National Civil Religion in the German Empire (1871-1918)
National Civil Religion in the German Empire (1871-1918)
Author(s): Darius J. PiwowarczykSubject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Theology and Religion, Systematic Theology
Published by: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: Germany; Kaiserreich; nationalism; national civil religion; invented traditions
Summary/Abstract: The article draws on the argument presented by Carolyn Marvin and David Ingle (1996), and specifically on the thesis that nationalism can be also approached as a religious phenomenon- with its distinctive mythology, dogmas, “saints,” and ritual behavior; they term such ideological-ritual complex “national civil religion.” Using this heuristic tool, I analyze the quasi-religious content of German national ideology dominant in the Kaiserreich (1871-1918) by discussing three layers of imagery that can be distinguished in this ideological system: appropriated history as vell as Christian-Biblical and mythological-folkloric components.
Journal: Roczniki Teologiczne
- Issue Year: 66/2019
- Issue No: 9
- Page Range: 93-108
- Page Count: 16
- Language: English