page_title: Freedom of religion in Germany
section_title: Historical development
hierarchical_section_title: Freedom of religion in Germany / Historical development
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Kirchenwahl.- Propaganda der "Deutschen Christen" in Berlin ADN-ZB/Archiv Kirchenwahl am 23.7.1933 in Berlin. Wahl in der Marien Kirche am Neuen Markt. Nazistische Wahlpropaganda unter Maske des Christentums. [Kirchenwahl in Berlin.- SA-Männer vor Marienkirche mit Plakat "Wählt Liste 1 Deutsche Christen". Hitlerjunge mit Spendendose]
context_page_description: Freedom of religion in Germany is guaranteed by article 4 of the German constitution. This states that "the freedom of religion, conscience and the freedom of confessing one's religious or philosophical beliefs are inviolable. Uninfringed religious practice is guaranteed." In addition, article 3 states that "No one may be prejudiced or favored because of his gender, his descent, his race, his language, his homeland and place of origin, his faith or his religious or political views." Any person or organization can call the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany for free help.
  The German system of state support for otherwise independent religious institutions assists all religions equally in principle, though in practice it has been unable to fully encompass some minority faiths. The government has granted most of the country's major religious communities "public law corporation" status – Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts in German – which allows for numerous benefits. Traditions that lack a centrally organized national structure – most notably Islam – have had difficulty attaining PLC status and the benefits that come with it.
context_section_description: The 1550 Magdeburg Confession developed the doctrine of lesser magistrates, which allowed for a limited right of resistance to unjust rule, including with respect to faith. The Peace of Augsburg in 1555 changed the legal situation from a uniform Roman Catholic area to the Cuius regio, eius religio principle, which defined freedom of religion for territorial princes, while their subjects had to follow them. Individuals had at best the possibility to move into an area where their confession was practiced. Others feigned belief in the dominant church (see Nicodemite and Crypto-protestantism). Depending on the reigning prince, there could exist a certain tolerance towards other denominations, but not as a common law.
  In the first half of the 17th century, Germany was laid to waste by the Thirty Years' War, where the lines between enemies within Germany followed mainly denominational borders between the areas of the Catholic League (German) and those of the Protestant Union. The following Syncretistic controversy improved Protestant understanding of Catholicism, but risked schism between competing Lutheran factions. Pastor and hymn writer Paul Gerhardt was forced out of office in 1755 due to his staunch Lutheran convictions in a Berlin ruled by a Reformed prince.
  In the 18th century, the idea of freedom of religion was promoted by cultural leaders like philosopher Immanuel Kant and dramatist Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, but their stress was on the freedom of the individual to believe or to not adhere to the beliefs of a dominant state church. King Frederick William III of Prussia granted Jews in some areas citizenship in 1812 with his Judenedikt. The 1817 Prussian Union of Churches resulted in the persecution of Old Lutherans. For example, Johannes Andreas August Grabau was stripped of his clerical office and imprisoned for one year. Old Lutherans emigrated en masse from affected areas such as Prussia, Silesia, and Pomerania to North America and South Australia. This also spurred the emigration of sympathizers in nearby Saxony to Missouri. This conflict resulted in the eventual government recognition of free churches following the death of Frederick William III of Prussia. His successor, Frederick William IV, issued the General Concession of July 23, 1845, granting toleration to Lutheran free churches. In 1847 he replaced the 1812 Judenedikt with a broader Judengesetz which gave citizenship and free rights of movement to Jews in all but one location. In 1852, he issued a Duldungsbillet granting toleration to Baptists and other Protestant dissidents to organize their own free churches. It was, however, only for those communities that have "formed since the Reformation" within the Protestant confession, and have proven to be safe and believing rather than radical. Toleration was limited in the event that "the decency" and "feeling and the security of the state mandate it."
  The German Empire of 1871 recognized a basic religious freedom for individuals. During World War I, Jewish field chaplains were used by the Army for the first time. The 1919 Weimar constitution recognized the freedom of religion in a manner similar to how it is today under the Basic Law.  Individual freedom of religion was described in Article 136: the civil and civic rights and duties are neither qualified nor restricted by exercise of freedom of religion. No one can be forced to attend an ecclesiastical act or ceremony or be forced to take part in religious exercises or use a religious formula of oath.
  Article 137 of the Weimar constitution was about religious associations. Main points include the omission of recognition of a state church. Religious associations manage their own affairs within the limits of general law. Religious offices are given without the influence of the state. Religious associations are legal entities. Religious associations which are "bodies of public law" keep this status. Other religious associations can request the same rights, if they can show by their constituency and number of members that they are permanently established. Associa
caption: Stormtroopers holding German Christians propaganda during the Church Council elections on 23 July 1933 at St. Mary's Church, Berlin. These elections resulted in the merger of the German state churches.
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