Churches in Nazi Germany (AQA GCSE History)

How Important was the Church to Nazi Germany? - Summary

After turning Germany into a one-party state with the passing of the Enabling Act in 1933, Hitler was concerned with the power of the largest organisation in Germany - the Church.

With a large proportion of the population being either Catholic or Protestant, the Nazis were worried about the ideas and beliefs being taught in Church schools.

Initially, Hitler adopted a passive approach to the Catholic Church. He made a written agreement between the state and the Catholic Church called the Concordat in 1933. Ultimately, however, the Catholic Church represented too much of a power base for the Nazis to simply ignore and steps were taken to limit their power and oppress their followers.

The Nazis arguably had more success with control of the Protestant Church. Ludwig Müller’s Reich Church represented a blend of Nazism and Christianity. Yet opposition by Pastor Martin Niemöller and the Pastors Emergency League posed resistance to Nazi interference in Protestantism.

Religion in Nazi Germany

• Germany had historically been very Christian and this was no different by 1933

  • Most of the country were either Protestant or Catholic

Percentage of Catholics and Protestants in Nazi Germany

Nazi beliefs about Christianity

• Christianity was a threat to Hitler and the Nazi Party because the Christian Church held different beliefs from the Nazi Party

• However, it wasn’t clear whether Christianity and churches should be completely eradicated

Hitler's conflict with Christianity

Arguments to keep Christianity in Nazi Germany

• Many Christians had voted for Hitler during important elections

• They shared similar beliefs on the importance of family

• If the Nazis could control the churches, they could control the population

Arguments to destroy Christianity in Nazi Germany

• Christianity had more members than the Nazi Party

• Christian beliefs conflicted with Nazi beliefs, especially about race and equality

• Churches could spread anti-Nazi ideas

Did some Christians support Nazism?

• Some Christians strongly supported the Nazi Party because of:

  • Hitler's stance on communism

    • Many Christians hated communism because it was an atheist ideology

    • Hitler promised that he would destroy communism. His actions against the KPD in 1933-1934 proved that he was serious

  • Hitler's promise to respect the Church

    • Hitler's statements made more Christians feel safer

    • Christians knew that the KPD, who was the next biggest party to the NSDAP, would destroy the Church

  • the restoration of traditional values

    • The Church condemned the liberalism in Weimar Germany

    • Christians agreed with many of Hitler's policies on women and culture

The Nazis & the Catholic Church

Why was the Catholic Church dangerous to Hitler?

• Catholics represented several challenges for Hitler:

  • their first allegiance was to the pope

  • they supported the Catholic Centre Party before the passing of the Enabling Act

  • they had their own Catholic schools, which taught different beliefs to Nazi schools

The Concordat

• Hitler signed an agreement known as a Concordat with the Pope in July 1933 on behalf of the Catholic Church:

  • it allowed Catholics to worship freely and to continue with Catholic schools

  • in return, Catholic priests would not interfere in politics and would swear loyalty to the Nazi regime

• Persecution of Catholics continued throughout the 1930s

  • Around 400 priests were sent to the Dachau concentration camp

  • Catholic schools were controlled or closed

  • Youth groups like the Catholic Youth League were banned

  • Monasteries were closed down

• By 1937, it was clear the Concordat had failed:

  • the pope released a statement known as With Burning Anxiety, which criticised the Nazi regime

    • Hitler is referred to in the statement as a “mad prophet”

Opposition from the Catholic Church

• Hitler ordered crucifixes to be removed from Catholic churches, which was met with fierce opposition:

  • of the 43 crucifixes removed from schools in the Mühldorf district in Bavaria, 42 were returned by the police

• The 1939 census of Germany showed that two million people still considered themselves to be Catholic

• Some individuals, including Cardinal Galen, actively resisted the Nazis

Cardinal Galen

The Nazis & the Protestant Church

• Many Protestants supported the Nazi Party by 1933

The Reich Church

• Ludwig Müller became Reich Bishop of a unified Protestant church called the Reich Church:

  • around 2,000 individual churches joined

  • the swastika was displayed in some churches

  • Jewish people were not allowed to be baptised in the Reich Church

Opposition from the Protestant Church

• The Pastors' Emergency League (PEL) was the main source of opposition from Protestants:

  • formed by Pastor Martin Niemöller

  • they opposed the formation of the Reich Church

  • they believed that Jewish people should be able to become Christians

• The PEL created the Confessional Church in 1934:

  • around 6,000 pastors joined, and only 2,000 pastors were part of the Reich Church

  • around 800 pastors were sent to concentration camps for opposing the Nazis

• The 1939 census of Germany showed that 43 million people still considered themselves to be Protestant

Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Paul Schneider

Martin Niemöller

Other faith groups in Nazi Germany

• There were other faith groups living in Nazi Germany

• The Nazis treated all faith groups poorly, but some had worse treatment than others

Jehovah's Witnesses

• Jehovah's Witnesses are a type of Christians that are very different to other Christian groups. For example, they do not believe in:

  • the Holy Trinity

  • the cross as a symbol

• There were around 25,000 Jehovah's Witnesses living in Nazi Germany

• The Nazis disliked Jehovah's Witnesses because they were pacifists

  • They and their children objected to serving in the army or joining the Hitler Youth

• During the Nazi regime, many Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps

Smaller Christian faith groups

• Other groups such as the Salvation Army face similar persecution such as:

  • being ordered to stop their charity work, especially during the Second World War

  • the confiscation of their property

Jewish people

• The Nazi treatment of Jewish people was much more extreme than other faith groups