On November 6th 2025, the Institute of European Studies welcomed Brandon Bloch, assistant professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as he presented a lecture on his recent book “Reinventing Protestant Germany: Religious Nationalists and the Contest for Post-Nazi Democracy.” The event was moderated by IES Senior Fellow Matthew Specter. In this lecture, Bloch explores the relationship between the Protestant church and German state, engaging with the key question: How did Germany form a stable democracy so quickly?
The Protestant church in Germany historically served as a center of strong nationalist and militarist sentiment. Transitioning into postwar Germany, however, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) evolved as an early advocate for democracy, human rights, and social reform. This shift, Bloch explains, was not a blatant contradiction of old Protestant tradition, but rather a reinterpretation of their beliefs positioned amongst relevant postwar principles: “The story of Protestant politics in postwar West Germany is not simply one of a successful democratic transition facilitated by a forthright confrontation with the Nazi past. But this history also points toward new democratic impulses or impulses towards human rights and constitutional democracy in postwar politics and political thought which were forged not out of the wholesale rejection but the reappropriation of older intellectual traditions.”
Bloch also highlights how this religious community redefined their heritage in response to their Nazi past through the EKD’s campaign for amnesty of hundreds of Nazi war criminals, where they championed for human rights and forgiveness. While this campaign signaled a new commitment to international cooperation, it also underscored a push for reconciliation rooted in the EKD’s new emphasis on democratic values. Through his lecture exploring the Protestant Church’s involvement with the German state, Bloch shines light on the relevance of this conversation especially amidst a rise in religious nationalism within modern politics.