'' provincial ecclesiastical committee (est. on 19 December 1935, comprising Greater Berlin and the Province of Brandenburg) consisted of Ministerial Director retd. Peter Conze (Berlin-Halensee), Senate President Engert (Berlin-Lichterfelde West), Pastor Gustav Heidenreich (Church of the Well of Salvation, Berlin-Schöneberg), General Forest-Master Walter von Keudell ( Hohenlübbichow, Brandenburg), Supt. Friedrich Klein (leader of the Nazi Federation of Pastors, Bad Freienwalde), Supt. Otto Riehl (leader of the ''Pfarrvereine der Altpreußischen Union'', a kind of trade union of pastors, Crossen upon Oder), and Supt. Zimmermann. This committee was also competent for the ''Ecclesiastical Province of Posen-West Prussia'', with Heidenreich holding the stake. On 6 January, the members elected Zimmermann their president. On 10 January the Reich's ecclesiastical committee empowered by ordinance the provincial ecclesiastical committees to form ecclesiastical committees on the level of the deaneries, if assumed necessary. This was the case in the deanery of Berlin-Spandau.Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 163. As a gesture of reconciliation the state ecclesiastical committee for the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' legitimised all ordinations and examinations of the ''Confessing Church'' retroactively for the time from 1 January 1934 to 30 November 1935. Nevertheless, the ''Confessing Church'' refused to accept the new examination office of the state ecclesiastical committee. But Künneth (Inner Mission) and a number of renowned professors of the Frederick William University of Berlin, who worked for the ''Confessing Church'' before, declared their readiness to collaborate with the committee, to wit Prof. Alfred Bertholet,
Gustav Adolf Deissmann Gustav Adolf Deissmann (7 November 1866 – 5 April 1937) was a German Protestant theologian, best known for his leading work on the Greek language used in the New Testament, which he showed was the ''koine'', or commonly used tongue of the He ...
(Volkskirchlich-Evangelische Vereinigung; VEV.), Hans Lietzmann, Wilhelm Lütgert, and . Thus Kerrl successfully wedged the ''Confessing Church''. On 4 December 1935 the March of Brandenburg provincial Synod of Confession agreed to split in two provincial subsections, one for Greater Berlin and one comprising the political Province of Brandenburg with two provincial brethren councils, led by Gerhard Jacobi (Berlin, resigned in 1939, but quarrels between the moderate and the ''Dahlemites'' continued) and by Scharf (Brandenburg), who followed the ''Dahlemite'' guidelines.Ralf Lange and Peter Noss, "''Bekennende Kirche'' in Berlin", p. 133. At the fourth ''Reich's Synod of Confession'' in
Bad Oeynhausen Bad Oeynhausen () is a spa town on the southern edge of the Wiehengebirge in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the East-Westphalia-Lippe region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The closest larger towns are Bielefeld (39 kilometres southw ...
(17–22 February 1936) the ''Dahlemites'' fell out with most of the Lutheran ''Confessing Christians''. The first ''Preliminary Church Executive'' resigned, since its members, representing ''intact churches'', wanted to co-operate with the committees, while its members from ''destroyed churches'', especially the ''Dahlemites'' did not. The minority of moderate, mostly Lutheran ''Confessing Christians'' quit the ''Reich's Brethren Council''. Also the different provincial brethren councils within the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' were dissented. While most brethren councillors of Berlin wanted to co-operate, the brethren council of Brandenburg (without Berlin), of the Rhineland and the overall old-Prussian brethren council strictly opposed any compromises. On 12 March the remaining members of the ''Reich's Brethren Council'', presided by Niemöller, appointed the second ''Preliminary Church Executive'', consisting of Supt. Albertz, Bernhard Heinrich Forck (St. Trinity in Hamm, Hamburg), Paul Fricke (Frankfurt-Bockenheim), Hans Böhm (Berlin), and Fritz Müller. This body was recognised by the brethren councils of the ''destroyed churches'' of the old-Prussian Union, of
Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...
, of Nassau-Hesse and of Oldenburg as well as by a covenant of pastors from Württemberg (the so-called ''Württembergische Sozietät''). On 18 March the three Lutheran ''intact churches'' announced the foundation of the ''Council of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Germany'' (german: link=no, Rat der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche Deutschlands, colloquially ''Lutherrat'', Luther council) as their own umbrella organisation. The brethren councils of the Lutheran ''destroyed churches'' of Brunswick, Lübeck,
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
, the Free State of Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and
Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
as well as some Lutheran confessing congregations within the territories of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' recognised this umbrella. The ''Confessing Church'' was definitely split in two. However, the state brethren councils of the ''destroyed churches'' met occasionally in conferences. Under the impression of more foreign visitors in Germany, starting with the Winter Olympics the year of 1936 was a relatively peaceful period. Kerrl let the committees do, as they liked. Also the anti-Semitic agitation was softened. However, the
Sinti and Roma The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...
in Berlin realised the first mass internments, in order to present Berlin ''zigeunerfrei'' for the
1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-s ...
. But the less visible phenomena of the police state, like house searches, seizures of pamphlets and printed matters as well as the suppression of ''Confessing Church'' press continued. At
Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers ...
1936 (31 May) the second ''preliminary church executive'' issued a memorandum to Hitler, also read from the pulpits, condemning anti-Semitism, concentration camps, the state terrorism. A preliminary version had been published in foreign media earlier. "If blood, race, nationhood and honour are given the rank of eternal values, so the Evangelical Christian is compelled by the First Commandment, to oppose that judgement. If the Aryan human is glorified, so it is God's word, which testifies the sinfulness of all human beings. If – in the scope of the National Socialist Weltanschauung – an anti-Semitism, obliging to hatred of the Jews, is imposed on the individual Christian, so for him the Christian virtue of charity is standing against that." The authors concluded that the Nazi regime will definitely lead the German people into disaster. On 7 October the Gestapo arrested Weißler, then office manager and legal advisor of the second ''preliminary church executive'', erroneously blaming him to have played the memorandum into the hands of foreign media. Since Weißler was a Protestant of Jewish descent he was not taken to court, where the evidentially false blaming would have been easily unveiled, but deported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp and tortured to death from 13 to 19 February 1937 becoming the first lethal victim of the
Kirchenkampf ''Kirchenkampf'' (, lit. 'church struggle') is a German term which pertains to the situation of the Christian churches in Germany during the Nazi period (1933–1945). Sometimes used ambiguously, the term may refer to one or more of the follo ...
on the Protestant side. From 2 July 1936 until 1945 Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer SS, captured the Quedlinburg-based Church of St Servatius of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' and profaned it as a pagan place of worship in the scope of the garbled ideas of the SS about a neo-Germanic religion. On 15 December 1936 the old-Prussian brethren council issued a declaration, authored by Fritz Müller, criticising the compromising and shortcomings in the policy of the ecclesiastical committees. On the next day until the 18th the fourth ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' (also ''Breslau Synod'') convened in Breslau, discussing the work of the ecclesiastical committees and how to continue the education and ordinations in the scope of the ''Confessing Church''. Meanwhile, the Olympic close hunting season had ended. The Gestapo increased its suppression, undermining the readiness for compromises among the ''Confessing Church''. Zoellner concluded that this made his reconciliatory work impossible and criticised the Gestapo activities. He resigned on 2 February 1937, paralysing the Reich's ecclesiastical committee, which thus lost all recognition among the opposition. Kerrl now subjected Ludwig Müller's chancery of the ''German Evangelical Church'' directly to his ministry and the Reich's, provincial and state ecclesiastical committees were soon after dissolved.Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 164. The open gap in governance of the official ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' was filled by the still existing ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' under Werner and by the consistories on the provincial level. The ''Confessing Church'' now nicknamed the official ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' the ''One-Man-Church'', since Werner combined unusual power as provisional president of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' and leader of the old-Prussian financial control departments. Werner now systematically drained the financial sources of the ''Confessing Church''. Werner became the man of Kerrl. But Kerrl gave up, with Hitler and Alfred Rosenberg meanwhile completely abandoning Christianity. However, Kerrl's ministerial bureaucracy also knew what to do without him. From now on the ministry of church affairs subjected also the other Protestant church bodies, which in 1937 amounted after mergers to 23, to state controlled financial committees. Any attempt to impose a union upon all Protestant church bodies was given up. The government now preferred to fight individual opponents by prohibitions to publish, to hold public speeches, by domiciliary arrest, banishments from certain regions, and imprisonment. Since 9 June 1937 collections of money were subject to strict state confirmation, regularly denied to the ''Confessing Church''. In the period of the committee policy, unapproved collections were tolerated but now Confessing pastors were systematically imprisoned, who were denounced for having collected money. The number of imprisoned dignitaries of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', mostly only temporarily, amounted to 765 in the whole year of 1937. On 10–13 May 1937 synodals convened in
Halle upon Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-An ...
to discuss denominational questions of the Reformed, Lutheran and united congregations within the old-Prussian Confessing Church. The Halle Synod also delivered the basis for the multi-denominational Protestant Arnoldshain Conference (1957) and its theses on the Lord's Supper. Soon after, on 1 July Niemöller was arrested and after months in detention he was released – the court sentenced him and regarded the term served by the time in detention, but the Gestapo took him right away into custody and imprisoned him in the concentration camp of Sachsenhausen and later in Dachau. The fifth ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' (also ''Lippstadt Synod'') convened its synodals in
Lippstadt Lippstadt () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest. Lippstadt is situated about 60 kilometres east of Dortmund, 40 kilometres south of Bielefeld and 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. Ge ...
on 21–27 August 1937 debating financial matters. After the toughening of financial control the synodals decided to keep up collections, but more in hiding, and restarted regular rogations for the imprisoned, reading their names from the pulpit. In autumn 1937 the Gestapo further suppressed the underground theological education (KiHo) and systematically fought any examinations within the ''Confessing Church''. On 10 December 1937 the ministry of church affairs appointed Werner as president of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council''. Werner then restaffed the ''March of Brandenburg'' consistory, newly appointing Johannes Heinrich as consistorial president (after almost a year of vacancy) and three further members of ''German Christian'' affiliation: Siegfried Nobiling, Fritz Loerzer (formerly also Provost of Kurmark) and Pastor Karl Themel (Luisenstadt Congregation, Berlin). The remaining prior members were the ''German Christian'' Walter Herrmann (), Friedrich Riehm (''German Christian''), Helmut Engelhardt and von Arnim-Kröchlendorff (''Confessing Church''), Ernst Bender, and Friedrich Wendtlandt. In February 1938 Werner divested von Arnim-Kröchlendorff as chief of the financial department of Berlin, and replaced him by the Nazi official Erhard von Schmidt, who then severed the financial drainage of Berlin's ''Confessing Church''.Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 167. For Hitler's birthday (20 April 1938) Werner developed a special gift. All pastors of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' should swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler. In May the seventh Synod of Confession of the Rhenish ecclesiastical province refused to comply, since it was not the state, which demanded the oath. The sixth ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' convened twice in Berlin, once in the Nikolassee Church (11–13 June 1938) and a second time in the parish hall of the Steglitz Congregation (31 July). In Nikolassee the oath was much under discussion, however, no decision was taken, but delayed – until further information would be available. At the second meeting in Steglitz a majority of synodals complied to Werner's demand. In August
Martin Bormann Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery. He gained immense power by using his position as Adolf Hitler's private secretary to control the flow of information ...
, the Reich's leader of the Nazi party, declared that Hitler was not interested in an oath. However, the consistories demanded the oath, but in the Rhenish ecclesiastical province only 184 out 800 pastors refused to swear. In summer 1938 Kerrl reappeared on the scene with a new attempt to unite the church parties from their midst, using a federation named ''Wittenberger Bund'', initiated Friedrich Buschtöns (''German Christians''), Theodor Ellwein, and Prof. Helmuth Kittel, all members of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council''. Kerrl failed again.


