The Coming of Age of the Lutheran Congregation in Early Modern Amsterdam

Abstract

Abstract Contrary to most of the German Lands of the Empire, Lutherans in the Low Countries were a religious minority. In order to establish a congregation in the nascent Dutch republic the Amsterdam Lutherans had to manoeuver between a non-Lutheran authority, the public Reformed Church with the most rights and the highest visibility and other religious minorities. This article describes the influencing factors that helped the Lutherans in this ongoing dynamic and vulnerable process of negotiation. It shows how experiences made by the first generations of Dutch Lutherans in Antwerp were important for the choice to start as a house church. It further explores the international connections of the Amsterdam Lutherans, especially with Scandinavia, that eventually made it possible for them to own two big, publicly visible churches, while still being a religious minority.