1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
German election 2025SyriaCrisis in the Middle East
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
Religion

Faith Matters - Inter-confessional Churches in Germany - Divided and yet United

May 6, 2018

An inter-confessional church is one shared by Catholics and Protestants. The Reformation led to 2,000 of these "marriages of convenience”.

https://p.dw.com/p/2xFfR

Sometimes the two religious communities have had to share a church for centuries. Everything was a potential source of conflict. The causes were often banal. There wasn’t enough money for two churches so they had to share and fight over times of services, baptismal fonts, running costs and building funds. Today there are only about 60 inter-confessional churches in Germany. In most cases, the "marriage of convenience” has evolved into a genuine sense of community - places where the future of ecumenism is practiced.