Evangelical Church in the Principality of Liechtenstein

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The Evangelical Church in the Principality of Liechtenstein is one of the smallest Protestant churches in the Diaspora .

history

The beginnings coincide with the establishment of a weaving mill in Triesen by Swiss industrialists in 1863. For their workers (around 50 in 1875), most of whom came from nearby countries, the pastor of the Reformed parish of Sevelen was given permission for pastoral care and religious instruction in 1880 requested from the government. The first prayer hall was available to the 19 Swiss and 5 German parish members since 1881, until this group, which still belonged to the Reformed parish of Sevelen and was supported by the Swiss and German sides, bought a house in Triesen that was used until 1963.

Two more "Evangelical Associations" were established in Vaduz / Schaan and Eschen / Mauren. The latter came together after the customs treaty with Switzerland and consisted largely of Swiss border officials and their families. In Vaduz / Schaan, the members of the Evangelical Association were mainly from Switzerland and Germany who came to the country in connection with industrialization.

The first Protestant service was held in the capital Vaduz on Palm Sunday 1938 . Pastors from Sevelen, Buchs or Feldkirch  (A) then held monthly services in the town hall. On January 30, 1944, the three "Evangelical Associations" merged to form the "Association of Evangelicals in the Principality of Liechtenstein", which in 1961 was named "Evangelical Church in the Principality of Liechtenstein".

In 1950 the Sevel pastor Peter Rotach commissioned the German pastor Felix Troll, who worked in the Sevel cloth factory, to take care of the Triesner weaving community on a voluntary basis . According to the Liechtenstein census of December 1950, it comprised around a dozen members out of a total of 497 Protestants.

Until 1952 the Evangelical Associations in Triesen, Vaduz and Mauren were looked after by the pastors of the neighboring Evangelical parishes in Switzerland and Vorarlberg. In 1952, thanks to the help of the St. Gallen Cantonal Church and the Protestant Church Aid Association of Switzerland, a part-time and then a full-time pastor's position was created in 1956, and Eugen W. Pfenninger was elected the first pastor of the young church.

In the same year, Pastor Troll from two biblical circles in Schaan and Vaduz founded the Evangelical Working Group, which was established as an association in 1954 under the name Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession . In addition to the Evangelical Church, another Protestant church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Principality of Liechtenstein , arose in the small minority of Protestant Christians in Liechtenstein .

In 1958 the Jenny & Spoerry weaving mill signed a donation agreement for a church property in the Vaduz-Ebony district. The church could be built in 1960 and move into in 1963. Before that, the services took place in the school buildings or in the Vaduz town hall. It offers space for approx. 200 people.

organization

The church has the status of a registered association. Most of the members are still not citizens of Liechtenstein (one third of Liechtenstein residents are foreigners, around eight percent of residents are Protestant, that is around 2800 people). According to Article 4 of the Community Regulations, all baptized Christians of all Protestant denominations residing in the Principality of Liechtenstein are members. Members of the Protestant denomination who do not reside in the Principality of Liechtenstein and persons of other or no denomination can apply for membership.

The Protestant churches have received state subsidies since September 15, 1964, but are dependent on donations and membership fees to finance their tasks.

Memberships

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur Brunhart : Triesen. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 2, 2012 , accessed July 2, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Hans Jaquemar: Evangelical Churches. In: Historical Lexicon of the Principality of Liechtenstein . December 31, 2011 , accessed November 15, 2018 .
  3. ^ History on www.kirchefl.li
  4. ↑ Marianne Jehle-Wildberger: Let the conscience speak. The contribution of the St. Gallen Church to the church struggle and refugee crisis 1933–1945, p. 34.
  5. ↑ Church history on www.luth-kirche.fl ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.luth-kirche.li
  6. ↑ www.luth-kirche.li
  7. ↑ Municipal regulations on www.kirchefl.li