The Wendish Research Exchange - Malinkowa, Lubina: Between Emancipation and Separatism. On Non-Ecclesiastical Religious Life in the 18th and 19th Century....

Lětopis Abstract 2023: Starting from the idea of Lusatia as a diverse area comprising different faiths with strong Pietist traits, this article examines forms of religious non-conformism from the 18th Century up to the middle of the 19th Century, using the parish of Hochkirch as an example. Stimulated by the foundation of Herrnhut in 1722, religious groups have been observed in and around Hochkirch, which could be incorporated neither by Herrnhut nor by the local Church parish. We encounter here dedicated preachers, self-appointed prophets, and religious writers, who have strong mystical and spiritualist traits, but who also have decided separatist tendencies. Strong millenarian and eschatological strains at the end of the period under investigation led to great tension in the community. These different religious movements are seen in the study as a sign of and stimulus to modernization processes, which reached the Sorbian Lutheran villages at a very early stage.