INTRODUCTION
There is an area of German history that has had little scholarly coverage, and even less digital coverage: religion during the German Democratic Republic. In an attemplt to rectify this problem, this project will create scholarly research about religion in East Germany, and make that information available on the World Wide Web. This site will also be a means for others to add to the scholarly collection, and a place where source materials can be collected.
Why study religion in East Germany?
Germany has a long historical involvement with religion. Beginning with Charlemagne's forced application of Christianity and his reign with the Holy Roman Empire in the late 8th and early 9th Centuries, continuing with the Catholic Reformations of Martin Luther in the 16th Century, and including the horrifying Holocaust against the Jews in the 20th Century, Germany has played a part in many global changing events relating to religion.
After World War II, Germany became a divided nation with differing stances on religion, among other things. Whereas West Germany became relatively free and democratic, East Germany became just as regulated and censored as they had been under the National Socialists. After the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), and the dust from WWII had settled, West Germans were able to move freely about Europe and the world, openly criticize their government, and freely practice almost any form of religion they chose. The same was not true for East Germans in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The Communist government that had taken control through the help of the occupying Soviets, enacted restrictions that were eerily similar to the fascists of Nazi Germany they claimed to despise.
Filling the void
Research about religion in East Germany is sparse, and scholarly research (whether digital or not) on the WWW is almost nonexistent. This web site will have two main aspects in an attempt to fill the void. First, this project will endeavor to collect the stories of religious people in East Germany and pull together a general narrative of how they lived their religious lives despite the restrictions placed on them by their government. Similar to the 911 digital archive (but with much more control on the content allowed), the people will tell their own history. Second, this site will also contain brief historical narratives which outline the development of the GDR and describe the relationship that the communist government created with its religious citizens. What legal restrictions were placed on religious groups in communist East Germany? What were the types of things people had to sacrifice in order to maintain their beliefs? It is anticipated that this second part will be populated with articles and documents created by those in the academic field.
Who will use it?
It is projected that those who experienced religious life within East Germany, or their descendants, will be the main visitors of the first section of the site. Those wishing to collect the history, such as fellow historians, will hopefully find this site a useful tool and resource for gathering and interpreting these oral histories.