EXC 2060 C3-8 - Dynamics and Tradition: German Immigrants and Religious Plurality in the U.S. in the 19th Century

In the context of the debate on the „refugee crisis" and the supposed „islamization" it is worthwhile analyzing how Germans emigrating to the USA during the second half of the nineteenth century coped with the religious plurality they encountered there. German immigrants not only found themselves face to face with people of different faiths from their home country or even "freethinkers", but also with a - confusing - variety of mostly Protestant denominations.

The research project aims to examine how, between approx. 1830 and 1900, German parishes, synods, or dioceses in the U.S. perceived this "novel" religious plurality within their ethnic group and in the country in general and how they reacted to it. The focus will be on Catholics and Lutherans, the latter divided into a multitude of German-speaking Protestant synods due to theological differences, regional dispersion, ethnic unity, or openness towards US-American influences. Another group to be examined are German Methodists.