The “Religious Constitution” of 1933

The NSDAP already owed its electoral success during the Weimar Republic to the protestant population. The Nazi regime was openly supported by a fraction of the protestant churches, the “German Christian’s Faith Movement” (Glaubensbewegung Deutsche Christen). The Nazi regime cooperated with this fraction by reorganising protestant churches in the Religious Constitution (Reichskirchenverfassung) of 1933. At the same time, the regime concluded a concordat with the Vatican (Reichskonkordat), putting an end to the Zentrum (The Centre Party). In 1934, a minority opposition, known as the « Confessing Church » (Bekennende Kirche), began to form within the Protestant Church against the Nazi regime. This movement also influenced post-war Protestant Theology.