Talk:German Evangelical Church

Significance

This is a rather tiny article. Were they just not very significant? Because there's like volumes on Catholic Nazis at Wiki.--T. Anthony 08:38, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Rosenberg and the Reich Church

There is some confusion here. The article implies that Rosenberg's 30 points were the program of the Reich Church, which is not correct. Although there was a faction within the German Christians organization that wanted to ban the Old Testament from Church teaching, this is hardly true of the Reich Church in general. The ideas of Nazi thinkers like Rosenberg and Jakob Wilhelm Hauer were directly opposed to Christianity, but they were not really encouraged by the Nazi leadership. Hitler knew he needed the support of the Protestant Church to gain power, so any attempt to officially abandon the Old Testament would not have been in his interest. Anyway, Rosenberg's and Hauer's attempts to create a new völkische religion had nothing to do with the Reich Church, which was just the official body of German Protestants in the Third Reich designed by the totalitarian state. Also, the Thule Society was not an occult order, as countless conspiracy buffs claim, but a far-right political organization. 87.169.52.227 00:51, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, Rosenberg's fantasies were not a programme for the Protestant Riech Church, which is what this article is about. I'm not even clear about the provenance of this 30 point plan, which seems extreme, even for Rosenberg. Paul B 18:33, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

As far as I know, the 30 point plan was just an idea from Rosenberg's diary, one of his megalomaniac fantasies. --84.174.197.77 20:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Ok then, just to be safe, I'm removing this statement here:

The merger was based on Nazi ideas of creating a "positive Christianity", namely purifying Christianity of any Jewish elements, including even the Old Testament. The idea had existed within a small minority of Christian groups since the time of Marcion of Sinope, but the Protestant Reich Church embraced it for racial rather than theological reasons.

Ltwin (talk) 20:42, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

NAZI View of Aryan Jesus

This article should include discussion of the Nazi concept of Jesus which they developed from 1933 onward, with links to the below, because it is such a unique view of Jesus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus#Other_views http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race rumjal 10:50, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

No, it certainly shouldn't be discussed here. Racist-esoteric views about Jesus were not an official teaching of the Reich Church. Also, the Reich Church did not abandon the Old Testament, although some extremists in the German Christians encouraged the idea. --84.174.197.77 20:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

POV

"but the Protestant Reich Church did so for racial more than theological reasons."

This needs to be supported by some kind of source. It sound like a POV to me.

Darwinzape 20:40, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

If you ask me, it's quite useless to debate on wether they banned Jews for racist or theological reasons. Pro-Nazi theology contained a strong element of racism, the two were intermixed. --84.174.197.77 20:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Significant Changes to Be Made

The more I read about the subject, the more this article seems screwed up to me. The official protestant church in the Third Reich wasn't called Protestant Reich Church but German Evangelical Church (Deutsche Evangelische Kirche). Apart from that, the German Christians tried to set up what they called a German Reich Church (not Protestant Reich Church!) in 1933, which, had the extremist wing of the German Christians succeeded, would have eventually abandoned the Old Testament. --84.174.206.50 15:55, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

Article reorganization

I have removed alot of material as the article had more information about the Confessing Church than it did about the subject of the article. If I removed something important it was by mistake and was not intentional, and I will be copy editing it over the next couple of days to smooth over the rough places. Much of the removed material might go well with the Confessing Church article. Ltwin (talk) 10:03, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

"Intact" and "destroyed" churches

What does this mean? These terms are mentioned in the article, but a definition is never given. I assume it denotes whether the church experienced schism? Ltwin (talk) 21:27, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

German Evangelical Church

Shouldn't this article be renamed "German Evangelical Church"? German Reich Church is neither the English translation of the German name nor is it a widespread term in the English language. --77.181.234.106 (talk) 14:13, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

I have been asking myself the same question. It seems that this would make since, but I don't know enough about the subject. I will go to WikiProject Germany and see if we can get more input on this. Ltwin (talk) 21:13, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

