Christianity in East Germany Today

One of the great enigmas of our time is the Communist state of East Germany, known officially as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). On the one hand significant economic progress is everywhere evident, and the population enjoys a standard of living higher than that in any other country in the Communist bloc. Yet a harsh totalitarian regime continues in power, virtually untouched by the winds of change blowing in other Eastern European countries.

Few Westerners have any understanding of East Germany other than highly impressionistic opinions gained through brief visits to Berlin, but for several reasons interest in this country has been increasing. Some of these are: the direct negotiations between the two German states that the Brandt government in West Germany initiated as part of the new Ostpolitik (Eastern policy), the accelerating pace of the four-power talks over the status of Berlin, and the decision of Walter Ulbricht last May to step down as chief of the Eastern German Communist party. Equally important to evangelical Christians, most of the major events of the Lutheran Reformation occurred in this area. The following report seeks to give some idea of the current mood of the country and how East German Christians are bearing up under the latest pressures.

Politically, no one is expecting any significant change of direction, at least not in the immediate future. The official banners now contain a new face, that of Erich Honecker, Ulbricht’s successor as party boss, but no East German with whom we spoke believed he would try to follow a more independent line.

Everywhere we turned we experienced the monotonous sloganeering and propaganda of a totalitarian state, and we saw no indication that the rigorous police controls over inhabitants and visitors alike had been relaxed.

The contrast between economic prosperity and the virtual absence of personal freedom is more striking than ever. The rubble in such major cities as Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Magdeburg, and Karl-Marx-Stadt has been cleared away, and new high-rise structures are springing up like mushrooms. Large industrial complexes are to be found in many places. The collective farms that dominate East German agriculture are faring appreciably better than a few years ago. Automobiles, few though they may be, are newer and flashier than those in other Soviet-bloc countries. Nobody seems to be starving, and most people have adequate housing. Yet one frequently senses he is being watched, and nearly everybody speaks in low tones when in public places. Since internal police checks are a regular occurrence, one is never without his identity papers. However, one seldom runs afoul of the authorities if he does what he is told and does not step out of line. Most East Germans have long since learned to survive by adopting this very practical philosophy.

The overwhelming presence of men in uniform, both Russian and German, offers ample proof that militarism in East Germany is far from dead. In a square in Eisleben only a few steps from Luther’s birthplace we witnessed the induction ceremony for a crop of 1971 draftees into the East German army. The small children of the Young Pioneers (the youth arm of the Communist party) delivered a bouquet of flowers to each soldier at the conclusion of the rite in a glorification of the fatherland, the party, and the military reminiscent of Nazi Germany. As the new recruits goosestepped away, we had an eerie feeling that all this had happened before. We noticed the expressionless faces of a number of elderly women beside us and realized that they must have stood on this very same square and watched their husbands in 1914 and their sons in 1939 march off to war. Now their grandsons were doing it, in the same enthusiastic manner.

Christians find themselves in a peculiarly awkward situation in the GDR. Although the regime is Marxist-Leninist, the state officially is neutral in matters of religion and actually grants freedom of worship. The 1968 constitution affirms clearly that all citizens of the German Democratic Republic have the same rights and duties, “irrespective of philosophy or religious confession,” and “freedom of conscience and freedom of belief are guaranteed.” Furthermore, every citizen “has the right to profess a religious creed, and to carry out religious activities.” In accordance with this, churches are allowed to hold public worship services, give religious instruction to the young, operate a few kindergartens and rest homes, and publish newspapers and books. The East German successor to the Berlin Bible Society, the Evangelisches Haupt-Bibel-gesellschaft, continues to publish and distribute Bibles and Scripture portions. The state even supports theological faculties at some of the universities and permits churches to maintain schools for training ministerial candidates.

Nevertheless the East German regime is fundamentally inimical to Christianity. Although it apparently does not wish an open confrontation with the church, it tries to undermine the influence of religion in the country. Individual believers often experience subtle and sometimes not so subtle forms of discrimination. For example, we heard of a recent case of a Christian girl who completed her high-school work with exceptionally high grades but was denied admission to the university because she had not been involved enough politically—that is, she had not participated sufficiently in the activities of the Free German Youth, the Communist organization for older young people. Our informant assured us this was not an unusual instance of discrimination.

Another tactic is the substitution of pseudosacral rites for the traditional Christian ceremonies of baptism, confirmation, and marriage. Best known of these is the “youth dedication” (Jugendweihe), a form of confirmation rite. It is administered to young people at age thirteen or fourteen after a period of formal instruction in the principles of dialectical materialism, the historical evolution of socialism, and the nature of the present class struggle. In this ceremony the teen-agers pledge to devote their entire energy to the building of socialism, the struggle for world peace, and the welfare of the German Democratic Republic. A person may still be confirmed, but only after he has gone through the youth dedication.

