862.404/151
The Ambassador in Germany (Dodd) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 25.]
Sir: With reference to the Embassy’s despatch No. 2357 of October 3, I have the honor to report that Reich Minister for Church Affairs Kerrl promulgated an ordinance on October 4, the first under the Church Law of September 24, providing for the creation of a Reich Church Committee to govern the affairs of the Protestant Churches generally throughout Germany.
In theory this ordinance makes the Evangelical Church a State Church, particularly as the new Committee, which Herr Kerrl has authority to name, is in fact a governmental agency with full powers to issue decrees and, with Herr Kerrl’s approval, to appoint and dismiss ecclesiastical officers. A series of local committees are to be set up to exercise similar authority over the Church of the Old Prussian Union. The German Evangelical Church’s relations with Churches and institutions abroad are to be supervised by another board, while a central finance department will be set up in the Reich Ministry. This ordinance is to remain in effect at least two years.
It is learned that the Reich Council of the Confessional Opposition Church decided at a meeting held last week end to have nothing to do with the new government plans. (See telegram No. 198 of October 14 5 p.m.).24 It appears that the Confessional leaders objected in the first place to the arbitrary character of the arrangement proposed and secondly to Herr Kerrl’s determination to have German [Page 370] Christians represented on the various committees, the Confessionals considering that cooperation with this faction was out of question.
On Tuesday, October 15, Herr Kerrl announced the constitution of two committees of his own appointment, namely a Reich Church Committee and a Provincial Committee for the Church of the Old Prussian Union, which consisted of the following persons:
Reich Church Committee:
- Generalsuperintendent D. Zöllner (Düsseldorf)
- Landesbischof Diehl (Speyer)
- Generalsuperintendent D. Eger (Naumburg, Saale)
- President Koopmann (Aurich)
- Oberlandeskirchenrat Dr. Mahrenholz (Hanover)
- Oberkirchenrat Hanemann (Munich)
- Pastor Wilm (Dolgelin, Mark)
- Pastor Küssner (Lötzen, East Prussia)
Provincial Committee of the Church of the Old Prussian Union:
- Generalsuperintendent D, Eger (Naumburg, Saale)
- Oberkonsistorialrat Kaminski (Königsberg, Pr.)
- Superintendent Zimmermann (Berlin)
- Superintendent Dr. Schmidt (Oberhausen, Rhineland)
- Domprediger Martin (Magdeburg)
- Pastor Küssner (Lötzen, East Prussia)
Herr Kerrl’s primary objective apparently being to set up a “neutral” administration, the committees, as was to be more or less expected, are made up for the most part of nonentities in German church life. Generalsuperintendent Zöllner is a man of some 80 years of age and the most distinguished name on the list is that of Dr. Eger, who seems to be a universally respected churchman. The Confessionals, it appears, have a majority on the Reich Committee although their representatives are by no means their leaders, or men of first calibre. Pastor Koopmann has been enlisted from the Reformed Church in Western Germany, while Dr. Hanemann is understood to have the confidence of the Lutheran Bishop Meiser of Bavaria. The German Christian representatives are apparently drawn from the most moderate and conciliatory wing of that movement. The communiqué furnished the German press emphasizes that all the appointees are trusted National Socialists. As is characteristic of the lack of definiteness and logic frequently evident in Nazi legal arrangements, Reichsbishop Müller’s status remains undefined although presumably he ceases to be nominal head of the German Church even though he retains still the title of Reichsbishop.
The future outlook is still far from clear. The new administration set up by Herr Kerrl can hardly be counted upon to possess the confidence of the Confessional Opposition as a whole and of such leaders [Page 371] as Koch and Niemöller in particular. On the other hand, the government, by appointing the majority of the Reich Committee from among pastors considered to be identified with the Confessionals, would appear to have robbed the more intransigent Confessionals of some of the force of any future opposition. Since the writing of the Embassy’s despatch under reference, there are even stronger indications that the Lutherans are tiring of the Church conflict and might be conceivably willing to accept the new administration and thus desert those leaders of the Reformed Church and the Church of the Old Prussian Union, who have been most unbending in their opposition, particularly if the latter chose to put themselves outside the law by continuing the battle.
A hopeful sign, however, is that Herr Kerrl seems still bent upon conciliation and apparently recognizes that, pushed by certain Party spirits, he perhaps went too far in arbitrarily naming the head Church committees. It is learned that he has intimated to the Confessionals that he would be willing to appoint to the regional committees of the Church of the Old Prussion Union such men as they might care to name. The Confessional leaders are understood to be considering abandoning their stand of absolute non-cooperation and of seizing upon this plan as a means of obtaining control of the lower committees which from their point of view are possibly even more important as they regulate the conduct of the individual pastors.
Herr Kerrl yesterday delivered his first public speech on the Church since attaining his new position. While he does not appear to have offered the more convinced Christians anything definite—he laid special emphasis on the fact that he first learned the meaning of Christ’s teachings upon becoming a National Socialist—one pastor who has been dealing with him is supposed to have remarked that this is the first time that Kerrl had mentioned Christ’s name since becoming Church Minister, which he regarded as a hopeful sign and as an indication possibly that Kerrl was groping toward a definition of the Party slogan of “positive Christianity” more pleasing to the Churches. Herr von Schirach of the Hitler Youth on the other hand has been giving expression to just those doctrines that the Churches fear most from the Party radicals. Speaking in Limburg on Tuesday, he said: “God has commanded us, and we feel this as a higher Truth: Stand together, fight for Adolf Hitler, fight for our Fatherland.” At Brunswick the next day von Schirach held up Henry the Lion and Frederick the Great as men who were truly religious by their deeds.
Respectfully yours,
Counselor of Embassy
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