Protestants of Jewish descent

The ever-growing discrimination of Jewish Germans (including the special category of Geltungsjuden) and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent drove them ever deeper into impoverishment. The official church body completely refused to help its persecuted parishioners of Jewish descent, let alone the Germans of Jewish faith. But also the activists of the ''Confessing Church'', bothered about this problem – like Supt. Albertz, Bonhoeffer, Charlotte Friedenthal, Pastor Heinrich Grüber (
Jesus Church (Berlin-Kaulsdorf) Jesus Church (Kaulsdorf) (german: link=no, Jesuskirche, colloquially also ''Dorfkirche'', ''village church'') is the church of the Evangelical ''Berlin-Kaulsdorf Congregation'', a member of today's Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Ch ...
),
Hermann Maas Hermann Ludwig Maas (; 5 August 1877 – 27 September 1970) was a Protestant minister, a doctor of theology and named one of the ''Righteous Among the Nations'',Yad Vashem: "Hermann Maas"' a title given by the Israeli organization for study an ...
, Meusel, Pastor could not prevail with their concern to help under the umbrella of the ''Confessing Church'', since also among the opponents many, Lutherans more than Calvinists, had anti-Jewish affects or were completely occupied with maintaining the true Protestant faith under state suppression. Even though the opponents managed to fight the ''Aryan paragraph'' within the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' (Ludwig Müller abrogated it on 16 November 1934), it took the ''Confessing Church'' until summer 1938 to build up a network for the persecuted. In early 1933
Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (14 June 1885, in Görlitz – 11 July 1969, in Soest) was a German academic working in theology, social pedagogy and social ethics, as well as a pioneer of peace movements. Life After studying at several gymnasia ...
proposed the foundation of an ''International Relief Committee for German (Evangelical, Catholic and Mosaic) Emigrants'' (german: link=no, Internationales Hilfskomitee für deutsche (evangelische, katholische und mosaische) Auswanderer). The project was in a tailspin since the oecumenical partners in the US demanded to exclude persons of Jewish faith, before it definitely failed because the Nazi government expelled Siegmund-Schultze from Germany. In July 1933 Christian Germans of Jewish descent had founded a self-help organisation, first named Reich's Federation of non-Aryan Christians (german: link=no, Reichsverband nichtarischer Christen), then renamed into ''Paul's Covenant'' (german: link=no, Paulusbund) after the famous Jewish convert to Christianity (Sha'ul) Paul of Tarsos, presided by the known literary historian . In early 1937 the Nazi government forbade that organisation, allowing a new successor organisation ''Association 1937'' (german: link=no, Vereinigung 1937), which was prohibited to accept members – like Spiero – with three or four grandparents, who had been enrolled with a Jewish congregation. Thus that new association had lost its most prominent leaders and faded, having become an organisation of so-called
Mischlinge (; "mix-ling"; plural: ) was a pejorative legal term used in Nazi Germany to denote persons of mixed "Aryan" and non-Aryan, such as Jewish, ancestry as codified in the Nuremberg racial laws of 1935. In German, the word has the general denotat ...
of Nazi terminology. Spiero opened his private relief office in Brandenburgische Straße No. 41 (Berlin). On 31 January 1936 the ''International Church Relief Commission for German Refugees'' constituted in London – with Supt. Albertz representing the ''Confessing Church'' – but its German counterpart never materialised. So Bishop George Bell gained his sister-in-law Laura Livingstone to run an office for the international relief commission in Berlin. She joined the office of Spiero. The failure of the ''Confessing Church'' was evident, even though 70–80% of the Christian Germans of Jewish descent were Protestants. In August 1938 the Nazi government forced Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent to adopt the middle names ''Israel'' or ''Sara'' and to use them on any occasion, such as signatures, visit cards, letters, addresses and firm and name signs. It was Grüber and some enthusiasts, who had started a new effort in 1936. They forced the ''Confessing Church's'' hand, which in 1938 supported the new organisation, named by the Gestapo , but after its official recognition ''Relief Centre for Evangelical Non-Aryans''. Until May 1939 25 regional offices could be opened, led by those executive directors of the provincial Inner Mission premises, who clung to the ''Confessing Church'' or the latter's other mandatees. Supt. Albertz, Pastor Adolf Kurtz (Twelve Apostles Church, Berlin), and Livingstone collaborated. The Bureau was mainly busy with supporting the re-education in other vocations, not (yet) prohibited for Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent, and with finding nations of exile, who would grant immigration visa. As long as the Nazis' decision, to murder all persons they considered as Jews, had not yet been taken, the Bureau gained some government recognition as an agency, promoting the emigration of the concerned persons. In the night of 9 November 1938 the Nazi government organised the
November Pogrom () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
, often euphemised as ''Kristallnacht''. The well-organised Nazi squads killed several hundreds, set nine out of 12 major synagogues in Berlin on fire (1,900 synagogues all over Germany), 1,200 Jewish Berliners were deported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. All over Germany altogether 30,000 male Jews were arrested, among them almost all the 115 Protestant pastors with three or four grandparents, who had been enrolled as members of a Jewish congregation. Many men went into hiding from arrestment and also appeared at Grüber's home in the rectory of the
Jesus Church (Berlin-Kaulsdorf) Jesus Church (Kaulsdorf) (german: link=no, Jesuskirche, colloquially also ''Dorfkirche'', ''village church'') is the church of the Evangelical ''Berlin-Kaulsdorf Congregation'', a member of today's Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Ch ...
. Grüber organised their hiding in the cottages in the allotment clubs in his parish. The Nazis only released the arrested inmates, if they would immediately emigrate. Thus getting visa became the main target and problem. While Bishop George Bell tried and managed to rescue many of the imprisoned pastors, successfully persuading the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
to provide them through the British government with British visa, the official ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' did not even try to intervene in favour of its imprisoned clergy. Thus none of the Protestant pastors of Jewish descent remained in or returned to office. Also the many other inmates had no advocate of such influence like the ''Church of England''. On 7 December 1938 the British organisation
Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
relinquished its location in Oranienburger Straße 20/21 to Grüber, who thus moved his Bureau thereto. Kurtz relocated his consultations, until then held in his private home in the rectory of the Twelve Apostles Church (Berlin), into the new office location. The staff of the Bureau Grüber grew to five persons on 19 December, then 30 in February 1939 and finally 35 by July the same year.Hartmut Ludwig, "Das ›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ 1938–1940", p. 10. Pastor Werner Sylten, who had been fired – on the grounds of his partially Jewish descent – by his employer, the ''German Christian''-dominated Thuringian Evangelical Church, joined the work. Sylten found additional office rooms in the street An der Stechbahn #3–4 opposite to the southern façade of the Berlin City Castle, and on 25 January 1939 the Bureau's emigration department, led by Ministerial Counsel rtrd. Paul Heinitz, moved into the new location. Grüber's wife, Marianne, née Vits, sold her
IG Farben Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (), commonly known as IG Farben (German for 'IG Dyestuffs'), was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate. Formed in 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies— BASF, Bayer, Hoechst, Agf ...
shares to finance the rent of the new location. Livingstone led the department for the British Commonwealth, Werner Hirschwald the Latin American section and Sylvia Wolff the Scandinavian. By October 1939 all offices of Grüber's Bureau moved to An der Stechbahn. A welfare department under Richard Kobrak supported the often impoverished victims of persecution and Margarete Draeger organised the Kindertransporte. Erwin Reisner served the victims as chaplain. Inge Jacobson worked as assistant of Grüber. Sylten became his deputy. In February 1939 the Reich's ministry of the interior combined the work of all offices busy with expelling Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent in the Reich's central office for Jewish Emigration (german: link=no, Reichszentrale für jüdische Auswanderung), led by Reinhard Heydrich.
Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
'' Anschluß The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany" ...
. Thus he was commissioned to expel Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent within the old Reich's borders. From September 1939 the Bureau Grüber had to subordinate to the supervision by Eichmann, who worked as ''Special Referee for the Affairs of the Jews'' (german: link=no, Sonderreferent für Judenangelegenheiten) in an office in Kurfürstenstraße #115–116, Berlin. Eichmann asked Grüber in a meeting about Jewish emigration why Grüber, not having any Jewish family and with no prospect for any thank, does help the Jews. Grüber answered because the
Good Samaritan In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...
did so, and my Lord told me to do so. From 1 March 1939 the Nazi Reich's government commissioned the
Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden The Reich Representation of German Jews (german: Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden) was a Jewish umbrella organization founded in Germany on 17 September 1933. It was established to coordinate and represent the activities of Jewish political an ...
to levy a new tax from Jewish emigrants (german: link=no, Auswandererabgabe), charging wealthier emigrants in order to finance the emigration of the poorer. The due was also used to finance the different recognised associations organising emigration. From 1 July on the Reichsvertretung remitted a monthly subsidy of Reichsmark (ℛℳ) 5,000 to the ''Bureau Grüber''. Also the ''intact'' Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria right of the river Rhine co-financed the work of Grüber's organisation with annually ℛℳ 10,000. By July the office of Spiero and Livingstone had merged into the Bureau Grüber. All in all the Bureau Grüber enabled the emigration of 1,139 persons from October 1938 – August 1939 and 580 between July 1939 and October 1940, according to different sources. Minister Rust had banned all pupils of Jewish descent from attending public schools from 15 November 1938 on. So Pastor Kurtz and Vicar Klara Hunsche opened an Evangelical school in January 1939 in the rectory of the Twelve Apostles Congregation (An der Apostelkirche No. 3, Berlin). By the end of January the school moved into Oranienburger Straße # 20/21, after Grüber's Emigration department had moved out. The
Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland The Reich Association of Jews in Germany (german: Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland), also called the ''new one'' for clear differentiation, was a Jewish umbrella organisation formed in Nazi Germany in February 1939. The Association branc ...
, since July replacing the ''Reichsvertretung'' as the new and only central organisation competent for all persons and institutions persecuted as Jewish according to the Nuremberg Laws, supervised the school. Now the school became an Evangelical-Catholic oecumenical school, called ''Familienschule'', the pupils named it ''Grüber School''. By autumn 1939 a new degree of persecution loomed. The Nazi authorities started to deport Jewish Austrians and Gentile Austrians of Jewish descent to
occupied Poland ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...
. On 13 February 1940 the same fate hit 1,200 Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent and their Gentile spouses from the Stettin Region, who were deported to
Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...
. Grüber learned about it by the Wehrmacht commander of Lublin and then protested to every higher ranking superior up to the then Prussian Minister-President Hermann Göring, who forbade further deportations from Prussia for the moment.Hartmut Ludwig, "Das ›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ 1938–1940", p. 21. The Gestapo warned Grüber never to take the side of the deported again. The deported were not allowed to return. On 22–23 October, 6,500 Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent from
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
and the Palatinate were deported to Gurs,
occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied z ...
. Now Grüber got himself a passport, with the help of Bonhoeffer's brother-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi from the
Abwehr The ''Abwehr'' ( German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the '' Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. ...
, to visit the deported in the Gurs (concentration camp). But before he left the Gestapo arrested Grüber on 19 December and deported him two days later to ''Sachsenhausen concentration camp'', and in 1941 to
Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...
. Sylten was ordered to shut down the Bureau, which he did until 1 February 1941. On 27 February the Gestapo arrested and deported him by end of May to ''Dachau concentration camp'', where he was murdered in August 1942. Grüber survived and was released from Dachau on 23 June 1943, after he had signed not to help the persecuted any more. The Family school was ordered to close by the end of June 1942. Draeger dived into the underground by the end of 1942, hiding in Berlin and surviving through some undaunted helpers, but was caught later and deported to
Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...
in August 1944, where she perished. Persons hiding from deportation used to call themselves ''submarine'' (german: link=no, U-Boot). The fate of other collaborators of the Bureau: Paul Heinitz died in peace in February 1942, Günther Heinitz, Werner Hirschwald, Max Honig, Inge Jacobson, Elisabeth Kayser and Richard Kobrak were all deported and murdered in different concentration camps.Hartmut Ludwig, "Das ›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ 1938–1940", p. 22. Since January 1943 Pastor Braune could hide Luise Wolff in the diaconal , so she survived. Among the undaunted helpers in the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', hiding and feeding the 'submarines', were many women, but also men, such as Bolette Burckhardt, Pastor Theodor Burckhardt,
Helene Jacobs Helene Jacobs (; 25 February 1906, Schneidemühl – 13 August 1993, Berlin) was a member of the Confessing Church and of the German resistance to Nazism, German Resistance against National Socialism. Life Jacobs was the secretary to a Jewish ...
, Franz Kaufmann, Pastor
Wilhelm Jannasch Wilhelm Jannasch (8 April 1888, in Gnadenfrei – 6 June 1966, in Frankfurt am Main) was a German Protestant theologian and clergyman. He studied theology at the universities of Marburg, Bonn, Berlin and Heidelberg. In 1913 he was ordained a ...
, Pastor Harald Poelchau, Pastor Eitel-Friedrich von Rabenau, Gertrud Staewen, Pastor Hans Urner etc. In 1945 right after the war Grüber reopened his Bureau to help the survivors, first in provisional rooms in the deaconesses' in Berlin-
Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it h ...
. Then the bureau, named today Evangelical Relief Centre for the formerly Racially Persecuted (german: link=no, Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte), moved to its present site in Berlin-Zehlendorf, Teltower Damm #124. In 1950 three-quarters of the fostered survivors were unemployed and poor. Many needed psychological help, others wanted support to apply for government compensation for the damages and suffering by the Nazi persecution. In 1958 Grüber established a foundation, running today senior homes and a nursing home, housing about a hundred survivors.


