“Rendering to the Kaiser”: Protestantism, Education, and the State in German History

Abstract

This chapter traces the development of the German educational system through a series of transformative moments: its origins in the Reformation, the Thirty Years War, the rise of Prussia, the creation of the modern university in Berlin, the German Empire, and finally its present structure in the early twenty-first century. One dominant theme has been the meaning of ``education for freedom,'' shaped by two major trends. First, Luther's doctrine of the ``two kingdoms'' not only affirmed inner personal freedom and the rights of conscience, but also separated religion from politics. Second, the need for security-oriented education toward national freedom and service to the state. By the twentieth century, the ``two kingdoms'' doctrine had contributed to an ethical, cultural, and political vacuum that allowed for the rise of pseudo-religions like National Socialism and communism. The post-war Basic Law, especially its assertion of human rights in religion and education, provides a necessary foundation for individual freedom. One possible future is that a secular superstate may overwhelm individual conscience, but personal freedom, supported by plural institutions, is the essence of the Protestant heritage in education, which strongly distinguishes between the realms of the Emperor and of God.