Wittenberg contract

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The Wittenberg contract is in on 15 September 1993 Wittenberg ( Saxony-Anhalt signed) Church agreement between the State of Saxony-Anhalt and the Protestant churches. It is the first comprehensive contract of a new federal state after reunification. The state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt approved the contract by law of December 16, 1993. After exchanging the ratifications, it came into force on February 15, 1994.

Contracting party on the church side

The contract was concluded with all Protestant regional churches active in Saxony-Anhalt. As a result, 6 regional churches were involved in it. This large number of regional churches arises from the fragmentation of the realm area into different territories, each with its own Protestant regional church before 1919. The area of ​​a regional church is therefore often spread over several current federal states. Contract partners are:

The Landeskirche Anhalt and the ecclesiastical province of Saxony are mainly represented in Saxony-Anhalt. The other regional churches involved have only subordinate territorial shares in Saxony-Anhalt.

Content of the contract

The content of the Wittenberg contract largely follows the model of the " Loccumer contract " with regard to the subject matter of the regulation. The common affairs of the state and the Protestant regional churches were regulated, i.e. theological faculties , religious instruction , state services , church taxes , monument protection etc. Contract is. In Art. 27, a provision on "linguistic equality" for job titles was inserted for the first time in a State Church Treaty.

The experiences from the GDR era with a state hostile to the churches shaped the contract negotiations and the contract . Securing the free development of the churches in their various fields of activity was therefore a particular concern. Correspondingly, constitutional guarantees were often repeated and, due to their treaty nature, withdrew from unilateral change by the state. In terms of content, the absence of any so-called political clause in the allocation of church offices is noteworthy, although this has not been exercised in other federal states either. There was also no provision in the older contracts about the necessary preliminary training for clergy (so-called triennium because of at least three years of study), as this was viewed as an encroachment on the church's right to self-determination.

The regulations on the appointment of university lecturers to the theological faculty according to Art. 3, Paragraph 2 (including the associated final protocol), according to which the state reserves the right to make a final decision, were criticized. According to this, the state wants to be able to appoint a university professor to the theological faculty in exceptional cases despite the concerns raised. However, this right of final decision is controversial for constitutional reasons, as it enables the state to appoint a university professor who does not conform to church teaching in parish training.

Evaluation of the contract

As the first contract of a new federal state, the Wittenberg Treaty was the starting point for the conclusion of further contracts between the federal states and religious communities. The last comprehensive contract between the state and the Evangelical Church was almost 30 years ago at the time. During this period the possibilities and sense of a contractual regulation of the points of contact between the state and religious communities were questioned on various occasions. In the meantime, both are no longer disputed in legal literature.

The Wittenberg Treaty was followed by a large number of other contracts, including those with the Catholic Church and the Jewish religious communities. It thus represents the starting point for a so-called “3. Generation ”of the state church treaties (1st generation: Weimar period; 2nd generation: post-war period). The initial reservations on the part of the church against the conclusion of a contract due to a presumed too close proximity to the state and a feared appropriation have not come true. Nowadays the contractual regulation is understood as a means of mutual delimitation but also cooperation in the common spheres of action and guarantee of free self-determination of the religious communities.

literature

  • Swell:
    • Contract text: GVBl. LSA 1994, p. 193.
    • Official justification of the contract: Landtag printed matter I / 3087.
    • Readings of the treaty law with parliamentary debate:
      1. Consultation of October 28, 1993, LT-Dr I / 6310.
      2. Discussion and resolution on December 16, 1993 LT-Dr I / 6619.
  • Secondary literature:
    • Michael Germann , The State Church Treaties of the New Federal States: A Third Generation in State Church Law. in: Stefan Mückl [Ed.], The Law of State Church Contracts: Colloquium on the occasion of the 75th birthday of Alexander Hollerbach. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2007. ISBN 978-3-428-12580-7 . P. 91ff.
    • Axel Freiherr von Campenhausen , Four new state church treaties in four new countries. NVwZ 1995, p. 757.
    • Hermann Weber , The Wittenberg Contract - A Loccum for the New Federal States ?, NVwZ 1994, p. 759.

source

  1. ↑ GVBl. LSA 1994 p. 172.
  2. ↑ Announcement of February 28, 1994, GVBl. LSA p. 434.
  3. ^ Weber , NVwZ 1994, pp. 759, 760.
  4. ↑ Cf. on the whole: Vulpius, NVwZ 1996, p. 460 ff.
  5. ↑ See von Campenhausen , NVwZ 1995, p. 757.
  6. ↑ Germann in: Mückl, Das Recht der Staatskirchenvertvertrag, p. 91 ff.
  7. ↑ Germann in: Mückl, Das Recht der Staatskirchenvertvertrag, pp. 91, 103 ff.

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