Scandalous parish reports: children dirty, woman a bitch!

Scandalous parish reports: children dirty, woman a bitch!

The parish reports of the Evangelical State Church in Württemberg provide an unusual insight into life and the challenges of parish families between 1924 and 1966. The recently posted reports contain bizarre and often drastic reviews of pastors and their families, as the parish woman from Wiesenbach, which was described as "bitch", while their children were "the dirtiest in the village". These powerful words come from a report from 1966 and illustrate the prevailing views on the suitability and behavior of pastors.

Uwe Heizmann from the State Church Archive has compiled a wealth of information through the digitization of these reports that not only illuminate church history, but also focus on questions of social and cultural history. The reports also show the sometimes hard judgments of the church superiors, who often do not know about political correctness in their explanations. Heizmann notes that the formulations in the reports are often "inappropriate" and "offensive", which is an interesting basis for future research.

relationship with Catholics

The handling of mixed confessional marriages, which were viewed by church places with suspicion, is particularly noticeable. One example is a report from Mühlheim in 1928, in which a Catholic clergyman advised the groom, not to marry his pregnant bride. In Neckartenzlingen, this type of relationships was clearly rejected in 1956. These reports show a strong tension between the denominations and illustrate how deep green the church customs and morals were rooted in the Württemberg area.

However, social change through time was not treated without consequences. The reports also reflect the first upheaval in society when prembar were no longer considered taboo in a 1961 report. These developments suggest that the church was also required to rethink its positions in the face of changing society. The mismatch between the church lived morality and the reality of life becomes clear in the parish reports.

Another interesting element of this report is the influence of the media that was already recognizable in the 1930s. For example, parish councils regretted that many parishioners of their sermon preferred to listen to the radio rather than to personally appear for the service. These observations suggest that the church had to cope with the challenges of media perception early on.

The concern for the state of the parish houses is another topic that is repeatedly initiated. In Schömberg, in 1960 the inadequate conditions in the rectory was pointed out, which increased the concern for the applications on parish positions. The reports testify to the often modest and sometimes unsustainable living conditions of the pastors and their families.

summarized the parish reports a fascinating, albeit often critical time document. They throw a light on social norms, church morality and offer a unique insight into the life of parish families, which is hardly conceivable today. The discovery of such documents has the potential to be made fruitful for future research projects in different ways.

More details on the parish reports and their content can be found here .