Church Province (Old Prussian Union)

A church province of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union (APU or EKapU) designates - based on the structure of Prussia in provinces - the provincial branches of this former regional church in the older provinces of Prussia, i.e. those that belonged to Prussia before 1851.

The name ecclesiastical province was used until 2008 for the Evangelical Church of the ecclesiastical province of Saxony in order to distinguish it from the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Saxony . The following church provinces belonged to the APU:

Surname	Status as an ecclesiastical province	Office area enclosed	Seat	Governing bodies (legislative, executive) and people	subsequent organization
Brandenburg: ecclesiastical province of Brandenburg (1821–1926) / ecclesiastical province of Mark Brandenburg (1926–1948)	1821-1948	Province of Brandenburg and Berlin (left Brandenburg in 1881)	Berlin, Züllichau (1944–1945)	Provincial Synod, Konsistorium (Mark) Brandenburg , 1829–1933: General superintendent for (1) Berlin-Stadt, (2) Berlin-Land (1911–1933), (3) Kurmark and (4) Niederlausitz and Neumark 1933–1935: Provincial bishops for Berlin and Brandenburg, provosts for Kurmark and Neumark-Niederlausitz	Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg (EKiBB; 2004 to EKBO , western area) de facto dissolved due to flight, death and expulsion of parishioners (eastern area)
Danzig, Free City: State Synodal Association of the Free City of Danzig (church association with the status of a church province without using this term in the name)	1922-1940	Free City of Gdansk	Danzig	Regional Synod , Consistory of Danzig, 1922–1933: Superintendent General Danzig 1933–1940: Provincial Bishop of Danzig	Church area Danzig-West Prussia
Danzig-West Prussia: Church area Danzig-West Prussia	1940-1945	Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia	Danzig	no synod, consistory Danzig, bishop for Danzig-West Prussia	de facto dissolved through flight, death and expulsion of the parishioners
Memel area: Landessynodalverband Memelgebiet	1925-1939	Memel area	Memel (city)	Regional synod, Konsistorium Memel (founded 1927), 1926–1944: General-superintendent Memel	Church province of East Prussia
East Prussia: Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia	1821–1829, 1878 / 86–1945 (in between there was the ecclesiastical province of Prussia consisting of East and West Prussia)	Province of East Prussia , 1922 plus Reg.bez. West Prussia 1925 minus Memel area, March 1939 plus Memel area, 1940 minus Reg.bez. West Prussia	Königsberg in Prussia	Provincial Synod, Konsistorium Königsberg, 1886–1933: Superintendent General East Prussia , Provincial Bishop (1933–1936) and Superintendent General Memel (1939–1944)	de facto dissolved through flight, death and expulsion of the parishioners
Polish Upper Silesia: Uniate Evangelical Church in Polish Upper Silesia / Polish Kościół Ewangelicko-Unijny na Polskim Górnym Śląsku (church association with 17 parishes and until 1937 status of a church province.)	1923-1937	East Upper Silesia	Katowice	Regional synod, regional church council, church president	The church existed from 1937 to 1939 without status as an ecclesiastical province, then re-incorporated into the ecclesiastical province of Silesia
Pomerania: Ecclesiastical Province of Pomerania	1821-1950	Pomeranian Province	Stettin (until 1945), Greifswald (from 1945)	Provincial Synod, Pomeranian Consistory , 1883–1933: General Superintendenten (East and West District ), 1933–1945: Provincial Bishop	Pomeranian Evangelical Church (PEK; 2012 to the North Church , western area) de facto dissolved through flight, death and expulsion of the parishioners (eastern area)
Poznan, Prov .: Ecclesiastical Province of Poznan	1821-1920	Poznan Province	Poses	Provincial Synod, Poznan Consistory, 1829–1920: General-superintendent	Ecclesiastical Province of Posen-West Prussia (western area), Uniate Evangelical Church in Poland (remaining area)
