Judenhass und Judenmission. Das Verhältnis der Hamburger Evangelisch-Lutherischen Landeskirche zum Judentum

Abstract How does a Lutheran church behave towards Jews when its tradition cultivates deep-seated hatred of Jews, but sees the theological task of missionizing them to Christianity? Using the example of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hamburg, the essay tries to understand how the relationship with Judaism developed during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. In the Nazi era, the church welcomed racist anti-Semitism, but did not introduce the »Aryan paragraph« in the church. She partially and only secretly fulfilled her duty to protect baptized Jews and their descendants as church members. It was only in the 1950s that a changed attitude towards Judaism began and for the first time there started a dialogue.