Naumburg Synod

The Naumburg Synod was a body within the Confessing Church of the Old Prussian Church Province of Silesia , which, in contrast to the “Christophori Synod”, was radically Dahlemite .

The beginnings of the Confessing Church in Silesia

After the founding of Pastors in September 1933 in Berlin-Dahlem by Martin Niemoller 's opponents were stirring in the Silesian towns Nazi influence on the church. In mid-May 1934, a "Church Congress of the Silesian Confession Front" took place in Breslau, which decided to strengthen the Silesian Confession Movement. They avoided using the term “synod” in relation to the leadership office of the bishop. At the same time, those gathered declared that they wanted to join the confessional community of the German Evangelical Church (DEK) under President Karl Koch . The declarations of the Kirchentag were explained in more detail at many confessional meetings in Silesia. The Council of the Confessing Church sent the declaration to all pastors in the ecclesiastical province with a call for a decision in favor of the emergency covenant.

The Barmen Confessing Synod at the end of May 1934 formulated the principles according to which Protestant Christians of Lutheran, Reformed and United States wanted to live in the future. These church-opposing declarations and positions were, however , opposed by Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller , who has meanwhile been installed by the Nazi authorities, and also regional bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union (APU). The Silesian Provincial Bishop Otto Zänker called on Müller to resign because of his behavior contrary to his confession, whereupon he immediately suspended him from duty. After 609 pastors from the old Prussian church province of Silesia, 124 emeriti and 117 vicars and candidates behind brawlers, Müller lifted his leave of absence. In a circular that Zänker sent to the Silesian parishes and pastors in November 1934, he declared his adherence to disobedience to the anti-denominational attitude of the DEK and his decision to take the leadership of the Silesian church into his own hands.

Bishop Otto Zänker and pastors Ulrich Bunzel , Gerhard Ehrenforth and Paul Viebig traveled through the Silesian ecclesiastical province in the winter of 1934/1935 to advertise a "preliminary synod". In letters to pastors and parishes, they declared that the synod would “[...] seek to show every possible way that promises to lead our church bodies to truly written and confessional action and our church to church peace ".

Another conflict loomed when, in March 1935, the Confessional Synod of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union (APU) decided on a pulpit declaration against the emerging “ new paganism ”. Despite the prohibition by the Gestapo , this declaration was read from the pulpit by numerous clergymen, which resulted in the arrest of many pastors in Prussia, including almost 200 in the Silesian province. Bishop Zänker, who also read this declaration, was not arrested and was even able to visit his arrested brothers from the parish offices in prison.

On May 10, 1935, the Provisional Silesian Synod met in the Wroclaw Christophorikirche according to its convocation by Bishop Zänker. These included both representatives of the Confessing Church and representatives of so-called “neutrals”, who represented the “Unity and Construction” group with its leading member Ulrich Altmann . The synod proclaimed Pastor Viebig praeses . Furthermore, the Synod set up a Synodal Committee and gave it the task of standing up on its behalf and making the necessary decisions.

Hanns Kerrl , a National Socialist politician, was appointed church minister on July 16, 1935 by the state . The Church Minister appointed the Reich Church Committee for the DEK and the State Church Committee for the APU. The provincial church committee should report to both together. On August 15, 1935, he banned the Provisional Silesian Synod and dissolved it. Although the synod received an assurance from the state that it would continue to exist if it changed its name to the “Silesian Synod of the Confessing Church”, the synod did not meet. However, this meeting would have been essential given the establishment of the Provincial Churches Committee. At this point it became clear that the Provisional Silesian Synod lacked unity because of its broad base.

The split in the Confessing Church in Silesia

Church minister Kerrl called for disciplinary proceedings to be opened against Bishop Zänker, who then agreed to work with the regional church committee. The Silesian Provincial Brothers Council, on the other hand, declared on December 29, 1935 that it refused to cooperate with the Provincial Church Committees.