After the November Pogrom

In the night between 9 and 10 November the Nazis organised the
November Pogrom () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
. ''German Christians'', like Bishop of the Thuringian Evangelical Church, welcomed the pogrom. For the
Buß- und Bettag ' (Day of Repentance and Prayer) was a public holiday in Germany, and is still a public holiday in Saxony. In Germany, Protestant church bodies of Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United denominations celebrate a day of repentance and prayer ...
(16 November 1938), the ''Day of
Repentance Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. In modern times, it is generally seen as involving a co ...
and Prayer'', then celebrated in the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' on the penultimate Wednesday before the new begin of the Evangelical
Liturgical year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and wh ...
(First Sunday of
Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek '' parousia''. ...
), the ''Dahlemite'' fraction of the ''Confessing Church'' decided to hold rogations for the persecuted Jews and Christians of Jewish descent. The pastors were recommended the following text: "Administer to the needs of all the Jews in our midst, who are losing for the sake of their blood their honour as humans and the opportunity to live. Help that nobody will act vengefully against them. ... Especially do not let disrupt the bond of love to those, who are standing with us in the same true belief and who are through Him like us Thy children." Elisabeth Schmitz, a congregant in the preach on the ''Day of Repentance and Prayer'' of Helmut Gollwitzer, then replacing the imprisoned Niemöller in , appealed to the ''Confessing Church'' to reject any labelling of Jews, warning that after the labelling of all the Jewish owned shops in August 1938, their destruction followed suit, so the same would also happen – "in the same conscienceless, evil and sadistic manner" – to the persons, once they would be labelled. Holding ''Synods of Confession'' had been forbidden since 1935, but now after the Olympic close hunting season had ended the authorities effectively fought the preparations and holding of the synods. Thus synods had to be prepared in secret, therefore they were not referred to by the name of their venue any more, keeping the venue as long as possible in secret. The seventh ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' (so-called Epiphany Synod) convened on 29–31 January 1939 in Berlin-Nikolassee. On 18 and 20 March 1939 Werner, the president of ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', severed the dismissal of opposing pastors by new ordinances, which empowered him to redeploy pastors against their will. On 6 May Kerrl supported the opening of the Institute for the Study and Elimination of Jewish Influence on German Church Life (german: link=no, Institut zur Erforschung und Beseitigung des jüdischen Einflusses auf das deutsche kirchliche Leben) in Eisenach, led by Prof. Walter Grundmann.Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 166. This institute provided propaganda to all official congregations, how to cleanse Protestantism from the Jewish patrimony within Christianity. On 20–22 May 1939 the synodals convened for the eighth ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' in Steglitz (so-called ''Exaudi Synod''). With the beginning of the war (1 September 1939) Kerrl decreed the separation of the ecclesiastical and the administrative governance within the official ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. Werner remained administrative chief executive (president of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council''), an ecclesiastical executive was still to be found. Werner won Marahrens, State Bishop of the 'intact' Hanoverian Church, and the theologists Walther Schultz (''German Christian''), and Friedrich Hymmen, vice president of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', to form an ''Ecclesiastical Council of Confidence'' (german: link=no, Geistlicher Vertrauensrat), taking the ecclesiastical leadership for the ''German Evangelical Church'' from early 1940 on. Within the official ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' the same function remained void. From 1938 on the Nazis had tested the reaction of the general public to the murder of incurably sick people by films, articles, books and reports covering the subject. The murder of the handicapped and the incurably sick was euphemised as
Euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...
. However, the so-called mercy killing of the sick did not become popular in the general public. Nevertheless, the Nazi Reich's government started to implement the murder. On 1 September 1939, the day Germany waged war on Poland, Hitler decreed the murder of the handicapped, living in sanatories, to be carried out by ruthless doctors. After first murders in a testing phase the systematic murder started in 1940.


