Kirche und Revolution. Das Christentum in Ostmitteleuropa vor und nach 1989 (review)

The Ettersberg Foundation (Stiftung Ettersberg) in Weimar, Germany, is devoted to the comparative study of European dictatorships, organizing international scholarly symposia and producing publications. The Seventh International Symposium, held in October 2008, hosted participants from central and eastern Europe. The symposium addressed the role of the Church in the democratic transformations of central and eastern Europe since the 1980s, examining the relationship among church, state, and democracy before and after the change of political regimes. The ensuing publication includes contributions arranged in three sections.

The first set of contributions offers a detailed look at the churches' involvement in political change in three countries. It discusses the extent to which the churches harmonized with the communist government—if they became "a church in socialism" (Kirche im Sozialismus) and thus a factor in communist government structures, offered shelter to opposition groups, and/or reflected national interests. Regarding the German Democratic Republic, Richard Schröder examines the role of the Evangelical Church, Ehrhart Neubert presents the impact of the churches on the revolutionary changes of 1989–90, and Franz-Josef Schlichting analyzes the place of the small Catholic community in Eichsfeld. Dirk Lenschen discusses the attitude of the Catholic Church, socialism, and the transformation in Poland; while Thomas Bremer studies the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the Soviet regime. Peter Maser states that the German Protestants have never generated any revolution. Klaus Ziemer provides a detailed account of the role of the Catholic Church in the changes in Poland in 1988 and 1990, Miklós Tomka addresses the Church's impact in Hungary between 1988 and 1990, Tomás Halik discusses the Church and the Czech Republic in 1989, and Konstantin Kostjuk studies the Church in Russia between 1988 and 1991.

In the second section, the writers discuss the questions of religious shifts and increased interest in religion in the postcommunist countries of central and eastern Europe. Presented are models of relations between state and church throughout history (Hans Maier), changes in the position and role of religion in postcommunist countries (Detlef Pollack), Christian values as the foundation of European identity (Henryk Józef Muszyński), and the position of religion and Church in the Orthodox part of Europe (Inna Naletova).

Finally, Axel Noack, Edelbert Richter, and Tomka raise a troubling issue—namely, whether Europe continues to remain Christian. The question is justified because of the deliberate efforts by the communist regimes to obliterate the Christian character of their countries, as well as the increasing number of European communities that belong to a Muslim religious tradition.

A bonus is the transcription of the symposium's plenary session, in which participants provide further insights.

Kirche und Revolution can be regarded as a fundamental work that raises many questions, offers a method of work, demonstrates originality in its comparative approach, and challenges historians and sociologists to perform even more assiduous work on the place of churches in the postcommunist European states.