Germany and the Confessional Divide: Religious Tensions and Political Culture, 1871-1989

Published by Berghahn Books 2021

Germany and the Confessional Divide

Religious Tensions and Political Culture, 1871-1989

Edited by: Mark Edward Ruff and Thomas Großbölting

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781800730885

Overview
Contents

About this book

From German unification in 1871 through the early 1960s, confessional tensions between Catholics and Protestants were a source of deep division in German society. Engaging this period of historic strife, Germany and the Confessional Divide focuses on three traumatic episodes: the Kulturkampf waged against the Catholic Church in the 1870s, the collapse of the Hohenzollern monarchy and state-supported Protestantism after World War I, and the Nazi persecution of the churches. It argues that memories of these traumatic experiences regularly reignited confessional tensions. Only as German society became increasingly secular did these memories fade and tensions ease.

Author / Editor information

Mark Edward Ruff is Professor of History at Saint Louis University. He is the co-editor of three edited volumes on Christianity and Catholicism in the 19th and 20th centuries and the author of two monographs, including The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany, 1945-1980 published by Cambridge University Press in 2017. He has received research fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) and the Alexander-von-Humboldt Stiftung.

Thomas Großbölting is Director of the Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg and Professor for Contemporary History at the University of Hamburg. From 2009 to 2020 he was Principal Investigator at the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics,” University of Münster. His recent books include Wiedervereinigungsgesellschaft. Aufbruch und Entgrenzung in Germany since 1989/90 (2020), Was glaubten die Deutschen 1933-1945? (co-edited with Olaf Blaschke, 2020) and Losing Heaven. Religion in Germany since 1945 (2016).

Mark Edward Ruff is Professor of History at Saint Louis University. He is the co-editor of three edited volumes on Christianity and Catholicism in the 19th and 20th centuries and the author of two monographs, including The Battle for the Catholic Past in Germany, 1945-1980 published by Cambridge University Press in 2017. He has received research fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) and the Alexander-von-Humboldt Stiftung.

Reviews

“This volume is a rich contribution to the literature on the German churches in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Importantly, it bridges the confessional divide that has long dominated historical scholarship on the German churches.” • Kyle Jantzen, Ambrose University

“The editors bring together an impressive group of scholars to address the question of relations between Catholics and Protestants in Germany, succeeding where other volumes have not.” • Kevin P. Spicer, Stonehill College

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Figures and Tables Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Introduction Mark Edward Ruff and Thomas Großbölting Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1 The Kulturkampf and Catholic Identity Jeffrey T. Zalar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
Chapter 2 “Time to Close Ranks”: The Catholic Kulturfront during the Weimar Republic Klaus Große Kracht Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
Chapter 3 The Revolution of 1918/19: A Traumatic Experience for German Protestantism Benedikt Brunner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
Chapter 4 The Confessional Divide in Voting Behavior Jürgen Falter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
Chapter 5 The Fascist Origins of German Ecumenism James Chappel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
Chapter 6 Conversion as a Confessional Irritant: Examples from the Third Reich Benjamin Ziemann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Chapter 7 Imperfect Interconfessionalism: Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Early Christian Democracy Maria Mitchell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	170
Chapter 8 Importing Controversy: The Martin Luther Film of 1953 and Confessional Tensions Mark Edward Ruff Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	194
Chapter 9 In the Presence of Absence: Transformations of the Confessional Divide in West Germany after the Holocaust Brandon Bloch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	216
Chapter 10 A Tense Triangle: The Protestant Church, the Catholic Church, and the SED State Claudia Lepp Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	242
Chapter 11 A Minority between Confession and Politics: Catholicism in the Soviet Zone of Occupation and the GDR (1945–90) Christoph Kösters Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
Chapter 12 The Churches and Changes in Missionary Work: Biconfessionalism and Developmental Aid to the “Third World” since the 1960s Florian Bock Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	300
Chapter 13 Deconfessionalization after 1945: Protestants and Catholics, Jews and Muslims as Actors within the Religious Sphere of the Federal Republic of Germany Thomas Großbölting Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	324
Conclusion Closing Reflections Mark Edward Ruff and Thomas Großbölting Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	347
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	357

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 438
Keywords: History: 18th/19th Century; History: 20th Century to Present

eBook

Published: December 10, 2021
ISBN: 9781800730885