The Christian who is a citizen of the GDR lives in a distinct state of tension. Naturally he desires to fulfill his responsibilities as a citizen and to make his country a better place in which to live. He will justifiably take pride in his nation’s achievements, which are most remarkable, considering the devastation of the Second World War, the harshness of the Soviet occupation, and the almost complete lack of foreign economic aid. At the same time he wishes to uphold an uncompromised Gospel and bear a meaningful witness for Christ. Evangelicals in the West need to be more understanding and appreciative of the efforts of their brothers in the East. The Christian there must weigh the consequences of his actions in a manner that is almost incomprehensible to us who live outside the Communist bloc.

What we found encouraging is the vitality that is evident in East German Christianity despite the obstacles placed before believers. Although some have chosen to flee the country, others feel called of God to stay and serve. The following experiences of three typical East Germans are indicative of the problems faced by Christians in this Marxist land. Although they are personal acquaintances of ours, for obvious reasons we have concealed their true identities and are using fictitious names.

Professor Dr. Georg Schmidt of the Karl Marx University in Leipzig is a Christian scholar in the humanities with a distinguished academic career. Some of his works are quite well known in the West. For him the most difficult aspect of life in East Germany is the deprivation of the three freedoms that mean the most to a professor: the freedom to speak, read, and travel. He is not allowed to lecture on many topics that lie among his principal concerns; he can no longer obtain books and periodicals from the West in his field, which means he is cut off from current developments in his discipline; and he may not travel outside the Soviet bloc even though the information for his research is largely unavailable in East Germany and he has received many invitations to speak at Western universities. As he said to us in his study: “Life here is like living in a prison.”

Pastor Wilhelm Eisner ministers to a medium-sized congregation in East Berlin. He told us that the principal problem for him is converting over to a free church economy. Now that the ancient tradition of depending on funds derived from the state (especially the church tax) to maintain the ecclesiastical establishment has come to an end, his parishioners must be re-educated to support the church through their own contributions. According to him, church attendance is lower than it used to be, and because of the youth dedication the number of confirmands has dropped off. Nevertheless, the depth of faith of those who remain is greater than before. In his ministry Pastor Eisner has been emphasizing the lordship of Christ and the necessity for the full commitment of one’s life and goods to him. Official pressures have not emptied his church, but the built-in disabilities for believers have made life more difficult for Pastor Eisner’s flock, and for his family as well. His spirit and courage in standing for the integrity of the Gospel in the face of hostility from the regime were most impressive.

Ernst Vohsen is a highly trained chemist who works for a large, state-owned pharmaceutical concern in Dresden. He and his wife, Erika, and their three school-age children live in a comfortable apartment in a new development, and with an annual salary of $4,000 he is prosperous by East German standards. He is also a Christian layman and is wrestling with the problems of living a Christian life in the contemporary world. Herr Vohsen has turned to theology in his search for answers. In the last few months he has been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth as well as the Bible. Some day he intends to write some articles applying philosophy and theology to human problems, but he doubts that he will be allowed to publish them. He is convinced that Christianity, not Marxism-Leninism, offers hope for mankind. In their home the Vohsens maintain regular family devotions, but he confided to us his concern for his children’s future, especially since they are outstanding students in their classes in school.

All three are Christians in a society that is basically anti-Christian. Like thousands of others, they find they must accept things as they are, not as they might wish them to be. Despite the obvious personal disadvantages, they have chosen to take a stand for Christ. At the same time they are trying to be “good” citizens of the country that is their home. It is not an easy existence, but this is the life to which God has called believers in East Germany.

Many Christians in the West find it easy to criticize such persons, to observe blithely that they ought to offer resistance to this “godless” Communist regime. However, given the apparatus of total police control in the GDR and the presence of 200,000 or more Soviet troops garrisoned in a territory half the area of Kansas, this is not really an option for them. Their duty is to bear a witness to Christ in the midst of adverse circumstances. □

Richard V. Pierard is associate professor of history at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, and Robert D. Linder is associate professor of history at Kansas State University, Manhattan. Both received the Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. Dr. Pierard’s fields of specialty are modern German history and religious and political conservatism. Dr. Linder’s are the Reformation and the history of religious and political ideas and movements. In mid-1971 they traveled to East Germany to gain some idea of conditions of life in this Communist land. Dr. Pierard had visited East Germany several times previously, and Dr. Linder has traveled in most of the Communist-bloc states of Eastern Europe.

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