The article may need to be renamed, but it should not be to the German Evangelical Church. This is the name covering a variety of historical congregations in English speaking lands (North America, South America, Australia) in the 17th-20th centuries. It might perhaps be better to make a single article, or two articles, on the Confessing Church and the State Protestant Church. I would prefer to see one article called German Protestant Churches under National Socialism, perhaps. Auntieruth55 (talk) 15:48, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

I've added to this, and created a bibliography. It still needs work, such as explaining how organization and so many of the churches and pastors were coopted into the Nazi effort. I've standardized the citations, but not used the templates for references, and I protected it from AWBot interference for the time being. Auntieruth55 (talk) 21:10, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Merge

I think this article properly belongs in the history section of Evangelical Church in Germany. What do you think?--Epiphyllumlover (talk) 18:59, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

I'm okay with merging it into the History section of the other article, but there may be others who are not. It brings into contention the actions of the Protestants who did not accommodate National Socialism, which may open a can of worms. I think you should post on the Wikiproject Germany page and the Protestantism project to develop a wider perspective on this. Auntieruth55 (talk) 19:17, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

Before any merger can be thought of this article has to be improved a lot. I made some changes today, especially the last paragraph was written as if the later EKD churches were the only Protestant churches in German, totally ignoring Methodists, Baptists, New Apostolic Church, etc). --Mk4711 (talk) 20:43, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

I agree that both articles need considerable improvement. I'm curious why the article should be improved before a merger could take place. Could it not be part of the overall improvement process? Auntieruth55 (talk) 20:51, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

The EKD article could be better, okay, but it isn't that bad. But here there are some important inconsistencies, if not mistakes. I'm getting rather opposed to a merger actually. First the article could get too long. I consider this article on the German Evangelical Church, DEK, to be just the beginning. On the other hand it is dubious until when the DEK really existed. Has it ever officially ceased to exist or did it just fell in oblivion? The nazis pretty soon lost interest in this organisation. The Reich Bishop got more or less ignored as early as 1935. As the minister for church affairs died in 1941 he was even not replaced. Before his death he had gotten ignored by the Führer as well. On the other hand there was strong opposition to this organisation in the member churches, for lots of reasons. Finally the EKD sees itself rather in the continuation of the Confessing Church. Don't forget, the only reason for establishing the DEK was to get Protestant churches under control of the regime. Merging the two articles is a little bit like the merger of the articles on the Pétain Regime and post-war France. --Mk4711 (talk) 23:06, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

I'd rather suggest the merger of the articles on the Protestant Reich Church and Confessing Church into something like "History of Protestant churches in Germany". --Mk4711 (talk) 23:10, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for all the thoughts. Since for now there does not seem to be any consensus, I will: 1. Wait for more comments on both pages. 2. In the meantime, change German Evangelical Church so it redirects to the EKD article instead of this one. 3. Post on the Wikiproject Germany page as suggested. As for the question of continuity, when the Americans, etc. came in, they fired a a lot of church officials that they deemed as cooperating with the Nazis, but kept certain other ones. I am not aware of them ending any still-existent institutions. There was a personnel changeover, but I don't see it as being any more significant than the turnover instigated by the Nazis a decade earlier.--Epiphyllumlover (talk) 21:12, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Well, the minister on church affairs died in 1941 and Ludwig Müller (Reich Bishop) in 1945, probably by suicide. Apparently the DEK was more or less a failed experiment by the nazis. There were many anti-Semites in the Confessing Church as well. For some people, like the later EKD chairman Otto Dibelius it was more about power than about ideology. --Mk4711 (talk) 23:29, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

There were also some in the DEK who protected Jews, and then were outed at the end of the war by the Americans for allegedly being pro-Natzi, such as most of the theological faculty at Erlangen.--Epiphyllumlover (talk) 06:29, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

The merger shouldn't be being discussed in two places at once. The discussion should be held either only here or only at Talk:Evangelical Church in Germany#Merge. +Angr 08:39, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

Angr, thanks for the correction. I just removed the merge tags because it seems to me that the consensus is against the merger. Thank you to all who commented above.--Epiphyllumlover (talk) 19:35, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