Beginning of the war

On 22 August 1939 Hitler gathered the Wehrmacht generals and explained them the archaic character of the upcoming war: "Our strength is our speed and our brutality.
Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; ; xng, Temüjin, script=Latn; ., name=Temujin – August 25, 1227) was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in history a ...
chased millions of women and children to death, consciously and with a happy heart. History sees him only as a great founder of states. It is of no concern, what the weak Western European civilisation is saying about me. I issued the command – and I will have everybody executed, who will only utter a single word of criticism – that it is not the aim of the war to reach particular lines, but to physically annihilate the enemy. Therefore, I have mobilised my Death's Head Squads, for the time being only in the East, with the command to unpityingly and mercilessly send men, women and children of Polish descent and language to death. This is the only way to gain the
Lebensraum (, ''living space'') is a German concept of settler colonialism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' became a geopolitical goal of Imper ...
, which we need. Who is still talking today about the extinction of the Armenians?" Hitler did not feel safe about the opinions of his generals, so he threatened them with execution, not allowing any criticical word about the planned
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...
of the Poles. After the government waged war on
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and thus started the Second World War, male members of the ''Confessing Church'', such as Fritz Müller (member of the second ''preliminary church executive''), were preferently drafted for the army. Kerrl demanded Werner to calm down the ''struggle of the churches'', since the Wehrmacht wanted no activities against pastors of the ''Confessing Church'' during the war. So Gestapo and official church functionaries concentrated on pastors of the ''Confessing Church'', who were not drafted. In January 1940, urged by the Wehrmacht, Hitler repeated that no wide-ranging actions against the ''Confessing Church'' are to be taken, so that the Gestapo returned to selective forms of repression. But in a meeting with Nazi partisans Hitler expressed that he recognised the Wehrmacht's – even though only to a limited extent – clinging to the churches, as its weakness. As to the question of the churches he said: "The war is in this respect, as well as in many another occasion, a favourable opportunity to finish it he question of the churchesthoroughly." Already in antiquity complete peoples have been liquidated. Tribes have been resettled just like this, and exactly the Decossackization, Soviet Union has recently given sufficient examples, how one could do that. [...] If he [Hitler] does not do anything yet about the rebelling 'shavelings', so not least because of the Wehrmacht. There [among Wehrmacht members] one is still running to field-services. [...] But in this respect the education within the SS would foreshadow the necessary development, with the SS proving – right now in the war – that schooled in Weltanschauung – one will be bold – without the dear God." Thus Hitler's adjutant Major Gerhard Engel recalled the conversation. With the conquest of all the eastern former Prussian territories, which Germany had ceded to Poland after World War I, and their annexation by Nazi Germany the functionaries of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' expected the reintegration of the ''United Evangelical Church in Poland''. But this conflicted with the Nazi intention to convert the annexed territory, especially the Warthegau under Arthur Greiser, into an exemplary Nazi dictatorship. No prior civilian German administration existed in the Warthegau, so a solely Nazi party-aligned administration was set up. Concerns respected within Germany, played no role in occupied and annexed parts of Poland. German law, as violated as it was, would not automatically apply to the Warthegau, but only selected rules. Almost all the Catholic, Jewish and Protestant clergy in the Warthegau was murdered or expelled, with the exception of some German-speaking Protestant pastors and few such Catholic priests. The mostly German-speaking ''United Evangelical Church in Poland'' under Gen.-Supt. , having lacked official recognition by the Polish government, expected a change by the German annexation, which happened but to the opposite of the expected. In March 1940 Greiser decreed an ordinance for the Warthegau, which declared the church bodies not to be statutory bodies, as in Germany, but mere private associations. Minors under 18 years were banned to attend meetings and services, in order to alienate them from Christianity. All church property, except of a prayer hall, was to be expropriated. All pastors of the ''United Evangelical Church in Poland'' there were subjected to strict state control and expelled at the slightest suspect of criticism of the murders and expulsions carried out daily in the Warthegau. Pastors, who would dare to speak up for the Jewish heritage within Christianity, such as the ten commandments, the sanctity of life (Thou shalt not kill), the commandment of charity (Leviticus, Third Book of Moses : "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.", Book of Hosea : "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.") and justice (Book of Amos Amos 5:24, 5:24: "But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.") as well as the opposition to racism (Book of Amos : "Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?"), risked at minimum expulsion and maltreatment, if not deportation into a concentration camp. Pastors were allowed to confine themselves to the genuine Christian part of Christianity, the belief in the salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus, who allegedly died for the sins of the believers – and sins were there in ever-growing number. The Warthegau remained blocked, while the functionaries of the official ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' managed to reintegrate the congregations of the ''United Evangelical Church in Poland'', located in Polish Greater Pomeranian Voivodship, Greater Pomerania (Pomerellia), into the newly formed ''Ecclesiastical Region of Danzig-West Prussia'' (Kirchengebiet Danzig-Westpreußen), since 1940 also comprising the congregations of Danzig's regional synodal federation, and thus competent for all congregations of united Protestant church bodies in the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, homonymous Reichsgau. When in October 1940 Kerrl – for the Nazi Ministry of religious Affairs – tried to take control over the churches in the Warthegau, Greiser prohibited him to do so. The reinitiated government murders of the disabled, meanwhile including even war invalids, startled proponents of the Confessing Church bodies. Representatives of the ''Confessing Church'' and the Roman Catholic Church protested at the Nazi Reich's government against the murders, which also included inmates of Christian sanatories. On 4 December 1940 Reinhold Sautter, Supreme Church Councillor of Württemberg, reproached the Nazi Ministerial Councillor Eugen Stähle for the murders in Grafeneck Castle, the latter then confronted him with the Nazi government opinion, that "The fifth commandment: Thou shalt not kill, is no commandment of God but a Jewish invention" and cannot claim any validity any more. The Catholic Bishop Clemens von Galen of the Diocese of Münster (Westphalia) was the first to protest publicly against the murders in summer 1941. In December Wurm and Adolf Bertram, Catholic Archbishop of Breslau, followed suit. The Nazi Reich's government then stopped the murders only to resume them soon later in a more secret way. The representatives of the official ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', like its then leader Werner silenced about the murders. Werner continued to streamline the ecclesiastical institutions. In early 1941 he appointed Oskar Söhngen, simultaneously member of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', as ecclesiastical leader of the ''March of Brandenburg consistory''.Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", p. 168. With the help of the Gestapo the parallel institutions of education and examination of the ''Confessing Church'' were successfully destroyed in the course of 1941. Supt. Albertz und Hans Böhm, the leaders of those educational institutions were arrested in July 1941. Söhngen protested and resigned from the consistory by the end of 1942. From 1 September 1941 on Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent with three or four grandparents, who were enrolled with a Jewish congregation, and the special category of Geltungsjuden had to wear the Yellow badge. Thus the concerned congregants were easily to be identified by others. One of the rare reactions came from Vicar Katharina Staritz, competent for the synodal region of the city of Breslau. In a circular she prompted the congregations in Breslau to take care of the concerned parishioners with special love and suggested that while services other respected congregants would sit next to their stigmatised fellow congregants in order to oppose this unwanted distinction. The Nazi media heftily attacked her and the Gestapo deported her to a concentration camp (she was later released), while the official Silesian ecclesiastical province fired her. Systematic Deportation#Deportation during World War II, deportations of Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent started on 18 October 1941. These were all directed to Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe or to ''concentration camps''. In October 1941 proponents of the ''Confessing Church'' reported about Auschwitz (concentration camp), newly opened on 23 September, that Jews were gassed there. The members of the second ''preliminary church executive'' could not believe it and did not speak up. On 8–9 November, the tenth ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' convened in the premises of the St. Trinity Church (Hamburg-Hamm; ''Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Hamburgian State''), outside of Prussia. Forck, member of the second ''preliminary church executive'' organised it. The synod dealt with replacing recruited pastors by female vicars, presbyters and laypersons. On 22 December 1941 the official ''German Evangelical Church'' called for suited actions by all Protestant church bodies to withhold baptised non-''Aryans'' from all spheres of Protestant church life. Many ''German Christian''-dominated congregations followed suit. The second ''preliminary church executive'' of the Confessing ''German Evangelical Church'' together with the conference of the ''state brethren councils'' (representing the ''destroyed churches'' including the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'') issued a declaration of protest. Confessing congregations in the ''Ecclesiastical Province of Pomerania'' and the ''Congregation of Neubabelsberg'' handed in lists of signatures in protest against the exclusion of the stigmatised Protestants of Jewish descent. Also the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' of the 'intact' Evangelical State Church in Württemberg and its Bishop Wurm sent letters of protest on 27 January and 6 February 1942, respectively. On 17–18 October 1942 the eleventh ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' convened again in Hamm, Hamburg. The majority of the synodal members voted against the motion to allow Ordination of women in Protestant denominations, women to be ordained as pastors.Rajah Scheepers,"Der steinige Weg von Frauen ins Pfarramt", in: ''Treffpunkt: Zeitschrift der Ev. Matthäusgemeinde Berlin-Steglitz'', No. 5, September/October 2018, presbytery of the Matthew Church (Berlin-Steglitz), Berlin-Steglitz Matthew Church Congregation (ed.), pp. 4seq., here p. 5. No ISSN. However, the outspoken advocates of women's ordination continued to pursue their goal. On 12 January 1943
Kurt Scharf Kurt Scharf (October 21, 1902 – March 28, 1990) was a German clergyman and bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg. Life Kurt Scharf was born in Landsberg an der Warthe in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg (now Gorzó ...
, praeses of the Province of Brandenburg, Brandenburg provincial Synod of Confession (Bekenntnissynode) and pastor in Sachsenhausen (Oranienburg), Sachsenhausen, ordained Ilse Härter and in his church, the two women wearing the full ministerial robes, as the first women in Germany as pastors equal to their male colleagues. Until 1943 almost all the remaining Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent have been deported to the concentration camps. Thus on 10 June, the Reichssicherheitshauptamt dissolved the ''Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland'' and deported the tiny rest of its collaborators 6 days later to Theresienstadt. There about 800 Protestants of Jewish descent from all German church bodies founded a Protestant congregation. Pastor Hans Encke (Cologne) had ordained parishioners from his congregation, who were to be deported and wanted to work as chaplains at the place, where they would come to. The only German Jews and German Gentiles of Jewish descent, who were in fact not deported, were those living in so-called ''privileged Anti-miscegenation laws#Nazi Germany, mixed marriage'', which in 1933 amounted to about 40,000 couples nationwide. Shortly before the next old-Prussian Synod of Confession, in early October 1943 the old-Prussian Brethren Council of the Confessing Church decided to generally allow the ordination of women, followed by the ordination of Annemarie Grosch, Sieghild Jungklaus, Margarethe Saar, Lore Schlunk, and Gisela von Witzleben altogether on 16 October 1943 in Lichterfelde (Berlin), Lichterfelde (a locality of Berlin). On the twelfth ''old-Prussian Synod of Confession'' (16–19 October 1943) in Breslau the synodals passed a declaration against the ongoing Shoah, murder of Jews and the handicapped which was read from the pulpits in the confessing congregations. It backed its decisions with the commandment Thou shalt not kill, later issuing leaflets and brochures with guidelines for the parishioner. But overall, the persecutions and arrestments – as well as the increasing weariness in the long duration of the war with 72 weekly work hours – made most members acquiesce.


Wartime impact on the church

The Allied Strategic bombing during World War II on Germany first reached the areas of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, Rhenish and the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, Westphalian ecclesiastical provinces of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' (especially in the Ruhr Area). The massive devastations of inhabited areas of course also included church buildings and other church-owned real estate. In the course of the ever intensifying further spreading Allied bombing the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' suffered substantial losses of church structures in all ecclesiastical provinces, especially in the cities, including many buildings of considerable historical and/or architectural value. In the city of Berlin e.g., out of the 191 churches belonging to the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' 18 were completely destroyed, 68 were severely damaged, 54 had considerable, 49 had light damages and 2 remained untouched. The ''March of Brandenburg consistory'' was badly damaged in early 1944 and burnt completely out on 3 February 1945. The offices were relocated to Baršć/Forst in Lusatia and into the rectory of the Holy Trinity Church (Berlin), Trinity Congregation (Berlin-Friedrichstadt) as well as into rooms in Potsdam. Consistorial President Heinrich Fichtner, replacing Söhngen since 1943, Bender, August Krieg, von Arnim, Paul Fahland, Paul Görs and Hans Nordmann stayed in Berlin. In 1944 the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' moved partly into the premises of the ''Stolberg-Stolberg Consistory'' in Stolberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Stolberg at the Harz and partly to Züllichau. When Soviet soldiers first entered into the territory of the ''Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia'' in late 1944, the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' decided to relocate church archives from endangered East and West Prussia into central parts of Prussia, where more than 7,200 church registers were finally rescued. But with the Soviet offensives starting in January 1945 (see Vistula-Oder Offensive, January–February, with the follow-up of the East Prussian Offensive, January–April, the East Pomeranian Offensive and the Silesian Offensives, February–April) the Red Army advanced so speedily, that there was hardly a chance to rescue refugees, let alone archives of congregations in Farther Pomerania, Neumark#World War II, eastern Brandenburg and from most congregations of the Silesian ecclesiastical province, as was recorded in a report about the situation in the ecclesiastical provinces (10 March 1945). By the end of the war millions of parishioners and many pastors were fleeing westwards.


