Religious Life on the German Home Front
This chapter focuses on the social and cultural histories of religious practice and belief on the German home front. Focusing on Catholics in the Rhineland and Westphalia, it explores the impact exerted on the Church’s pastoral structures by wartime legislation and Allied bombing, and analyses the fluctuations of church attendance from 1939 to 1945. The chapter analyses popular religious beliefs through examination of letters and diaries, and considers the emotional and psychological functions of religiosity in wartime. In addition to examining Catholics’ responses to Allied bombing and bereavement, the chapter analyses how the theological leadership provided by the higher clergy was received by laypeople. Moreover, it considers how far the devout perceived their religious faith as distancing themselves from the Nazi regime and German war effort. To do so, the chapter examines wartime religious services such as funerals, and the languages and rituals employed by clergymen in their conduct.