Weimar and Nazi Germany (1918-1939): The National Reich Church

The National Reich Church was a collection of protestant churches that merged in 1936 headed by the Reich Bishop Ludwig Muller. Those who preached in the Reich Church were able to continue doing so as long as they agreed with the views of Hitler and the Nazis. This included the exclusion of Jewish teaching from the Old Testament and prohibited the baptising of Jews.

Some Protestant churches went further than this and started to display swastikas in the church buildings in and around altars.

On the other hand, some Protestants did oppose the Nazis with the most famous being the Pastors’ Emergency League headed by Martin Niemoller.