Postwar

With the end of the war the tragedy of church members, the destruction of churches, and the loss of church archives had no end. The United Kingdom, the US, and the USSR had agreed in the Potsdam Agreement to absorb all the expellees from Poland proper and from the Former eastern territories of Germany, German territories newly annexed by Poland (March 1945) and by the Soviet Union. Thus an ever-growing number of parishioners was expelled. Especially all representatives of German intelligentsia – including Protestant clergy – were systematically deported to the west of the Oder-Neiße Line. On 7 May 1945 Otto Dibelius organised the forming of a provisional church executive for the ''Ecclesiastical Province of the March of Brandenburg''. In the ''Ecclesiastical Province of Saxony'' the ''Confessing Christian'' Lothar Kreyssig assumed the office of consistorial president. In June an overall provisional church executive, the Council of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' (german: link=no, Rat der Evangelischen Kirche der altpreußischen Union) emerged, acting until December 1948 mostly in Middle Germany, since traffic and communication between the German regions had collapsed. On 13 June 1945 the Westphalian ecclesiastical province under Praeses Karl Koch unilaterally assumed independence as Evangelical Church of Westphalia. From 1945 on the Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern provincial deanery fell under the provisional supervision by the ''Evangelical State Church in Württemberg''. On 1 April 1950 the deanery joined that church body and thus terminated its subordination to the supervision by the ''Evangelical Church in the Rhineland''. On 15 July Heinrich Grüber was appointed Provost of St. Mary's and St. Nicholas Church, Berlin, St. Nicholas' Church in Berlin and Dibelius invested him on 8 August in a ceremony in St. Mary's Church, Berlin, St. Mary's Church, only partially cleared from the debris. Wurm invited representatives of all Protestant church bodies to Treysa for 31 August 1945. The representatives of the six still existing ecclesiastical provinces (March of Brandenburg, Pomerania, Rhineland, Saxony, Silesia, and Westphalia) and the central ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' used the occasion to take fundamental decisions about the future of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. The representatives decided to assume the independent existence of each ecclesiastical province and to reform the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' into a mere umbrella organisation ("Neuordnung der Evangelischen Kirche der altpreußischen Union"). Dibelius and some Middle German representatives (the so-called Dibelians) could not assert themselves against Koch and his partisans, to maintain the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' as an integrated church body. The three ecclesiastical provinces of Danzig, East Prussia, and Posen-West Prussia, all completely located in today's Poland, today's Russian Kaliningrad Oblast and Lithuania Minor#After World War II (Soviet Union and modern-day), Lithuania Minor, were in the process of complete vanishing after the flight of many parishioners and pastors by the end of the war and the post-war Expulsion of Germans carried out by the Polish and Soviet governments in the years of 1945–1948.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–27, here p. 24. In December the lawyer and Supreme Church Councillor Erich Dalhoff issued his assessment that the newly formed provisional executive bodies on the overall and provincial levels of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' are to be regarded legitimate under the given emergency circumstances. As to cooperation of all the Protestant church bodies in Germany strong resentments prevailed, especially among the Lutheran church bodies of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Bavaria right of the river Rhine, ''the Hamburgian State'', Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover, Hanover,
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony, the Free State of Saxony, and
Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
, against any unification after the experiences during the Nazi reign with the German Evangelical Church. But it was decided to replace the former ''German Federation of Protestant Churches'' by the new umbrella Evangelical Church in Germany, provisionally led by the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, a naming borrowed from the brethren council organisation. Until 1951 all the six still existing ecclesiastical provinces of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' assumed new church constitutions declaring their independence. In 1946 the Silesian ecclesiastical province, presided by Ernst Hornig, held its first post-war provincial synod in then already Polish Świdnica. But on 4 December 1946 Hornig was deported from Wrocław beyond the Lusatian Neisse, where he took his new seat in the German part of the divided Silesian city of Görlitz. In 1947 the Polish government also expelled the remaining members of the Silesian consistory, which temporarily could continue to officiate in Wrocław. Görlitz became the seat of the tiny territorial rest of the Silesian ecclesiastical province, constituting on 1 May 1947 as the independent . All of the church property east of the Oder-Neiße Line was expropriated without compensation with the church buildings mostly taken over by the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, and most of the cemeteries were desecrated and devastated. Very few churches – namely in Silesia and Masuria – are owned today by Protestant congregations of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland (see e.g. Churches of Peace). In the Kaliningrad Oblast most property of the ''Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia'' had been taken by the state and is serving profane purposes these days. Fled and expelled parishioners from the old-Prussian eastern ecclesiastical provinces as well as fled and expelled Protestants from Czechoslovakian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish, or Romanian church bodies – altogether amounting to maybe 10 millions, who happened to strand in one of the remaining ecclesiastical provinces were to be integrated. The church founded a relief endowment (german: link=no, Evangelisches Hilfswerk), helping the destitute people. The six surviving ecclesiastical provinces transformed into the following independent church bodies, to wit the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia#Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, the Pomeranian Evangelical Church, the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony, Evangelical Church of the Ecclesiastical Province of Saxony, the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia#Evangelical Church of Silesia(n Upper Lusatia), Evangelical Church of Silesia, and the Evangelical Church of Westphalia. The Rhenish and the Westphalian synods constituted in November 1948 for the first time as state synods (german: link=no, Landessynode) of the respective, now independent church bodies. In 1947 at a meeting of delegates of the six surviving ecclesiastical provinces they confirmed the status quo, with the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' having transformed into a league of independent church bodies. In July 1948 the provisional executive of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' had to convene separately in East and West, because the Soviets blocked the interzone traffic after the introduction of the Deutsche Mark in the Bizone and the French zone of occupation. The schism was not yet fully overcome, since only the most radical ''German Christians'' had been removed or resigned from their positions. Many neutrals, forming the majority of clergy and parishioners, and many proponents of the quite doubtable compromising policy in the times of the Kirchenkampf, struggle of the churches assumed positions. It was Dibelius' policy to gain the mainstream of the parishioners. Thus the strict opposition of the ''Dahlemites'' and ''Barmensians'' continued to maintain their conventions in the old-Prussian brethren councils. On 14 January 1949 representatives of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' decided to reconcile the groups and founded a committee to develop a new church constitution. On 15 August 1949 the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', presided by Dibelius, issued the proposal of the committee for a new constitution, which would bring together the Westphalians striving for the complete unwinding of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', the ''Dahlemites'' and ''Barmensians'' as well as the ''Dibelians''. The bulk of the mainstream parishioners shared a strong skepticism, if not even objection, against communism, so did Dibelius. So after the foundation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the Soviet zone of occupation on 7 October 1949 Dibelius was often defamed in the East as propadandist of the western Konrad Adenauer government.


Into the 1950s

On 24 February 1950 the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' proposed an extraordinary ''General Synod'', which convened on 11–13 December in Berlin. The synod elected Lothar Kreyssig as chair (
praeses ''Praeses'' (Latin  ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. ...
) of the synod and voted for a new Church constitution on 13 December, and again in a second meeting on 20 February 1951. On 1 August 1951 the new constitution (german: link=no, Ordnung der Evangelischen Kirche der altpreußischen Union) took effect.(ABl. EKD 1951 p. 153) It transformed the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' (german: link=no, Evangelische Kirche der altpreußischen Union (ApU/EKapU)) into a mere umbrella organisation and did away with the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', replacing it by the ''Church Chancery'' (german: link=no, Kirchenkanzlei), as its administrative body. The governing body, ''Church Senate'' led by the Praeses of the General Synod (disbanded by 1933), became the ''Council of the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union''. The heads of the Church body now bore the title ''President of the Council'' (german: link=no, Vorsitzende(r) des Rates der Evangelischen Kirche der altpreußischen Union) and led for terms of two years. The Council consisted of the presidents of the member churches, the Praeses of the General Synod, members of each member church appointed by their respective synods, the Chief of the Church Chancery, two representatives of the Reformed parishioners and two general synodals, who were not theologians. Until the appointment of the first head in 1952 President Dibelius, the former president of the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'', and its other members officiated per pro as chief and members of the Church Chancery. In 1951 the Bavarian Bishop Hans Meiser, then president of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, criticised the continuation of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' as an umbrella, since it lacked a denominational identity, despite the membership of the ''Prussian Union''. On 5 April of the same year Karl Steinhoff, then Minister of the Interior of the GDR, opposed the continued identity of the ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', especially the use of the term "Prussian" in its name.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 14. The ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council'' replied that the term ''old-Prussian Union'' refers to a denomination, not to a state, so the name was not changed. On 5 May 1952 the ''Council of the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'', met for the first time and elected from its midst as ''President of the Council''. On 2 July Held met Otto Grotewohl, Minister President of the GDR, for his first official visit. The government of the GDR continued to protest the name, so in a general synod on 12 December 1953 the synodals decided to drop the term ''old-Prussian'' from the name, though confirming that this did not mean the abandonment of the denomination of the ''Prussian Union''. Furthermore, the synod opened the possibility of admitting non-Prussian United and uniting churches to the umbrella. The ''Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union'' used to be abbreviated in German as ''ApU'' or ''EKapU'', the renamed ''Evangelical Church of the Union'' (german: link=no, Evangelische Kirche der Union) chose the abbreviation ''EKU''. In 1960 the synod of the EKU called on the Germans in the east not to leave the GDR. In November the same year the Evangelical State Church of Anhalt, comprising a territory which had never been a part of Prussia, joined the EKU. Since the 1950s the GDR opposed the cross-border co-operation of the ''Evangelical Church of the Union''. Especially after the Berlin Wall was built, the GDR hardly allowed its citizens to visit the Federal Republic of Germany and often denied Westerners entrance to the GDR. However, the GDR tolerated the cooperation to some extent because of the considerable subsidies granted by the two western member churches to the four (from 1960 on, five) eastern member churches, which allowed the GDR National Bank and later its Staatsbank to pocket the western Deutsche Marks, which were otherwise hard to earn by GDR exports to the west, while disbursing East German marks to the eastern churches at the arbitrarily fixed rate of 1:1, since GDR citizens and entities were forbidden to hold unlimited sums of western currency the western churches could not help it. Its synodals from the East and the West would meet simultaneously in Berlin (East) and Berlin (West), while messengers would keep up the communication between them. On 9 May 1967 the ''Evangelical Church of the Union'' decided a committee for the reconstruction of the Berlin Cathedral, Supreme Parish and Cathedral Church in East Berlin. The government of the GDR did not oppose the work of the committee due to the resulting inflow of Deutsche Marks. On 9 April 1968 the GDR adopted its Constitution of East Germany#1968 constitution, second constitution, formalising the country's transformation into a communist dictatorship. Thus the GDR government deprived the church bodies in the GDR of their status as statutory bodies (german: link=no, Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts) and abolished the Church tax, which automatically collected parishioners' contributions as a surcharge on the income tax. Now parishioners would have to fix the level of their contributions and to transfer them again and again on their own. This, together with the ongoing discrimination of church members which let many secede from the church, effectively eroded the financial situation of the Church bodies in the East. While in 1946 87.7% of the children in the Soviet Zone were baptised in one of the Protestant Churches the number dropped in 1950 to 86.4% of all children born in the GDR, with 80.9% in 1952, 31% (1960) and 24% (1970). The percentage of Protestant parishioners among the overall population decreased from 81.9% (1946), to 80.5% (1950), 59% (1964) and to merely 23% in 1990. By its new constitution of 1968 the GDR Government demoted all churches from "Public-law Corporations" to mere "Civil Associations" and thus could force the EKU member Churches ''Evangelical Church of Silesia'' and the ''Pomeranian Evangelical Church'' to remove the terms ''Silesia'' and ''Pomerania'' from their names. The first then chose the new name ''Evangelical Church of the Görlitz Ecclesiastical Region'', the latter ''Evangelical Church in Greifswald''. On 1 October 1968 the Synod of the ''Evangelical Church of the Union'' prepared for the worst and passed emergency measures establishing regional synods for East and West in the event of a forceful separation of the Union. The eastern synodal Hanfried Müller, a Stasi spy (camouflage name: IM Hans Meier) – by far not the only spy in the Church – demanded the separation of the Union. However, the majority of the synod opposed it and the ''Evangelical Church of the Union'' maintained its unity until 1972. In July 1970 , the Praeses of the ''Evangelical Church in the Rhineland'' was invited for a meeting in Berlin (East) to discuss the further cross-border work of the ''Evangelical Church of the Union''. However, when he attempted to enter East Berlin in October he was denied entrance. So in 1972 the ''Evangelical Church of the Union'' was forced to separate into two formally independent bodies, indicated by the name affixes ''Bereich Bundesrepublick Deutschland und Berlin West'' (Region/range Federal Republic of Germany and Berlin West) and ''Bereich Deutsche Demokratische Republik'' (Region/range German Democratic Republic; GDR) with East Berlin being subsumed under the GDR. The councils of the western and the eastern region met monthly in East Berlin.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 25. The GDR government was not after terminating this cooperation.Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28, here p. 26. The subsidies from the West continued and were still allowed for the aforementioned reasons. The situation changed decisively with the end of the GDR dictatorship in 1989. In 1990 the ''Evangelical Church in Greifswald'' readopted its original name of ''Pomeranian Evangelical Church''. In 1991 the two ''Evangelical Churches of the Union'' reunited. With effect of 1 January 1992 the two regions were administratively reunited. The EKU then comprised 6,119 congregations in spread over seven member churches. In 1992 the ''Evangelical Church of the Görlitz Ecclesiastical Region'' dropped its unwanted name and chose the new name of ''Evangelical Church of Silesian Upper Lusatia''. Due to the increasing irreligionism, lower birth rates since the 1970s, and few Protestant immigrants, the Protestant churches in Germany are undergoing a severe decline in parishioners and thus of parishioners' contributions, forcing member Churches to reorganise in order to spend less. For this reason, the Synod of the ''Evangelical Church of the Union'' decided in June 2002 to merge their organisation with the
Union of Evangelical Churches The Union of Evangelical Churches (German: ''Union Evangelischer Kirchen'', UEK) is an organisation of 13 United and Reformed evangelical churches in Germany, which are all member churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Member church ...
, which took effect 1 July 2003. This is an umbrella organisation combining all independent Protestant regional united and uniting churches in Germany.


