Germany

Germany is at the center of Europe and is the historic cradle of the Lutheran Reformation. It was also on several occasions in the 16th and 17th centuries the seat of fratricidal religious wars between Catholics and Protestants (German Peasants' War, Schmalkaldic War, Thirty-Years' War), wars that sometimes had Pan-European dimensions. These struggles were resolved through attempts to create peaceful coexistence between Catholics and Lutherans, first through the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 and later by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. In the later evolution of the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), these arrangements led to a strengthening of state power, which guaranteed civil peace in the framework of territorial states. In a sense, the prince of the state became the high priest, who had the right to impose his confessional religious beliefs on his subjects, who had a choice either to convert or to emigrate (until 1555) or simply to be tolerated (as of 1648). This status of state church lasted until 1918 and was abolished only with the adoption of the Weimar Republic constitution (in August 1919).

Since the 16th century, Germany has been a biconfessional land of Catholics and Protestants and has been deeply marked by the political, cultural, and social stakes of this fragile coexistence. According to historians like Manfred Kittel, this confessional antagonism slowed down the development of German democracy and is said to have lasted until 1970. The period 1800 to 1970 represented a second confessional era (Olaf Blaschke), like the period 1530 to 1730, as described by the historians of the Reformation, Heinz Schilling and Wolfgang Reinhard. The internal conflict it created in the national state had consequences on exactly what was the logic underlying German church-state relations.

German law continues to have a legal and institutional bias toward Christian churches. They are regarded as public law corporations. This status dates from the 19th century and was guaranteed to churches by the Weimar constitution (Article 137.5) as a compensation for the loss of state church status (Article 137.1). It also gave special status to groups such as humanistic congregations (Article 137.7). Being public law corporations, churches were constitutionally guaranteed specific rights, such as the right to levy funds with the help of the state (Article 137.6), including a church tax, representing 8%–9% of the income tax; the right to dispense religious courses/instruction in school; the right to have theology faculties in state/public universities (guaranteed today by the Länder constitutions or church-state conventions); and the right to have a pastoral presence within public institutions, such as chaplains in the army, hospitals, prisons (Article 141 WRV).

Due to the para-public nature of the status of churches in Germany and of these domains of action shared between churches and the state, the church-state relationship has been described as one of “limping separation.” The Basic Law of contemporary Germany took over nearly all the articles related to religion in the constitution of the Weimar Republic (Articles 136–139 and 141 WRV). However, the interpretation of these laws is affected by the changing historical context and the various changes that were made in the most recent constitution. It adds references to God in the preamble to the Basic Law, which were not there in the Weimar constitution; it stipulates religious freedom (Articles 3.3, 4) and the right to religious instruction in school (Article 7.3); and it requires oath taking to have a reference to God, as opposed to the secular practice enforced under the Weimar constitution. This positive attitude toward religion and religious freedom is explained by the immediate postwar acceptance of Christian values after the secular nationalism of the Third Reich and also by the influence of the Allies, who were supportive of the churches due to the mediation role that they played between the occupation forces and the population. By giving religious communities the right to impart religious instruction at school, the state admitted its incompetence in [Page 442]transmitting values itself and delegated this responsibility to religious communities. This attitude is an essential part of the German church-state system and is manifest also in the humanitarian sector (hospitals, retirement homes, nursery schools, etc.), which is managed by the churches. These humanitarian service agencies run by the churches have an enormous social and financial impact since they constitute the second largest employer in the country after the state.

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