Posen-West Prussia: Ecclesiastical Province Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia	1921-1941	Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia	Schneidemühl	Provincial Synod, Consistory Posen-West Prussia, 1923–1933: General-superintendent, 1933–1941: Provost	Church province of Pomerania
Prussia, Prov .: Church Province of Prussia	1829-1886	Province of Prussia	Königsberg in Prussia	Provincial Synod, Königsberg Consistory, 1812–1883: Superintendent General Prussia	Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia (eastern area), Ecclesiastical Province of West Prussia (western area)
Rhineland: Ecclesiastical Province of Rhineland	1821-1947	Rhine province , western and central Saar area (1920–1935) or Saarland (from 1946), province of Hohenzollern (1899–1950)	Koblenz (until 1934), Düsseldorf (from 1934)	Provincial Synod, Consistory Rhineland, 1836–1948: General-superintendent Rhineland	Evangelical Church in the Rhineland (EKiR)
Saxony, Prov .: Church Province of Saxony	1821-1950	Province of Saxony	Magdeburg	Provincial synod, 4 consistories each in Magdeburg (1815–2008), Roßla (1719–1947), Stolberg am Harz (1553–2005) and Wernigerode (1658–1930; the latter three regionally responsible), 1815–1933: 3 general superintendents ( 1st to 3rd office), 1933–1950: Provincial Bishop	Evangelical Church of the Ecclesiastical Province of Saxony (KPS; 2009 on EKM )
Silesia: Ecclesiastical Province of Silesia	1821-1947	Province of Silesia (1821–1919, 1938–1941) Provinces of Lower and Upper Silesia (1919–1938, and 1941–1945)	Breslau (until the end of 1946), Görlitz (1947–2003)	Provincial Synod, Consistory of Silesia, 1829–1933: Superintendent General for Liegnitz and Breslau-Opole, 1935–2003: Provincial Bishop	Evangelical Church of Silesia / Silesian Upper Lusatia (so 1992–2003, EKsOL; 2004 to EKBO , western area) de facto dissolved due to flight, death and expulsion of parishioners (eastern area)
Westphalia: ecclesiastical province of Westphalia	1821-1945	Province of Westphalia	Munster in Westphalia	Provincial Synod, Consistory of Westphalia, 1836–1944: General-superintendent	Evangelical Church of Westphalia
West Prussia: Church Province of West Prussia	1821–1829, 1886–1921 (in between there was the ecclesiastical province of Prussia consisting of East and West Prussia)	West Prussia Province	Danzig	Provincial Synod, Consistory West Prussia, 1883–1920: Superintendent General for West Prussia	Regional Synodal Association of the Free City of Danzig (northern area), Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia (from 1923, eastern area), Ecclesiastical Province of Posen-West Prussia (new from 1923, southwestern area), Uniate Evangelical Church in Poland (new from 1920 without status as ecclesiastical province, central, northwestern and southern area)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Adalbert Erler : The legal position of the Evangelical Church in Danzig. Berlin 1929, plus Univ. Greifswald, law and political science. Diss. V. Feb. 21, 1929, p. 36 ff
2. ↑ In that year the German-Polish Agreement on Upper Silesia (Geneva Agreement) concluded on May 15, 1922 ran (cf. “German-Polish Agreement on Upper Silesia” (Upper Silesia Agreement, OSA) of May 15, 1922, in: Reichsgesetzblatt , 1922, part II, p. 238 ff.). On the basis of this contract, which allowed cross-border religious bodies for Eastern Upper Silesia, which was otherwise prohibited in Poland, the Eastern Upper Silesian Uniate Church was able to function as a church province.
3. ^ Alfred Kleindienst , Oskar Wagner: Protestantism in the Republic of Poland 1918/19 to 1939 in the field of tension between nationality politics and state church law, church and national contrasts. J.-G.-Herder-Institut, Marburg 1985 (=  Marburger Ostforschungen. Volume 42), ISBN 3-87969-179-7 , p. 436 ff.
4. ↑ The number of church members in 1918 was about 790,000 souls. See Karl-Heinz Fix, Carsten Nicolaisen and Ruth Papst, Handbook of the German Protestant Churches 1918 to 1949. Organs - Offices - Persons : 2 vols., Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017, (= work on contemporary church history; Vol. 20 ), Vol. 2: 'Landes- und Provinzialkirchen', p. 611. ISBN 978-3-525-55794-5 .