History of Protestantism in Leukerbad
The history of Protestantism in Leukerbad begins again in the Upper Valais health resort - after the failure of the Reformation in Valais and the expulsion of the Reformed - at the beginning of the 19th century.
Beginnings
In July 1826, the Vaudois theology professor Alexandre Vinet stayed in Leukerbad as a spa guest. Every day he gathers Protestant and Anglican spa guests for communal prayer.
From 1870 onwards, Leukerbad became a popular holiday resort, particularly attracting wealthy people from the reformed metropolises of Bern and Zurich . Protestant services are mostly celebrated in restaurants or, since 1850, in the Anglican Chapel .
In 1960, a separate parish of Leukerbad was founded as part of the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Valais , whose church - the Thomas Platter House - was inaugurated in 1968. This will be given up in 2010 and de-dedicated because the health clinic, as the lessor of the land and landlord, asserted its own needs.
present
In 2011, an Evangelical Community Center was inaugurated in the Leukerbad town hall .
Trivia
According to regulations from the time of the Counter Reformation, bathers in Leukerbad were fined three talers if they sang Lutheran chants. A law of the local bathing police dated December 5, 1825 said that any discussion of religious questions was forbidden when bathing, with a fine of 10 francs, regardless of whether Protestants or Catholics took part.