När Luther blev marxist och Wittenberg blev kemistad: Kyrkliga relationer mellan Lunds stift och Kirchenprovinz Sachsen: 1983-1989
(2012) TEOK51 20112Centre for Theology and Religious Studies
- Abstract
- The relationship between Church of Sweden’s diocese of Lund and the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony in the German Democratic Republic started in 1983 and came to an end with the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. The exchange-based relationship between the two churches started with a request from the church in East Germany, searching for allies and ecumenical contacts in Western Europe. The bishops of the Church of Sweden decided to pair each diocese of the Swedish church with a counterpart in East Germany and as a consequence the diocese of Lund and the Evangelical Church Province of Saxony where paired together.
This thesis aims to investigate the history of this exchange-based relationship between the two dioceses... (More) - The relationship between Church of Sweden’s diocese of Lund and the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony in the German Democratic Republic started in 1983 and came to an end with the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. The exchange-based relationship between the two churches started with a request from the church in East Germany, searching for allies and ecumenical contacts in Western Europe. The bishops of the Church of Sweden decided to pair each diocese of the Swedish church with a counterpart in East Germany and as a consequence the diocese of Lund and the Evangelical Church Province of Saxony where paired together.
This thesis aims to investigate the history of this exchange-based relationship between the two dioceses and how it worked and still works to this day. Thus it is an essay that goes beyond the collapse of the German Democratic Republic. Through interviews with representatives from the Church of Sweden who was involved in the relationship, from the 1980’s and forward, I try to shed light on the relations between the diocese of Lund and the Church Province of Saxony. The purpose of the interviews has been to answer the following questions: What was the motif of the relationship between the two churches and how did it work? What did the people involved experience during their visits to East Germany? What happened with the relationship after the fall of the communist-regime in the eastern part of Germany and how does it work today?
This essay gives a unique glimpse of the relationship between a diocese in the Church of Sweden and a church repressed under a totalitarian regime. Thus, it can be argued that this thesis gives a hint of what really happened behind the iron curtain. The repressing of religion and churches in totalitarian countries still goes on into this day and we need to reconcile with our own past in order to truly prevent such periods in the history from repeating themselves. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/2300210
- author
- Andersson, Caroline LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- TEOK51 20112
- year
- 2012
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 2300210
- date added to LUP
- 2012-01-23 15:27:15
- date last changed
- 2012-01-23 15:27:15
@misc{2300210, abstract = {{The relationship between Church of Sweden’s diocese of Lund and the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony in the German Democratic Republic started in 1983 and came to an end with the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. The exchange-based relationship between the two churches started with a request from the church in East Germany, searching for allies and ecumenical contacts in Western Europe. The bishops of the Church of Sweden decided to pair each diocese of the Swedish church with a counterpart in East Germany and as a consequence the diocese of Lund and the Evangelical Church Province of Saxony where paired together. This thesis aims to investigate the history of this exchange-based relationship between the two dioceses and how it worked and still works to this day. Thus it is an essay that goes beyond the collapse of the German Democratic Republic. Through interviews with representatives from the Church of Sweden who was involved in the relationship, from the 1980’s and forward, I try to shed light on the relations between the diocese of Lund and the Church Province of Saxony. The purpose of the interviews has been to answer the following questions: What was the motif of the relationship between the two churches and how did it work? What did the people involved experience during their visits to East Germany? What happened with the relationship after the fall of the communist-regime in the eastern part of Germany and how does it work today? This essay gives a unique glimpse of the relationship between a diocese in the Church of Sweden and a church repressed under a totalitarian regime. Thus, it can be argued that this thesis gives a hint of what really happened behind the iron curtain. The repressing of religion and churches in totalitarian countries still goes on into this day and we need to reconcile with our own past in order to truly prevent such periods in the history from repeating themselves.}}, author = {{Andersson, Caroline}}, language = {{swe}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{När Luther blev marxist och Wittenberg blev kemistad: Kyrkliga relationer mellan Lunds stift och Kirchenprovinz Sachsen: 1983-1989}}, year = {{2012}}, }