Doctrinal sources

Belief and teaching were based on a number of confessions accepted by the church. These were the
Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...
, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, Smalcaldic Articles, Luther's Large Catechism as well as Luther's Small Catechism, his Small Catechism and the Heidelberg Catechism."Erklärung zur theologischen Grundbestimmung der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (EKU)", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 38–49, here p. 40. Some Lutheran congregations within the Church also accepted the Formula of Concord. Whereas congregations of French Reformed tradition agreed to teach in harmony with the Gallic Confession and the Church discipline."Erklärung zur theologischen Grundbestimmung der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (EKU)", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 38–49, here p. 41. Through the Polish annexation and expulsion of parishioners the Pomeranian Evangelical Church had lost all its united Protestant and Reformed congregations, thus having become purely Lutheran. Among its accepted creed, confessions of faith were only Lutheran ones."Erklärung zur theologischen Grundbestimmung der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (EKU)", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992; Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 38–49, here pp. 44seq. After the ecclesiastical provinces had assumed independence between 1945 and 1950 they characterised themselves differently. Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia#Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, Berlin-Brandenburg, Saxony and Evangelical Church of Silesia, Silesia conceived themselves as ''churches of the Lutheran Reformation'', with the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony, Saxon provincial church comprising core places of Luther's life and work (
Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...
, Eisleben). The churches of Berlin-Brandenburg, Saxony and Silesia comprised mostly Lutheran congregations, some Reformed congregations (Silesia after the Polish annexation and expulsion of parishioners a single one) and few united Protestant congregations. In Berlin-Brandenburg the Reformed congregations formed an own deanery (Kirchenkreis) not delineated along territorial boundaries but confessional differences. The Reformed deanery continued to exist after the merger of Berlin-Brandenburg with the church in Silesian Upper Lusatia now also including the Silesian Reformed congregation. The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland and Evangelical Church of Westphalia, that of Westphalia are churches united in administration according to the self-conception. Whereas many Rhenish congregations are indeed united in confession, the Westphalian church sees Lutheran and Reformed traditions as equally ranked. The Evangelical State Church of Anhalt again is a church united in confession with all its congregations being united in confession too.


Ecclesiastical provinces of the church

The church was subdivided into regional ecclesiastical provinces, territorially mostly resembling the political provinces of Prussia belonging to Prussia before 1866. Each ecclesiastical province had at least one consistory, sometimes more with special competences, and at least one general superintendent, as provincial spiritual leader, sometimes more with regional competences.


Number of parishioners


Governors, governing bodies and chairmen of the church

Between 1817 and 1918 the incumbents of the Prussian throne were simultaneously Supreme Governors (summus episcopus) of the Church. Since 1850 – with the strengthening of self-rule within the church – additionally the Evangelical Supreme Ecclesiastical Council (Evangelischer Oberkirchenrat, EOK) became the administrative executive body. Its members, titled supreme consistorial councillors (Oberkonsistorialrat, [Oberkonsistorialräte, plural]) were theologians and jurists by vocation. With the end of the monarchy and the summepiscopacy in 1918 and the separation of religion and state by the Weimar constitution in 1919 the church established by its new Church Order (Lutheran), church order (constitution) an elected governing board in 1922, called the church senate (Kirchensenat), to which the EOK, with reduced competences, became subordinate. The church senate was presided by the praeses of the general synod. With the Nazi regime's interference causing the violation and de facto abolition of the church order, new bodies emerged such as the state bishop ( Landesbischof) in 1933, deprived of his power in 1935, the state ecclesiastical committee (Landeskirchenausschuss) since 1935 (dissolved in 1937) and finally the de facto usurpation of governance by the illegitimately appointed president of the EOK since (till 1945). By the end of the war a spontaneously formed provisionally advisory board (Beirat) appointed a new president of the EOK. In 1951 the EOK was renamed into church chancery (Kirchenkanzlei), followed by renaming the church body into Evangelical Church of Union in December 1953.


Supreme governors (1817–1918)

*1817–1840:
Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, w ...
, before supreme governor of the separate Lutheran and Reformed churches since 1797 *1840–1861: Frederick William IV of Prussia *1861–1888: Wilhelm I, German Emperor, William I of Prussia *1888: Frederick III, German Emperor, Frederick III of Prussia *1888–1918: Wilhelm II, German Emperor, William II of Prussia


Praesides of the general synod and the synod of the EKU

Before 1922 the
praeses ''Praeses'' (Latin  ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. ...
only presided over the legislative body of the church, the general
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 ...
, thereafter also over the church senate, the new governing body.


General synod (1846–1953)

* 1846: (*1775–1869*) * 1847–1875: no general synods held * 1875–1907: (*1817–1907*) * 1907–1915: ? * 1915–1933: (*1856–1943*) * 1933–1934: (elected by the illegitimate so-called ''brown general synod'', deposed by State Bishop Ludwig Müller on 26 January) * 1934–1945: Friedrich Werner (reappointed by Landgericht Berlin, Landgericht Berlin I on 20 November, de facto deposed in 1945) * 1945–1950: vacancy * 1950–1970: Lothar Kreyssig (titled Praeses of the synod of the EKU since 1953)


Synod of the Evangelical Church of the Union (1953–1972)

* 1950–1970: Lothar Kreyssig * 1970–1976: Helmut Waitz (*1910–1993*), since 1972 for the eastern region only


Western region (1972–1991)

*1972–1976: *1976–1988: Christof Karzig (*1934) *1988–1991: (*1936)


Eastern region (1972–1991)

*1970–1976: Helmut Waitz, till 1972 for the undivided synod *1976–1982: (*1939*) *1982–1988: Herbert Karpinski (*1932) *1988–1991: Dietrich Affeld (*1928–2007*)


Reunited synod (1992–2003)

*1992–1994: Dietrich Affeld, later unmasked as Stasi spy IM "Dietrich" *1994–1998: Manfred Kock (*1936) *1998–2003: Nikolaus Schneider


Presidents of the Evangelical Supreme Ecclesiastical Council (1850–1951)

The Evangelical Supreme Ecclesiastical Council (Evangelischer Oberkirchenrat, EOK) was the leading executive body, and de facto the governing body between 1918 and 1922, and again between 1937 and 1951, however, then during the schism paralleled by the alternative old-Prussian state brethren council. * 1850–1863: , administrative jurist (*1803–1863*) * 1863–1864: , jurist and politician (*1813–1874*), per pro * 1865–1872: , administrative jurist (*1797–1874*) * 1872–1873: , theologian (*1806–1873*), per pro * 1873–1878: , ecclesiastical lawyer and politician (*1812–1885*) * 1878–1891: , jurist (*1826–1893*) * 1891–1903: , administrative jurist (*1831–1903*) * 1903–1919: , jurist (*1844–1920*) * 1919–1924: , jurist (*1855–1927*) * 1925–1933: , jurist (*1867–1941*); resigned after the church had been subjected to state control * 1933: , theologian (*1879–1953*), per pro; deposed by the Prussian State Commissioner August Jäger * 1933–1945: , jurist (*1897–1955*), appointed by August Jäger, later confirmed by the brown general synod; deposed in 1945 * 1945–1951: Otto Dibelius, bishop, per pro; appointed by the provisional advisory board (Beirat)


Chairman of the church senate (1922–1934)

* 1922–1933: , qua praeses of the general synod * 1933–1934: , qua praeses of the illegitimate so-called ''brown general synod'', deposed by State Bishop Ludwig Müller on 26 January


Parallel governing bodies during the Nazi reign

Due to the interference of the Nazi regime in the internal affairs of the old-Prussian church favorites of the regime could usurp governing positions, and lost them again when dropping into disgrace. The protagonists of the confessing old-Prussian church declared the schism to be matter of fact and formed their own governing bodies on 29 May 1934, called the State Brethren Council (Landesbruderrat) of the Evangelical Church of the Old-Prussian Union.


