#Alternate history communist germany series#

But nowВ all had to be reconsidered and re-assessed.ДЄ third reason was the clear needВ for scholars to chart the way forward for theВ churches in a post-Communist world. The lessons allegedlyВ learned were demonstrably a major influence onВ the churchesвЂ™ policies under Communism. TheВ catastrophic overthrow of the Nazi regime in 1945В had led to a full-scale review of the churchesвЂ™В role under HitlerвЂ™s sway.

This need for such a criticalВ evaluation of the churchesвЂ™ conduct was all theВ more vital because of the fact that it had allВ happened before, fifty years earlier. In the caseВ of some, they had to explain what вЂ“ in the aftermath вЂ“ looked like capitulation, or a cravenВ failure to uphold the Gospel imperative.

#Alternate history communist germany series#

They sought scholarly help to portrayВ the series of crises and dilemmas with which theyВ had been confronted, or the extent of politicalВ manipulation and oppression they had suffered atВ the hands of the Communist rulers. Both personally andВ politically, the churches, especially theirВ leaders, now found their conduct scrutinized andВ criticized. The second motive behind these writings wasВ undoubtedly the wider need somehow to come toВ terms with the impact of the decades of CommunistВ hegemony, a form of VergangenheitsbewГ¤ltigungВ for the whole society. There was anВ urgent need to have competent scholars assess the damage. Furthermore theyВ contained shocking вЂ“ and to many peopleВ personally painful вЂ“ revelations. But inEast Germany,В they were all available. In most other jurisdictions,В such records are withheld in secrecy for at leastВ a period of thirty years. First, the suddenВ collapse of the Communist regime at the end ofВ 1989 made available an unprecedented corpus ofВ official documentation, including the highlyВ revealing records of the Stasi,East GermanyвЂ™sВ secret police. Several reasons can be given for this noteworthyВ interest inEast GermanyвЂ™s church developments,В which has attracted the attention of scholars notВ only inGermany, but also inBritain, NorthВ America andAustralia. TheyВ describe a highly significant chapter of modern European church history. The resulting clashes and tensionsВ between Christianity and Communism are at theВ centre of these recent studies, most of which areВ scholarly in tone and diligently researched.

This historicВ legacy made East Germany the onlyВ Communist-controlled country where the majorityВ of the population вЂ“ at least nominally вЂ“ wasВ Protestant. In the twenty years since theВ overthrow of the Communist empires in EasternВ Europe, a remarkable number of books have beenВ written about the fate and fortunes of theВ Christian churches and communities during theВ period of totalitarian control in this region.В This is particularly the case for the churches ofВ the German Democratic Republic, or East GermanyВ as it is generally known, the heartland of MartinВ LutherвЂ™s ministry and witness. DieВ Herrnhuter BrГјdergemeine in der DDR, Kritische Studien zur Geschichtswissenschaft, BdВ 186 (GГ¶ttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009), 400 Pp.В ISBN 978-7-0.

Hedwig Richter, Pietismus im Sozialismus. Evangelische Kirchen inВ Deutschland im Spannungsfeld von Demokratie und Sozialismus (1980-1993), Arbeiten zur Kirchlichen Zeitgeschichte, Reihe B: Darstellungen: Bd 46 (GГ¶ttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006),В 346 Pp. Katharina Kunter, ErfГ¶llte Hoffnungen undВ zerbrochene TrГ¤ume. 11 (New York and Oxford:В Berghahn Books, 2010), 303 Pp. Bernd Schaefer, East German State and theВ Catholic Church 1945-1989, translated by JonathanВ Skolnik and Patricia C.Sutcliffe, Studies in German History: v. In the storm of the world (Farnham,U.K.: Ashgate Publishing, 2010), 189 Pp. 1, March 2011 Review Article: Christianity and Communism in East Germany Wendy R.Tyndale, Protestants in Communist EastВ Germany.