The Gods of the City: Protestantism and Religious Culture in Strasbourg, 1870-1914 (Studies in Central European Histories)

"Recent scholarship has criticized the assumption that European modernity was inherently secular. Yet we remain poorly informed about religion's fate in the nineteenth century big city, the very crucible of the modern condition. Drawing on extensive archival research and investigations into Protestant ecclesiastical organization, church-state relations, liturgy, pastoral care, associational life, and interconfessional relations, this study of Strasbourg following Germany's annexation of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871 shows how urbanization not only challenged the churches, but spurred them to develop new, forward-looking, indeed, urban understandings of religious community and piety. The work provides new insights into what it meant for Imperial Germany to identify itself as "Protestant", and it provocatively identifies the European big city as an agent for sacralization and not just secularization."--BOOK JACKET From Grande Ville To Hauptstadt -- Strasbourg Metropolis -- The Parish Milieu -- Contested Visions : Church And State In The Reichsland -- The Worshipping Community -- Beyond The Culture Wars : Religious Education In School And Parish -- Ministering To The City -- Urbanizing Alsatian Protestantism. By Anthony J. Steinhoff. Based On The Author's Thesis--university Of Chicago. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [445]-495) And Index. Drawing on extensive archival research, this study of Protestantism in Strasbourg (1870–1914) rethinks traditional understandings of the relationship between religion and European urban modernity. Not only did the city's faith communities exploit modern means to promote the faith, but they also sought to make the community itself more modern.