Užnemunės evangelikai liuteronai XIX a.: parapijų tinklo genezės metmenys
Evangelical Lutherans of Užnemunė in the Nineteenth Century: an Outline of the Genesis of the Parish Network

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the algorithm of the establishment of evangelical Lutheran parishes network in the Užnemunė region in the 19th century on the basis of the historiography of the topic and primary sources. The research carried out provides a pretext for questioning the historiography statement about the significant contribution of the Prussian state to the establishment of evangelical Lutheran parishes on these lands. During the period of the province of New East Prussia, not a single new evangelical Lutheran parish was established in the Užnemune region. The genesis of the network of evangelical Lutheran parishes in the 19th century in the Užnemunė region is unequivocally related with the private initiative of the Lithuanian nobility in the period of the Kingdom of Poland. The conducted research confirmed the working hypothesis about the importance of the community of believers in the creation of new parishes. The parish could have been founded only after it was discovered that potential parishioners would be able to contribute at their own expense to the proper functioning of this ecclesiastical administrative structure. The cases examined in the article presuppose the significant contribution of private patronage to the process of establishing new parishes during the period of the Kingdom of Poland. An analysis of the circumstances of the establishment of evangelical Lutheran parishes in the Užnemunė region chosen for the study shows that there were various models of establishment. An argumentative answer about the prevailing models of the establishment of evangelical Lutheran parishes in the Užnemunė region would require a broader study.

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