Alltag zwischen Konflikt und Toleranz. Beobachtungen zur Konfessionspolitik Brandenburg-Preußens im 18. Jahrhundert

Abstract

Summary Everyday Life between Conflict and Tolerance. Observations concerning the Confessional Policy of Brandenburg-Prussia in the 18th Century Since the 19th century, the idea that Prussia is a benchmark for confessional freedom has been a major narrative in Prussian historiography. After World War II it became even more important because of its use in counterbalancing the negative narrative of Prussian militarism. Only recently has historiography challenged these all-to-easy stereotypes and unveiled Prussian tolerance as a specific variant of confessionalization. Both friends and foes of the tolerance-topos, however, lay the focus of their argument on the role of the Hohenzollern dynasty for the confessional destiny of their subjects. Other historical agents, such as the intermediate church bureaucracy, pastors and preachers, as well as the subjects themselves are hardly taken into consideration. By looking at records produced by the Evangelical-reformed church directory, the article argues that church...