The State Secretary for Church Affairs (German: ''Staatssekretär für Kirchenfragen'') was the head of the Secretariat for Church Affairs in the former

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

. The office was responsible for the relationship of the government toward churches and religious groups. Policy was set by the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED), but direct contact with the churches and religious groups was essentially restricted to the Secretariat in order to preserve the SED's stance as

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

and anti-religion.

Establishment and function

The office was established in 1957 following the example of 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 ...

and other communist countries. The SED's goal was to prevent religious involvement in state affairs, particularly with regard to education and training of children and young people. The Secretary was responsible for maintaining the relationship between government and the churches and religious groups, but was kept weak with no power to set policy. Policy towards religion was set by the SED, whose leaders rarely met with religious leaders.Paul Cooke, Jonathan Grix (Editors)
''East Germany: Continuity and Change''
Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - Atlanta, GA (2000), pp. 104-105. Retrieved October 16, 2013 This arrangement allowed the SED to maintain its appearance as an "atheistic party against the Church". However, it also created a situation where, not having direct contact with the churches, the party was forced to rely on other's reports for what was actually going on with the churches, reports that often minimized or omitted serious criticism of the communist government "in order to avoid excited or angry decisions, or to confirm the predominant picture among the recipients of the report of harmonious societal development."Horst Dohle, quoted in: Paul Cooke, Jonathan Grix (2000)
p. 105
Retrieved October 17, 2013 In addition to maintaining relationships with the churches, the Secretary was to ensure that the laws and ordinances kept pace with the development of the socialist state.Johannes Wallmann. ''Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands seit der Reformation''. Tübingen (2006) p. 300. The SED expected religion to die out over time and sought to restrict the churches to conducting rites and services.Michael Mertes, Steven Muller, Heinrich August Winckler (Editors)
''In Search of Germany''
Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick, New Jersey (1996), p. 271. Retrieved October 16, 2013 Church representatives viewed the office as the "State Secretariat Against Church Affairs" (German: ''Staatssekretariat gegen kirchliche Angelegenheiten'').

Control and persecution

A list, based on religions recognized by the post-war Soviet Military Administration was drawn up by the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. Those that were on the list were allowed to hold church services,Gregory W. Sandford, ''Christian Science in East Germany: The Church that Came in from the Cold'' (2013), p. 22 though there were waves of persecution in 1953 and 1958, including arrests of ministers and others, and show trials. Two religions were kept off the list, Jehovah's Witnesses and

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known ...

. Jehovah's Witnesses were denied approval based on their "rejection of secular authority". Christian Science was denied because of the religion's affiliation with the United States and a Nazi-era law related to medical practice.Gregory W. Sandford (2013), pp. 7-8 Christian Science was later granted official recognition in November 1989, just prior to the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of ev ...

.Gregory W. Sandford (2013), p. 123

State Secretaries

* 1957-1960:

Werner Eggerath Werner Eggerath (16 March 1900, in Elberfeld – 16 June 1977, in East Berlin) was an East German author and communist politician. He was a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED / ''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'') ...

* 1960-1979: Hans Seigewasser * 1979-1988:

Klaus Gysi Klaus Gysi (3 March 1912 – 6 March 1999) was a journalist and publisher and a member of the French Resistance against the Nazis. After World War II, he became a politician in the German Democratic Republic, serving in the government as Minister o ...

* 1988-1989: Kurt Löffler * 1989-1990:

Lothar de Maizière Lothar de Maizière (; born 2 March 1940) is a German Christian Democratic politician. In 1990, he served as the only premier of the German Democratic Republic to be democratically elected freely and fairly by the people. He was also the last l ...

References

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Establishment and function

Control and persecution

State Secretaries

References

Further reading