State Brethren Council (1934–1949)

* 1934–1936: (*1876–1951*), chairman titled praeses * 1936–1939?: Friedrich (Fritz) Müller (*1889–1942*, poisoned), chairman * 1939?–1949: The brethren council was a collegiate body


Chairman of the church senate (1934–1951)

* 1934–1945: Friedrich Werner, reappointed by verdict of the Landgericht Berlin, Landgericht Berlin I on 20 November, de facto deposed in 1945 * 1945–1951: vacancy, church senate then renamed to Council of the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union


State Bishop

On 4 August 1933 Ludwig Müller declared himself old-Prussian State Bishop ( Landesbischof), after the State Commissioner for the Prussian ecclesiastical affairs, August Jäger, had conveyed him per pro its leadership. The
German Christians Christianity is the largest religion in Germany. It was introduced to the area of modern Germany by 300 AD, while parts of that area belonged to the Roman Empire, and later, when Franks and other Germanic tribes converted to Christianity from t ...
confirmed him with their majority in the illegitimate ''brown general synod'' on 5 September 1933, by changing the church order only creating the function of state bishop. By creating the state ecclesiastical committee (Landeskirchenausschuss) for the old-Prussian church Müller lost all his governing competences, but retained the title. * 1933–1935(1945): Ludwig Müller; deposed on 3 October 1935 by the old-Prussian state ecclesiastical committee


President of the state ecclesiastical committee for the old-Prussian Church

* 1935–1937: (*1864–1945*), resigned since overcoming the schism turned impossible * 1937–1945: governance de facto wielded by Friedrich Werner


Council of the Evangelical Church of the (old-Prussian) Union

The new church order of 1 August 1951, accounting for the transformation of the integrated old-Prussian church into an umbrella, replaced the vacant church senate by the Council of the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union (Rat der Evangelischen Kirche der altpreußischen Union). Also the followers of the State Brethren Council (Landesbruderrat) could be reintegrated into the church. In December 1953 the term ''old-Prussian'' was skipped from the names of the church (since: Evangelische Kirche der Union, EKU) and its bodies. The praeses of the general synod was a member of the council, but only spiritual leaders of one of its member churches were elected chairpersons with the one exception of
Kurt Scharf Kurt Scharf (October 21, 1902 – March 28, 1990) was a German clergyman and bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg. Life Kurt Scharf was born in Landsberg an der Warthe in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg (now Gorzó ...
, who became only later bishop. Therefore, the chairperson was also called the leading bishop (Leitender Bischof) even though this title is not used for the spiritual leaders of three of the former member churches. Due to the intensifying East German obstruction of cross-border cooperation within the Evangelical Church of the Union it formed separate governing bodies for the regions of the GDR with East Berlin and West Germany with West Berlin in 1972. The bodies reunited in 1991.


Leading bishops and chairmen of the Council (1951–1972)

*1951–1957: (*1897–1957*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland *1957–1960:
Kurt Scharf Kurt Scharf (October 21, 1902 – March 28, 1990) was a German clergyman and bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg. Life Kurt Scharf was born in Landsberg an der Warthe in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg (now Gorzó ...
, then one of the provosts of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg *1960–1963: Joachim Beckmann (*1901–1987*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland *1963–1969: (*1901–1989*), praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia *1970–1972: (*1909–1997*), bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Görlitz Ecclesiastical Region (formerly Evangelical Church of Silesia till 1968)


Western region bishops (1972–1991)

*1972–1975: (*1916–1984*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland *1975–1981: (*1909–2006*), praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia *1981–1987: (*1921–1999*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland *1987–1991: (*1930), praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia


Eastern region bishops (1972–1991)

*1972–1976: (*1930), bishop of the Evangelical Church in Greifswald (formerly Pomeranian Evangelical Church till 1968) *1976–1979: (*1917–2009*), bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Ecclesiastical Province of Saxony *1979–1983: (*1932), church president of the Evangelical State Church of Anhalt *1984–1987: (*1923–1996*), bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg (eastern synod) *1987–1989: Horst Gienke, resigned under synodal pressure after unmasking as Stasi spy IM "Orion" *1989–1991: (*1929–2000*), bishop of the ecclesiastical region of Görlitz


Reunited church bishops and chairmen (1992–2003)

*1992–1993: Joachim Rogge, bishop of the Evangelical Church of Silesian Upper Lusatia (formerly Ecclesiastical Region of Görlitz till 1992); later unmasked as Stasi IM "Ferdinand" *1994–1996: (*1934–1996*), praeses of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland *1996–1998: (*1944), bishop of the Pomeranian Evangelical Church (formerly Evangelical Church in Greifswald till 1991) *1998–2000: (*1944), church president of the Evangelical State Church of Anhalt *2000–2003: (*1938), praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia


See also

* Johann Gottfried Scheibel * Georg Philipp Eduard Huschke * Heinrich Ernst Ferdinand Guericke * Friedrich Julius Stahl * August Kavel * Johannes Andreas August Grabau * Neo-Lutheranism * Anglican-German Bishopric in Jerusalem, Anglican-Evangelical Bishopric of Jerusalem *
Kirchenkampf ''Kirchenkampf'' (, lit. 'church struggle') is a German term which pertains to the situation of the Christian churches in Germany during the Nazi period (1933–1945). Sometimes used ambiguously, the term may refer to one or more of the follo ...


References


Further reading

* Bigler, Robert M. ''The Politics of German Protestantism: The Rise of the Protestant Church Elite in Prussia, 1815-1848'' (Univ of California Press, 1972) * Borg, Daniel R. ''The Old Prussian Church and the Weimar Republic: A Study in Political Adjustment, 1917-1927'' (University Press of New England, 1984) * Clark, Christopher. "Confessional policy and the limits of state action: Frederick William III and the Prussian Church Union 1817–40." ''Historical Journal'' 39.#4 (1996) pp: 985–1004
in JSTOR
* Crowner, David, Gerald Christianson, and August Tholuck. ''The Spirituality of the German Awakening'' (Paulist Press, 2003) * Groh, John E. ''Nineteenth century German Protestantism: the church as social model'' (University Press of America, 1982) * Lamberti, Marjorie. "Religious Conflicts and German National Identity in Prussia 1866-1914." in Philip Dwyer, ed., ''Modern Prussian History: 1830–1947'' (2001) pp: 169–87. * Lamberti, Marjorie. "Lutheran Orthodoxy and the Beginning of Conservative Party Organization in Prussia." ''Church History'' 37#4 (1968): 439–453
in JSTOR
* Landry, Stan Michael. "That All May be One? Church Unity, Luther Memory, and Ideas of the German Nation, 1817-1883." (PhD, University of Arizona. 2010)
online
* Drummond, Andrew Landale. ''German Protestantism since Luther'' (1951) * Gordon, Frank J. "Protestantism and Socialism in the Weimar Republic." ''German Studies Review'' (1988): 423–446
in JSTOR
* Hope, Nicholas. ''German and Scandinavian protestantism 1700-1918'' (Oxford University Press, 1999
online
With highly detailed bibliography * Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, II: The Nineteenth Century in Europe: The Protestant and Eastern Churches.'' (1969) * Steinhoff, Anthony. ''The Gods of the City: Protestantism and religious culture in Strasbourg, 1870-1914'' (Brill, 2008) * Ward, W. R. ''Theology, Sociology and Politics: The German Protestant Social Conscience 1890-1933'' (Berne, 1979) * Williamson, George S. "A religious sonderweg? Reflections on the sacred and the secular in the historiography of modern Germany." ''Church history'' 75#1 (2006): 139–156.


