ABSTRACT
In the years since 1989, the Protestant Church in East Germany has undergone— one might say suffered—a peculiar transformation in the eyes of the public. Celebrated at first as “the mother of the Revolution,” it is now accused of having been a “pillar of the system.” Those in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) who actively professed the Protestant faith find the situation absurd: During the GDR era, Protestants were suspected of collaborating with the “class enemy” ; today they are suspected of having collaborated with the communists. How could this have come about?
