Protestants, Catholics and Jews in Germany, 1800-1914

Also available in hardback, 9781859735602 GBP50.00 (October, 2001)

In the course of the 19th century, the boundaries that divided Protestants, Catholics and Jews in Germany were redrawn. Contrary to popular belief, these groups co-existed in common space, and interacted in complex ways. This book lays the foundation for a new kind of religious history.In the course of the nineteenth century, the boundaries that divided Protestants, Catholics and Jews in Germany were redrawn, challenged, rendered porous and built anew. This book addresses this redrawing. It considers the relations of three religious groups-Protestants, Catholics, and Jews-and asks how, by dint of their interaction, they affected one another.Previously, historians have written about these communities as if they lived in isolation. Yet these groups coexisted in common space, and interacted in complex ways. This is the first book that brings these separate stories together and lays the foundation for a new kind of religious history that foregrounds both cooperation and conflict across the religious divides. The authors analyze the influences that shaped religious coexistence and they place the valences of co-operation and conflict in deep social and cultural contexts. The result is a significantly altered understanding of the emergence of modern religious communities as well as new insights into the origins of the German tragedy, which involved the breakdown of religious coexistence.