German Awakening

Historians of modern German culture and church history refer to "the Awakening movement" (die Erweckungsbewegung) to describe a period in the history of German Protestantism between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the Revolution of 1848. "The Awakening" was the last major nationwide Protestant reform and revival movement to occur in Germany. This book analyzes numerous primary sources from the era of the Awakening and synthesizes the current stateof German scholarship for an English-speaking audience. It examines the Awakening as a product of the larger social changes that were re-shaping German society during the early decades of the nineteenth century. Theologically, Awakened Protestants were traditionalists. They affirmed religious doctrines thatorthodox Protestants had professed since the confessional statements of the Reformation-era. Awakened Protestants rejected the changes that Enlightenment thought had introduced into Protestant theology and preaching since the mid-eighteenth century. However, Awakened Protestants were also themselves distinctly modern. Their efforts to spread their religious beliefs were successful because of the new political freedoms and economic opportunities that the Enlightenment had introduced. Thesesocial conditions gave German Protestants new means and abilities to pursue their religious goals. Awakened Protestants were leaders in the German churches and in the universities. They used their influence to found many voluntary organizations for evangelism, in Germany and abroad. They also establishedmany institutions to ameliorate the living conditions of those in poverty. Adapting Protestantism to modern society in these ways was the most original and innovative aspect of the Awakening movement.

Kloes's The German Awakening is a worthy entry among the number of remarkable monographs on nineteenth—century German theology that Oxford University Press has published within the last decade., The range of primary as well as secondary sources utilized is consistently impressive. It is my judgment that the writer has definitely succeeded in his attempt to provide a solid exposition of this underappreciated period in European Christian history ... the best available account of Germany's post-1815 Christian resurgence and the way in which, by midcentury, Germany took its place among the energetic mission-sending nations of the world., Kloes's book provides an excellent survey of the German historiography and primary sources related to Protestant renewal and reform movements in the first half of the nineteenth century. This work will be invaluable to English-speaking scholars of the period and promote further comparative analyses of the evangelical movements, particularly in the areas of new societies for missionary work at home and abroad. The book is carefully researched and includes several comprehensive lists of scholars, voluntary societies, and the like associated with the Awakened movement., Kloes's study is an important step in bridging the Anglophone and German-language scholarship that will make such comparative work possible in the future., For those who do not specialise in modern Germany, Kloes offers an account of how popular narratives about the Christian Church's decline and progress had their origins in this period of German religious history.

Andrew Kloes is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a historian in Washington, D.C.