As a result of this question of cooperation with the committees, the Confessing Church in Silesia was split between the Provincial Brotherhood Council and the members of the Provisional Silesian Synod. The majority of the Synodal Committee of the Provisional Silesian Synod now decided to rename the “Silesian Synod of the Confessing Church” - requested by the DC Reich Bishop - and convened the Silesian Synod of the Confessing Church on May 23 and 24, 1936. This took place in the Christophori Church in Wroclaw and is therefore also called the "Christophori Synod". This synod decided on a conditional collaboration with the provincial church committee and expressed its confidence in Bishop Zänker. The Provincial Brotherhood Council refused to give its consent, and the first Silesian Confessing Synod met in early July in Naumburg am Queis , which is why it is also known as the “Naumburg Synod”. This took a theological declaration “Of Church Power” drawn up by Gerhard Gloege as its basis and thus adopted five decisive theses. A clear radicalism can be seen in these theses, which shows that the Naumburg Synod showed far more distrust of the Nazi state than the Christophori Synod.

The Naumburgers elected attorney Walter Beninde as president and Ernst Hornig as his deputy. Furthermore, she explained that Zänker “[...] leads his office in contradiction to the word and command of Scripture, as it is interpreted in the Confessions of the Reformation and in the Confession Synods of the DEK ...”. She offered Zänker to lead a Silesian church office in connection with the synods of the BK if he “[...] publicly breaks away from the erring 'Silesian Synod of the Confessing Church' for the sake of the church and the violence of the state Church committees as a member of the Confessing Church publicly [resists]. ”Otherwise, the parishes and pastors would only be bound to the church leadership of the old Prussian brother council.

The Reich Church Committee resigned when it failed with the church minister's request to assume responsibility for the restoration of right-wing teaching among the Thuringian DC, the sharpest expression among German Christians. Thereupon the minister of church also ended the employment of the other committees. He transferred the office of the Old Prussian Regional Church Committee to the APU. For brawlers, however, the path became more and more difficult. He had to put up with the fact that declarations contrary to the denomination were published in the official gazettes of the church province. In September 1937 the consistory withdrew his chairmanship from him.

Zänker could no longer prevent other influences from the DC, such as the DC's participation in the examination committee. In April 1939 he convened a superintendent conference, the subject of which was to be the ordinance of the Old Prussian Evangelical Upper Church Council , which intervened in the rights of pastors and parishioners. The meeting was monitored by the Gestapo and finally even dissolved by the secret police due to a statement by Zänker. After that, Zänker was given leave of absence and forced into retirement two years later.

The last Confessional Synod of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union met in October 1943. She addressed a word to the congregations that was read in the penitential services. With this word they testified to the "seriousness of God's judgment on the violations of his commandments". Pastor Ernst Hornig in particular vigorously advocated the multiple reading of this word. In 1945 he hid Jews in what was then the fortress of Breslau and looked after them. When the consistory and brawlers left Breslau on January 21, 1945, the Provincial Brotherhood received the church regiment under the direction of Hornig. Together with representatives of the Catholic Church, on May 5, 1945, he demanded that Wroclaw be handed over to the Red Army. After two days, their demand was met when the German troops surrendered and the battle for Breslau ended.

literature

Gerhard Ehrenforth: The Silesian Church in the Church Struggle 1932–1945. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1968.

Individual evidence

↑ What is meant is the strict orientation towards the principles of the Pastor Emergency League, which was founded by Pastor Martin Niemöller in Berlin-Dahlem.
↑ Cf. Gustav Adolf Benrath , Dietrich Meyer , Horst Weigelt, Ulrich Huttner-Wohlandt (Ed.): Source book for the history of the Evangelical Church in Silesia , p. 478.
↑ See Hans-Joachim Fränkel : The church fight in Silesia . In: Peter Maser (Ed.): The Church Struggle in the German East and in the German-speaking Churches in Eastern Europe , p. 57.

[1] What is meant is the strict orientation towards the principles of the Pastor Emergency League, which was founded by Pastor Martin Niemöller in Berlin-Dahlem.

[2] Cf. Gustav Adolf Benrath , Dietrich Meyer , Horst Weigelt, Ulrich Huttner-Wohlandt (Ed.): Source book for the history of the Evangelical Church in Silesia , p. 478.

[3] See Hans-Joachim Fränkel : The church fight in Silesia . In: Peter Maser (Ed.): The Church Struggle in the German East and in the German-speaking Churches in Eastern Europe , p. 57.