In German

* ''Akten zur deutschen auswärtigen Politik'': Series D (1937–1945), 13 vols., Walter Bußmann (ed.), vol. 7: 'Die letzten Wochen vor Kriegsausbruch: 9. August bis 3. September 1939', Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1956, p. 171. . * Helmut Baier, ''Kirche in Not: Die bayerische Landeskirche im Zweiten Weltkrieg'', Neustadt an der Aisch: Degener (in commission), 1979, (=Einzelarbeiten aus der Kirchengeschichte Bayerns; vol. 57). . * Felicitas Bothe-von Richthofen, ''Widerstand in Wilmersdorf'', Memorial to the German Resistance, Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand (ed.), Berlin: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, 1993, (=Schriftenreihe über den Widerstand in Berlin von 1933 bis 1945; vol. 7). . * ''Die Bekenntnisse und grundsätzlichen Äußerungen zur Kirchenfrage'': 3 vols., Kurt Dietrich Schmidt (ed.), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1934–1936, vol. 1. . * Ursula Büttner, "Von der Kirche verlassen: Die deutschen Protestanten und die Verfolgung der Juden und Christen jüdischer Herkunft im »Dritten Reich"", in: ''Die verlassenen Kinder der Kirche: Der Umgang mit Christen jüdischer Herkunft im "Dritten Reich"'', Ursula Büttner and Martin Greschat (eds.), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998, pp. 15–69. . * Otto Dibelius, ''Das Jahrhundert der Kirche: Geschichte, Betrachtung, Umschau und Ziele'', Berlin: Furche-Verlag, 1927. . * Klaus Drobisch, "Humanitäre Hilfe – gewichtiger Teil des Widerstandes von Christen (anläßlich des 100. Geburtstages von Propst Heinrich Grüber)", in: ''Heinrich Grüber und die Folgen: Beiträge des Symposiums am 25. Juni 1991 in der Jesus-Kirche zu Berlin-Kaulsdorf'', Eva Voßberg (ed.), Berlin: Bezirkschronik Berlin-Hellersdorf, 1992, (=Hellersdorfer Heimathefte; No. 1), pp. 26–29. . * Gerhard Engel, ''Heeresadjutant bei Hitler: 1938–1943; Aufzeichnungen des Majors Engel'', Hildegard von Kotze (ed. and comment.), Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1974, (=Schriftenreihe der Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte; vol. 29). . * Erich Foerster, ''Die Entstehung der Preußischen Landeskirche unter der Regierung König Friedrich Wilhelms des Dritten; Nach den Quellen erzählt von Erich Foerster. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Kirchenbildung im deutschen Protestantismus'': 2 parts, Tübingen: Mohr, 1905 (pt 1) and 1907 (pt 2). . * Frederick William III and Daniel Amadeus Gottlieb Neander, ''Luther in Beziehung auf die evangelische Kirchen-Agende in den Königlich Preussischen Landen'' (11827), Berlin: Unger, 21834. . * Herbert Frost, ''Strukturprobleme evangelischer Kirchenverfassung: Rechtsvergleichende Untersuchungen zum Verfassungsrecht der deutschen evangelischen Landeskirchen'', Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1972, partly identical with Cologne, University of Cologne, Univ., Habilitationsschrift, 1968. . * Wolfgang Gerlach, ''Als die Zeugen schwiegen: Bekennende Kirche und die Juden'', reedited and accompl. ed., Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 21993, (=Studien zu Kirche und Israel; vol. 10). . An earlier version appeared as doctoral thesis titled ''Zwischen Kreuz und Davidstern'', Hamburg, University of Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 11970. * Arthur Goldschmidt, ''Geschichte der evangelischen Gemeinde Theresienstadt 1942–1945'', Tübingen: Furche-Verlag, 1948, (=Das christliche Deutschland 1933 bis 1945: Evangelische Reihe; vol. 7). . * Martin Greschat, "Friedrich Weißler: Ein Jurist der Bekennenden Kirche im Widerstand gegen Hitler", in: ''Die verlassenen Kinder der Kirche: Der Umgang mit Christen jüdischer Herkunft im "Dritten Reich"'', Ursula Büttner and Martin Greschat (eds.), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998, pp. 86–122. . * Martin Greschat, ""Gegen den Gott der Deutschen": Marga Meusels Kampf für die Rettung der Juden", in: ''Die verlassenen Kinder der Kirche: Der Umgang mit Christen jüdischer Herkunft im "Dritten Reich«'', Ursula Büttner and Martin Greschat (eds.), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998, pp. 70–85. . * Martin Greschat (ed. and commentator), ''Zwischen Widerspruch und Widerstand: Texte zur Denkschrift der Bekennenden Kirche an Hitler (1936)'', Munich: Kaiser, 1987, (=Studienbücher zur kirchlichen Zeitgeschichte; vol. 6). . * Israel Gutman, Daniel Fraenkel, Sara Bender, and Jacob Borut (eds.), ''Lexikon der Gerechten unter den Völkern: Deutsche und Österreicher'' [Rashût ha-Zîkkarôn la-Sho'a we-la-Gvûrah (רשות הזכרון לשואה ולגבורה), Jerusalem: Yad VaShem; dt.], Uwe Hager (trl.), Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2005, article: Heinrich Grüber, pp. 128seqq. . * ''Heinrich Grüber. Sein Dienst am Menschen'', Peter Mehnert on behalf or the Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte and Bezirksamt Hellersdorf (ed.), Berlin: Bezirkschronik Berlin-Hellersdorf, 1988. . * Gunnar Heinsohn, ''Worin unterscheidet sich der Holocaust von den anderen Völkermorden Hitlerdeutschlands?'', lecture held for the ''Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschaft'', Berlin, on 22 April 1999 at the Gemeindehaus of the Jewish Community of Berlin, p. 3. . * Ernst Hornig, ''Die Bekennende Kirche in Schlesien 1933–1945: Geschichte und Dokumente'', Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1977, (=Arbeiten zur Geschichte des Kirchenkampfes: Ergänzungsreihe; vol. 10). . *Wilhelm Hüffmeier, "Die Evangelische Kirche der Union: Eine kurze geschichtliche Orientierung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992: Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compil.) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 13–28. * Wilhelm Hüffmeier and Christa Stache, ''Jebensstraße 3. Ein Erinnerungsbuch'', Berlin: Union Evangelischer Kirchen in der EKD, 2006. * ''Justus Perthes' Staatsbürger-Atlas: 24 Kartenblätter mit über 60 Darstellungen zur Verfassung und Verwaltung des Deutschen Reichs und der Bundesstaaten'' (11896), Paul Langhans (comment.), Gotha: Perthes, 21896. . * ''Kirchliches Jahrbuch für die Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland''; vols. 60–71 (1933–1944), Joachim Beckmann (ed.) on behalf of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, Gütersloh: Bertelsmann, 1948. ISSN 0075-6210. * Alfred Kleindienst and Oskar Wagner, ''Der Protestantismus in der Republik Polen 1918/19 bis 1939 im Spannungsfeld von Nationalitätenpolitik und Staatskirchenrecht, kirchlicher und nationaler Gegensätze'', Marburg upon Lahn: J.-G.-Herder-Institut, 1985, (=Marburger Ostforschungen; vol. 42). . * Michael Kreutzer, Joachim-Dieter Schwäbl and Walter Sylten, "Mahnung und Verpflichtung", in: ''›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte. Geschichte und Wirken heute'', Walter Sylten, Joachim-Dieter Schwäbl and Michael Kreutzer on behalf of the Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte (ed.; Evangelical Relief Centre for the formerly Racially Persecuted), Berlin: Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte, 1988, pp. 24–29. . * Barbara Krüger and Peter Noss, "Die Strukturen in der Evangelischen Kirche 1933–1945", in: ''Kirchenkampf in Berlin 1932–1945: 42 Stadtgeschichten'', Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, Peter Noss, and Claus Wagener (eds.), Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1999, (=Studien zu Kirche und Judentum; vol. 18), pp. 149–171. . * Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, "Berlin-Dahlem", in: ''Kirchenkampf in Berlin 1932–1945: 42 Stadtgeschichten'', Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, Peter Noss, and Claus Wagener (eds.), Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1999, (=Studien zu Kirche und Judentum; vol. 18), pp. 396–411. . * Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, "Die Glaubensbewegung Deutsche Christen", in: ''Kirchenkampf in Berlin 1932–1945: 42 Stadtgeschichten'', Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, Peter Noss, and Claus Wagener (eds.), Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1999, (=Studien zu Kirche und Judentum; vol. 18), pp. 97–113. . * Günther Kühne and Elisabeth Stephani, ''Evangelische Kirchen in Berlin'' (11978), Berlin: CZV-Verlag, 21986. . * Ralf Lange and Peter Noss, "''Bekennende Kirche'' in Berlin", in: ''Kirchenkampf in Berlin 1932–1945: 42 Stadtgeschichten'', Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, Peter Noss, and Claus Wagener (eds.), Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1999, (=Studien zu Kirche und Judentum; vol. 18), pp. 114–147. . *Eckhard Lessing, "Gemeinschaft im Dienst am Evangelium: Der theologische Weg der EKU", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992: Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compil.) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 29–37. * Hartmut Ludwig, "Das ›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ 1938–1940", in: ''›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte. Geschichte und Wirken heute'', Walter Sylten, Joachim-Dieter Schwäbl and Michael Kreutzer on behalf of the Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte (ed.; Evangelical Relief Centre for the formerly Racially Persecuted), Berlin: Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte, 1988, pp. 1–23. . * Kurt Meier, ''Kirche und Judentum: Die Haltung der evangelischen Kirche zur Judenpolitik des Dritten Reiches'', Halle upon Saale: Niemeyer, 1968. . * Christine-Ruth Müller, ''Dietrich Bonhoeffers Kampf gegen die nationalsozialistische Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden: Bonhoeffers Haltung zur Judenfrage im Vergleich mit Stellungnahmen aus der evangelischen Kirche und Kreisen des deutschen Widerstandes'', Munich: Kaiser, 1990, (=Heidelberger Untersuchungen zu Widerstand, Judenverfolgung und Kirchenkampf im Dritten Reich; vol. 5), simultaneously handed in at the University Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis, Diss., 1986. . * Wilhelm Niesel, ''Kirche unter dem Wort: Der Kampf der Bekennenden Kirche der altpreußischen Union 1933–1945'', Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1978, (=Arbeiten zur Geschichte des Kirchenkampfes: Ergänzungsreihe; vol. 11). . * Peter Noss, "Berlin-Staaken-Dorf", in: ''Kirchenkampf in Berlin 1932–1945: 42 Stadtgeschichten'', Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, Peter Noss, and Claus Wagener (eds.), Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1999, (=Studien zu Kirche und Judentum; vol. 18), pp. 558–563. . * Peter Noss, "Schlussbetrachtung", in: ''Kirchenkampf in Berlin 1932–1945: 42 Stadtgeschichten'', Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, Peter Noss, and Claus Wagener (eds.), Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1999, (=Studien zu Kirche und Judentum; vol. 18), pp. 574–591. . * Enno Obendiek, "Die Theologische Erklärung von Barmen 1934: Hinführung", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992: Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compilator) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 52–58. * Eberhard Röhm and Jörg Thierfelder, ''Juden – Christen – Deutsche'': 4 vols. in 7 parts, Stuttgart: Calwer-Verlag, 1990–2007. . * Hans-Rainer Sandvoß, ''Widerstand in Kreuzberg'', altered and ext. ed., Memorial to the German Resistance, Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand (ed.), Berlin: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, 21997, (=Schriftenreihe über den Widerstand in Berlin von 1933 bis 1945; No. 10). ISSN 0175-3592. * Hans-Rainer Sandvoß, ''Widerstand in Steglitz und Zehlendorf'', Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand (ed.), Berlin: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, 1986, (=Schriftenreihe über den Widerstand in Berlin von 1933 bis 1945; No. 2). ISSN 0175-3592. * Hans-Rainer Sandvoß, ''Widerstand in Wedding und Gesundbrunnen'', Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand (ed.), Berlin: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, 2003, (=Schriftenreihe über den Widerstand in Berlin von 1933 bis 1945; No. 14). ISSN 0175-3592. * Hans-Walter Schmuhl, ''Rassenhygiene, Nationalsozialismus, Euthanasie: Von der Verhütung zur Vernichtung "lebensunwerten Lebens", 1890–1945'', Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1987, (=Kritische Studien zur Geschichtswissenschaft; vol. 75); simultaneously handed in as doctoral thesis in Bielefeld, University of Bielefeld, Diss., 1986 under the title: ''Die Synthese von Arzt und Henker'', (print), (ebook), p. * Stefan Schreiner, "Antisemitismus in der evangelischen Kirche", in: ''Heinrich Grüber und die Folgen: Beiträge des Symposiums am 25. Juni 1991 in der Jesus-Kirche zu Berlin-Kaulsdorf, Eva Voßberg (ed.), Berlin: Bezirkschronik Berlin-Hellersdorf, 1992, (=Hellersdorfer Heimathefte; No. 1)'', pp. 17–25. . *Synode der Evangelischen Kirche der Union, "Erklärung zur theologischen Grundbestimmung der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (EKU)", in: ''"... den großen Zwecken des Christenthums gemäß": Die Evangelische Kirche der Union 1817 bis 1992: Eine Handreichung für die Gemeinden'', Wilhelm Hüffmeier (compil.) for the Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union (ed.) on behalf of the Synod, Bielefeld: Luther-Verlag, 1992, pp. 38–49. * Claus Wagener, "Die evangelische Kirche der altpreußischen Union", in: ''Kirchenkampf in Berlin 1932–1945: 42 Stadtgeschichten'', Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, Peter Noss, and Claus Wagener (eds.), Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1999, (=Studien zu Kirche und Judentum; vol. 18), pp. 20–26. * Claus Wagener, "Die Vorgeschichte des Kirchenkampfes", in: ''Kirchenkampf in Berlin 1932–1945: 42 Stadtgeschichten'', Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, Peter Noss, and Claus Wagener (eds.), Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1999, (=Studien zu Kirche und Judentum; vol. 18), pp. 27–75. . * Claus Wagener, "Nationalsozialistische Kirchenpolitik und protestantische Kirchen nach 1933", in: ''Kirchenkampf in Berlin 1932–1945: 42 Stadtgeschichten'', Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein, Peter Noss, and Claus Wagener (eds.), Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1999, (=Studien zu Kirche und Judentum; vol. 18), pp. 76–96. * ''Wider das Vergessen: Schicksale judenchristlicher Pfarrer in der Zeit 1933–1945'' (special exhibition in the Eisenach#Luther House, Lutherhaus Eisenach April 1988 – April 1989), Evangelisches Pfarrhausarchiv (ed.), Eisenach: Evangelisches Pfarrhausarchiv, 1988. .


External links

*
The Confessional Lutheran Emigrations from Prussia and Saxony Around 1839
, Westerhaus, Martin O. *

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