Von: lghart@inf2.infocon.com (Lyle G. Hartman)
  Datum: 01.10.98, 10:42:46
Betreff: Re: Meaning of Evangelische


Over the years there has been a lot of discussion of this topic
in the German discussion group soc.genealogy.german.

One must distinguish between the meaning of the term in countries
other than Germany and the meaning in Germany, and in particular,
in Baden, Hohenzollern, and W"urttemberg in the 18th and 19th
centuries.

I generally read "Evangelische" during this period to mean
"Protestant". There were two state-supported religions,
Evangelische and Katholische. Smaller towns were usually
predominantly Catholic or Protestant. There were Catholic
areas and Protestant areas.

Meyers Orts Lexikon (1895 version) usually included in the
description of towns and cities the religious affiliation
of the residents. Here are some examples:

Stuttgart:    of 158,321 residents, "132,592 Evangelische, 22,297
              Katholiken u. 3489 Juden"
Knittlingen:  (1890) "2572 fast nur evang. Einwohner"
K"onigsbronn: (1890) "1202 meist evang. Einwohner"

I can only speak from personal experience about what churches
these people chose when they emigrated to the U.S. Many were
farmers looking for opportunity, so located where cheap land
was becoming available directly from the government. Many
groups founded their own churches because there were none.

If you looked at the church records of a church founded by
Germans in Brownsville, Minnesota in the 1850s, you'd
swear you were looking at church records from Germany, with
old script and the same terms.

Some of a party of 300 from Brienz, Canton Bern, ended up in
Mormon Coulee, southwest of La Crosse, Wisconsin. They started
their own church. It is now part of United Church of Christ. Many
of them had been members of the "Evangelisch-Reformierte
Kirche Brienz". Bob Behnen is correct in saying that many of
these churches eventually became part of UCC. Two descendants
of Peter Schild from Brienz became ministers of the Dutch
Reformed Church.

Many of the churches the immigrants joined or founded had
titles like "German Evangelical", "Lutheran Evangelical",
"German Reformed", etc. One can trace the history of some
of the denominational origins and mergers by looking at the
various web sites.

In northern Germany some of the parishes were Evangelische
Lutheran, but I think it is a mistake to simply equate
"Evangelische" with Lutheran. It simply means "Protestant".
That is not to deny the Lutheran heritage of these churches.

Lyle G. Hartman   <lghart@infocon.com>
Landenberg, Pennsylvania