3.The SED and the church

• Reasons communists could not attack the Church:

  • the protestant church had 15 million adherents in 1945 and the roman catholic church 1 million
  • the churches generally had a commendable history of opposition to the nazis - many of its members had been imprisoned and tortured for their opposition
  • in the concentration camps, many communist prisoners had got to know and respect their religious fellow inmates
• Religious education:

  • may 1946: the law for democratic german schools outlawed religious education in schools in the soviet zone and church schools were closed
  • jan 1951 : religious children could face discrimination, with other 300 expelled from school in the following years
  • the church youth organisation was designated a criminal organisation as the only official youth organisation was the SED- controlled FDJ
  • 10th june,1953 : the SED admitted it had made mistakes and the expelled children were largely reinstated
• Jugendweihe:

  • 1954 : introduced as a secular alternative to confirmation , usually taken at 14 and marked the rite of passage from childhood to becoming a young adult
  • in preparation, candidates were taught and atheistic worldview
  • although it was voluntary, it was made apparent that the state expected most children would participate
• response to jugendweihe

  • church protests were widespread - in november 1957 bishop mitzenheim gave a sermon to 1500 listernes in which he emphasised that christians should follow god's commandments where they conflicted with those of the state
  • 1954 - 17% of youth had done it 1969 - 90% had. to not comply was seen as a great disadvantage to education and career
• Fall in religious participation:

  • post war period saw a fall in religious belief and participation globally
  • new residential areas and suburbs tended to be without formal religious representation
  • informal church groups might appear
  • religious affiliation seemed on the decline , especially among the youth - 1969 survey suggested that 43% of children under 14 had no religious belief
• Rapprochement pt.1

  • 1957 : the ministry of church affairs is formed
  • in 1960 , its name was changed to secretariat for church affairs : its aim was to coordinate and direct church activities in the best interests of the state
  • oct 1960 ulbricht announced that christianity and the humanistic goals of socialism was not incompatible
• rapprochement pt.2

  • 1967 - church and state celebrated 450 years of the reformation, with the SED highlighting its role as heir to progressive movement in history
  • 1968 constitution outlawed all-german groups - as a result, the league of protestant churches in the GDR was created , splitting away from the church in the FRG
  • the GDR churches still received 40 % of their budget from the FRG, particularly for the renovation of old buildings
• Bishop Schonherr:

  • 1971 - bishop schonherr made a key speech in which he said ‘we want to be a church not alongside, not against, but a church within socialism’
  • 1976 - pastor oscar krausewitz set himself on fire in front of michaelskirche in the town of zeitz to protest against church state cooperation
• Community work & programmes:

  • community work - the church run care homes and community ventures often in collaboration with the state
  • the church became prominent in the anti nuclear movement and tended to oppose developments in nato more vociferously in the warsaw pact
  • many churches had formed programmes to reach out to the homeless, drug addicts and those whose existence a socialist society would prefer not to acknowledge
• international recognition

  • the church may have taken some role in the gaining of international recognition of the GDR - certainly the fact that it appeared to not be prosecuted was a significant factor 
• Ostpolitik:

  • toleration and cooperation with the churches was in line with ostpolitik and the continued involvement of the FRG churches had already been noted
• The Concordat:

  • honecker agreed the church could build new centres of worship in the new residential areas and suburbs where they had not before followed the population 
  • this was largely funded by an infusion of currency from the FRG
  • he allowed to the church more media time and accepted the importation if religious literature from the west - although there were never enough bibles to meet the growing demand in the 1980s as religion gained adherents 
• Honecker’s aims:

  • honecker was undoubtedly genuine in seeking to normalise relations between church and state, albeit mainly in former of the latter 
  • the SED recognised the church was not going to disappear and so a working relationship had to be affimed 
  • the SED needed to widen its appeal and support base - if the church could be incorporated at little cost, then it made sense to do so 
• The Church’s aims:

  • the church recognised the need to enjoy a positive relationship with the state - given their willingness to cpo-operate they could not understand why discrimination occurs