page_title: Protestantism in Germany
section_title: Nazi Germany
hierarchical_section_title: Protestantism in Germany / Political effects / Nazi Germany
caption_attribution_description: Information added by Wikimedia users.Deutsch: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, evangelischer Pfarrer und Theologe (GND 118513214) English: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran pastor and theologian
context_page_description: The religion of Protestantism, a form of Christianity, was founded within Germany in the 16th Century Reformation. It was formed as a new direction from some Roman Catholic principles, led initially by Martin Luther, later by John Calvin.
context_section_description: During the Nazi Third Reich, over sixty per cent of the population were Protestant, divided among the Confessing Church, German Christians and those unaffiliated to either. In the early 20th Century, anti-Semitic writings of Martin Luther were used by some Protestant pastors and Nazi Leaders to bolster their political movement. Protestant Pastors, bishops and theologians utilised Luther's writings, such as Von den Juden and ihren Lugen (On the Jews and Their Lies), to reaffirm the anti-Jewish prejudice escalating in Germany. During one 1927 Protestant Church Congress in Konigsberg, Paul Althaus gave a famous keynote address deriding the Uberfremdung (foreign invasion) of the arts, fashion and finance industries, reflecting the anti-Semitism of many church leaders. There were actions taken by some Church members to fight against Nazism, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer who rescued multiple Jews in Operation 7. The Confessing Church in particular maintained objections to merging of the Protestant Church and Nazi state, resulting in some being sent to concentration camps. Several leading Church figures however, published substantial anti-Semitic publications, such as the Thuringian bishop Martin Sasse who distributed thirty-seven thousand copies of "Martin Luther uber die Juden: Weg mit Ihnen!" ("Martin Luther on the Jews: Away with Them!"). As the Nazi Party gained power, it actively destroyed the institutional structures of the Protestant church itself. After the fall of Nazi power post-1945, the wider Church conducted a de-Nazification effort. At the conclusion of World War II, leading Church clergy issued the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, which acknowledged the inadequacy of Church opposition to Nazism and their culpability in regime’s power. With an increase in Protestant Church pacifism after the end of Nazism, the German Evangelical Church Assembly was formed as a forum to discuss the direction of the Church. The Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel has been a regular attendant.
caption: German Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer in 1939.
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