Abstract
The emergence of German neo-Pietism after the Napoleonic Wars appeared to contest the dominance of orthodox Protestantism, mainly in Prussia, but also in other German lands. However, nineteenth-century neo-Pietists forged a different kind of relationship with the orthodox than that of the early Pietists and the orthodox about two centuries earlier. Although challenging each other during the 1820s, from the 1830s onwards, neo-Pietists and the orthodox joined forces to confront rational theology, liberalism, and modern nationalism. This article departs from the existing scholarly discussion about these developments in arguing that the Pietist–orthodox alliance, which merged with political conservatism, did not necessarily apply a reactionary policy. Acknowledging the impact of the new liberal trends, these Christian devotees introduced an alternative national ideal that was based on their religious and political views. Invoking the ideal of a German Christian State, the rival Christian strands became woven into a modernized force which fostered a specific German national identity. This was characterized by ecumenical Christianity, a specific understanding of religion, a deep devotion to the German people, and nationalization of Judaism. Theirs was not a democratic nation-state, but an amalgamated model which combined a historic relation to Christianity with new efforts to redefine collective identity in a national age.
Highlights
The history of the German Church, both Protestant and Catholic, as well as the tensions between the two confessions during the nineteenth century, has won considerable attention in recent scholarship
There are important works on the accommodation of Protestant culture in the ethos of the German national movement from its early inception during the conflict with Napoleon, and until the Kulturkampf that followed German national unification in 1871. This Protestant-religious and German-national amalgam, has been explored predominantly through its liberal manifestations, in which the national movement relied on the cultural features of the Protestant tradition rather than on the Protestant church or theology
Protestant orthodox, who since the 1830s were joined by neo-Pietists, were associated—and for good reasons—with political conservatism and the traditional elites, such as the agrarian aristocracy, the clergy, the higher echelon of the army, and a thin layer of intellectuals and academics
Summary
The history of the German Church, both Protestant and Catholic, as well as the tensions between the two confessions during the nineteenth century, has won considerable attention in recent scholarship. Protestant orthodox, who since the 1830s were joined by neo-Pietists, were associated—and for good reasons—with political conservatism and the traditional elites, such as the agrarian aristocracy, the clergy, the higher echelon of the army, and a thin layer of intellectuals and academics These pious conservatives, so the historiography indicates, distanced themselves from nationalism, which appeared to denote democratization, secularization, and disintegration of traditional socio-political structures, and jeopardized the established order of state and society and the preeminence of religion.. I would like to suggest that the Christian conservative ideal of the nation was not necessarily aimed only at countering the modern and liberal model of the nation Rather, it was essentially imbedded in the orthodox-Pietist theology of the state, its legitimacy, and identity. It will be possible to investigate their ideas from the academic, public, and political perspectives
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