Abstracts

Tuesday, 8th of August 2017, Leucorea, Seminar room 7

2.30–3.15 p.m. Christine Kooi: A Minority among Minorities. Calvinists in the Dutch Republic

3.30–4.15 p.m. Lubina Mahling: Die Reformation und die Sorben. Verschriftlichung – Alphabetisierung – Pluralisierung

4.30–5.15 p.m. Florian Tropp: Die Salzburger Exulanten als Beispiel für das transnationale Wirken protestantischer Netzwerke im 18. Jahrhundert

5.30–6.15 p.m. Rainer Kobe:  Kirchenzucht als politisches Führungsmittel. Die Handhabung der ›Regel Christi‹ bei den Hutterischen Brüdern

 

Wednesday, 9th of August 2017, Leucorea, Seminar room 7

2.30–3.15 p.m. Andrea Strübind: Die Entdeckung des Einzelnen. Freikirchliche Perspektiven

3.30–4.15 p.m. Veronika Albrecht-Birkner: »Alles hat am Ende sich gelohnt«? Protestantische Auseinandersetzungen mit dem sozialistischen Menschenbild in der DDR

 

A typical feature of Protestantism is that a description of its history and present existence takes on a completely different shape for places where its followers are the minority than for those places where Protestantism enjoyed or still enjoys a confessional or religious majority. The existence of protestant minorities has to be described not only from a religious perspective, even if one does not explicitly use the paradigm of confessionalization, but also from a political, social and economic perspective. While this approach is concerned with external conditions, the question of the cultural impacts of a protestant minority looks to internal, identity-building aspects. Some of these aspects are often mentioned and even presented in protestant museums: religious emancipation supporting freedom of conscience, a particular protestant ethical stance, and a closeness to enlightenment and modernity. An essential question is whether this narrative is both historically precise, as well as whether it is fitting for the present. Contributions to the section could explore networks within and between protestant minorities (e. g. by letter, personal contact and study visit) as well as cultural, social or other functions of protestant minorities within their societies. Other approaches could look for interfaces between the majority and minority, not only boundaries, but also exchanges. Finally, one can ask whether existence as a self-confident minority represents a basic model of protestant existence in Europe.