The German protestant church and the Nazi party in the period of the seizure of power 1932–3

Abstract

It was clear to the German people who lived through the Nazi seizure of power that they were witnessing a process of profound political and social change. It seemed natural to those who were active Christians to ask what was the spiritual nature of this change? Did it offer hope of Christian renaissance and renewal? In retrospect it seems obvious that it did not and even surprising that Christians should have entertained hopes that it might. But, at the time, this was not at all obvious to millions of German protestants. The very volume of their publications centred on the year 1933 is eloquent testimony to the urgent need they felt to understand, explain and interpret what was going on around them. This paper is about the questions they asked and the reasons why the answers were not clear to them.

The Nazis’ ‘Positive Christianity’: a Variety of ‘Clerical Fascism’?

“…As Jonathan Wright has suggested, 'It is easy to find fault with the anti-German Christian argument that the church must be kept free of politics … as the German Christians pointed out, politics were already in the church: the church leadership was simply conservative or national liberal not national socialist'. 23 Yet, whereas German Christians were very often Nazi Party members, they remained a separate organisation, with their own leadership and policy-making apparatus.…”