Volume 71, Issue 1 - Themenheft: 30 Jahre Friedliche Revolution

This contribution inquires into the processes of change within ecclesial instruction which were occassioned by the introduction of religous education in schools in the East German federal states. This review takes it bearings from the decisions made in the federal and ecclesial educational policy of that time and inquires into the transformations in school and parish education which they entailed. The various developments in the federal states provide insight into how religious education changes when finding its way in a predominantly unchurched society.

This contribution presents a written interview with Prof. Dr. Martin Steinhäuser (Moritzburg) concerning developments in East German religious education in schools and congregations before, during, and after the Peaceful Revolution. The focal point consists in the personal-subjective recollections of the revolution from thirty years ago and the relationship to the newly established professorships in East German university faculties.

This contribution documents an interview with Prof. Dr. Bernd Schröder (Göttingen) concerning his perception and evaluation of East German religious education in schools and congregations before, during, and after the Peaceful Revolution. Special attention is given to the report of a church internship which he completed in Saxony in 1987.

In the GDR, forced secularization led to a complex habitual posture of distance vis-à-vis explicit forms of religion and religious communitization. In order to initiate processes of religious communication and learning among families with no confessional affiliation, the church developed and shared responsibility for religious ceremonies for adolescents as an alternative to the secular »Jugendweihe« (coming-of-age-ceremony). These religious ceremonies were offered as a ritual in-between secular and religious traditions in order for the church to regain relevance for a broader part of the population.

To what extent is the Peaceful Revolution an issue in religious education and how is it interpreted? This question will be answered based upon a critical analysis of curricula and textbooks for religious education. What follows is a critical classification in terms of pedagogy for religion and church history and in conclusion, reflections on how to teach about the Peaceful Revolution will be considered.

The term “Peaceful Revolution” (“ Friedliche Revolution” ) means the process of social, political, and religious change that led to the end of Communist rule 30 years ago in Germany as well as other European countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. How did this turning point affect religious education of the time? And how does it affect religious education today? With regard to the papers and interviews in the present journal we argue that the Peaceful Revolution and its relevance for religious education should be examined in a European reference framework. To achieve this, we systematically extend comparative approaches by using the methods of transnational history, such as connected history and global history. Finally, the article lines out didactical consequences of this approach.