Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/487

Rh neLIG1o.'.] Alsace-Lorraine, Bavaria, a11d Baden ; and in four states the Protestant element prevails, but with 23 to 33 per cent. of Catholics, viz., Prussia, Wiirtemberg, Hesse, and Olden- burg. In Saxony and eighteen minor states the Catholics number only from '1 to 3'3 per cent._ of the population. The following table gives the respective numbers of Pro- I testants and Catholics according to the census of 1871 :— Rate per 1000 s fl‘ lt'. I Prof. I Cnth. .-'l-s:1«'(:-l_.;‘l‘al1llc .......... 270,699 1,235,097 175 I 797 . Bavaria ..................... .. 1,342,592 3,464,364 276 . 712 I llzulcn ...................... .. 491,008 942,560 336 645 Prussia ..................... ..16,041,‘.215 8,268,309 650 335 I 'iirt(-1nlw1'g .............. .. 1,248,860 553,542 687 304 Hesse ....................... 585,399 238,080 686 279, | Oldenburg ................. ..| 240,962 71,027 766 226, Saxony and minor states I 5,360,888 94,621 978 17 I I Tottl ....... ..l25,581,623 14,867,600 623 l 362 L. - - ' ' From the above ﬁgures little can be inferred as to the geographical distribution of the two confessions. On this point it must be borne in mind that the population of the larger towns, on account of the greater mobility of the population since the introduction of railways and the abolition of restrictions upon free settlement, has become more mixed,——Berlin, Leipsic, Hamburg, &c., showing pro- porti0n‘1lly more Catholics, and Cologne, Frankfort, Munich, &c., n1ore Protestants than formerly. Otherwise the geo- graphical limits of the confessions have been but little altered since the Thirty Years’ War. In the mixed terri- tories those places which formerly belonged to Catholic princes are Catholic still, and vice zversa. Hence a religious map of South Germany looks like an historical map of the 17th century. The number of localities where the ' two confessions exist side by side is small. Generally I speaking, South Germany is predominantly Catholic. Some I districts along the Danube (province of Bavaria, Upper Pal-itinate, Swabia), in southern Viirtemberg and Baden, and in Alsace—Lorraine are entirely so. These territories are bordered by a broad stretch of country on the north, where Protestantism has maintained its hold since the time of the Reformation, including B-aireuth or eastern Upper F ranconia, Middle Franconia, the northern half of Wiirtem— berg and Baden, with Hesse and the Palatinate. Here the ' average proportion of Protestants to Catholics is two to one. The basin of the Main is again Catholic from Bamberg to Aschaffenburg (western Upper F ranconia and Lower 1’ranconia). In Prussia the western and south-eastern provinces are mostly Catholic, especially the Rhine pro- vince, together with the government districts of lliinster and Arnsberg. The territories of the former principality of Cleves and of the countship of Mark (comprising very nearly the basin of the Ruhr), which went to Branden- burg in 1609, must, however, be excepted. North of Munster, Catholicism is still prevalent in the territory of the former bishopric of Osnabriick. In the east, East Prussia (Ermland excepted) is purely Protestant. Catholi- cism was predominant a hundred years ago in all the frontier provinces acquired by Prussia in the days of Frederick the Great, but since then the German immigrants have widely propagated the Protestant faith in these districts. A prevailingly Catholic population is still found in the district of Oppeln (89 per cent.) and the countship of Glatz, in the province of Posen (64 per cent.), in the Polish- speaking “ circles” of West Prussia, and in Ermland (East Prussia). In all the remaining territory the Catholic creed is professed only in the Eichsfeld on the southern border of the province of Hanover, and around Hildesheim. GERMANY 469 I’rol/slant C'l¢urc/a.—Tl1e adherents of Protestantism are divided by their confessions into Reformed and Lutheran. To unite these the “church union" has been introduced in several Protestant states, as for example in Prussia and Nassau in 1817, in the Palatinate in 1818, and in Baden ix1 1822. Since 1817 the distinction has accordingly been ignored in Prussia, and Christians are there enumerated only as Evangelical or Catholic. The union, however, has not remained wholly unopposed,—a section of the more rigid Lutherans who separated themselves from the state church being now known as Old Lutherans. In 1866 Prussia annexed Hanover and Schleswig-Holstein, where the Protestants were Lutherans, and Hesse, where the Reformed Church had the preponderance. The inhabitants of these countries opposed the introduction of the union, but could not prevent their being subordinated to the Prussian oberkirchenrath (high church-council), the supreme court of the state church. Subsequently the official returns have been thus classiﬁed :- 1R7-5. (a) Members of the Evangelical State Church ........ ..16,636,990 United ................................... . .1 3, 266, 620 Lutherans ............................... .. 2,905,250 Reformed ................................ .. 465,120 (b) Separatist Lutherans (Old L.) ......................... .. 40,630 (c) Separatist Reformed ..................................... .. 35,080 The separatists are thus not numbered among dissenters. A synodal constitution for the Evangelical State Church was introduced in Prussia in 1875. The oberkirchenrath retains the right of supreme management. The ecclesistical affairs of the separate provinces are directed by consistorial boards. The parishes (pfarreien) are grouped into dioceses (sprengel), presided over by superintendents, who are subordinate to the superintendent—general of the province. Prussia has sixteen superintendents-general. The ecclesi- astical administration is similarly regulated in the other countries of the Protestant creed. Regarding the number of churches and chapels Germany has no exact statistics, but in 1867 it was estimated that there were 12,959 places of worship in Prussia. Ifoman Cat/zolz'c C/un'cIa.—There are six archbishoprics within the German empire :—Breslau (where the archbishop has the title of prince—bishop), Gnesen-Posen, Cologne, F rei- . burg (Baden), Munich-Freising, and Bamberg. The eighteen _ bishoprics are—Ermland (see at F rauenburg, East Prussia), Kuhn (see at Pelplin, Vest Prussia), Fulda, Hildesheim, Osnabriick, Paderborn, Miinster, Limburg, Treves, Metz, Strasburg, Spires, Wiirzburg, Ratisbon, Passau, Eichstiidt, Augsburg, Rottenburg (Wiirtemberg). An apostolic vicari- ate exists in Dresden. In recent years numerous co11vents, especially in Prussia, have been suppressed. The order of the Jesuits is interdicted in Germany. Old Cat/wlics.—After the infallibility of the pope had been proclaimed as a dogma by the Vatican council in 1871, several communities as well as individuals declared their secession from the Roman Church. They are called Old Catholics, and they have selected a bishop who has been acknowledged by most of the states. At the 1st of January 1877 the denomination had 121 congregations with 56 clergymen and 16,557 adult male adherents, so that we may fairly estimate the total number of Old Catholics at a little more than 50,000. The number of Greek Catholics was 2660 in 1871. Dissenters. There is no uniformity in the state returns of the several denominations, and detailed statements are wanting for Wiirtemberg, Alsace—Lorraine, and eight of the lesser states. In the sixteen remaining states there were in 1875 21,000 Mennonites (particularly in East and West Prussia and the Palatinate), 10,451 Baptists, 3000 Irving- ites, 4000 Herrnhuter (Moravian brethren), and 1600 members of the Church of England. The Mennonites had