Requested move 10 October 2016

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Moved - While this currently appears to be close, I think the strength of policy is on the side of moving the page. (non-admin closure) Mdann52 (talk) 16:36, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

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National Reich Church → German Evangelical Church – "National Reich Church" is a Rosenberg fantasy name. It was never used for the DEK. See German Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Evangelische_Kirche Mvaldemar (talk) 11:44, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

• Support per books however Reichskirche is not total fantasy, it was used not just by Alfred Rosenberg. In ictu oculi (talk) 16:05, 10 October 2016 (UTC)
• Oppose The correct and neutral name is National Reich Church. The suggested move is confusing as there is an article about the current Evangelical Church in Germany. --Jobas (talk) 10:43, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

"National Reich Church" is not the correct, official name for the Deutsche Evangelische Kirche. This term was used by Rosenberg in some of his writings, but was never officially adopted. It is irrelevant if the proper name is "confusing" or not. You can find thousands of references to "Deutsche Evangelische Kirche" on Google Books.Mvaldemar (talk) 13:59, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

It was not just used by Rosenberg nor just an idea. "In the spring and summer of 1933. however, the German Evangelical Church had other concerns. A movement to unite the regional churches into a national Reich Church was gaining support. Different factions were maneuvering behind the scenes to select the first Reich bishop and seize the leadership of the various regional churches in the first national church elections. Underlying all these developments was the burning issue of whether the church of Jesus Christ could alter its doctrine to conform to racial ideology. The position of the German Christian Faith Movement was clear. It was now up to the rest of the German Evangelical Church to take a stand."[1] And the Witnesses Were Silent: The Confessing Church and the Persecution of the Jews by Wolfgang Gerlach and Victoria Barnett Doug Weller talk 15:01, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

"National Reich Church" as a proper noun was never officially used. The U.S. president is occasionally called the "Leader of the Free World", but that is not the official title.Mvaldemar (talk) 15:31, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

Please don't make it look as though you are responding to what I wrote. Doug Weller talk 17:18, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

I'm not quite following what you're trying to say. The quote you supplied does not in any way prove that the DEK was officially called the "National Reich Church". Mvaldemar (talk) 18:08, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

Please read again what I wrote, which starts "It was not just used by Rosenberg nor just an idea." That's a reply to your suggestion that the name was no more than a Rosenberg fantasty name. Doug Weller talk 13:24, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

The term "Reichskirche" or "Reich Church" was indeed colloquially used for the DEK, but the phrase "National Reich Church" is from Shirer's translation of Rosenberg's writings. Search for "german evangelical church"+nazi gives c. 2000 results on Google Books, search for "national reich church" gives c. 200 results (many of which are low quality sources from the 1940s) Mvaldemar (talk) 14:21, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

And "Reich Church" gives about 3800. Doug Weller talk 16:14, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

• Comment: It shouldn't really matter what the official name is. Wikipedia generally cares about the common name (WP:COMMONNAME). So, it would be helpful to have an idea as to what is the most common name used in reliable English language sources? Ltwin (talk) 12:15, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
  • Comment I agree entirely. A quick look suggests that "Reich Church" on its own has more hits than this title, but "German Evangelical Church" has even more. We have an article on the German Evangelical Church Confederation which is related. Any name change shouldn't result in a complete removal of "Reich Church" in some form, however. Doug Weller talk 13:37, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
    • Reply Do you know if the terms "German Evangelical Church" were actually referring to this church body or just using a generic term to describe the historic Protestant church in Germany? Such describing the Confederation or the contemporary body as as simply "the German Evangelical Church"? The names are so similar, I can see situations where sources may not use precise terminology. Ltwin (talk) 13:46, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
      • This is a real problem. GScholar results[2] turns up a lot that don't seem specific to this church body, eg Open thy mouth for the dumb!: the German evangelical church and the Jews, 1879-1950 reviewd here and from my search, some quotes: "My first word of thanks goes to the Deutsche Evangelische Kirche (the biyearly meeting of the German Evangelical Church), which in the early summer of 1993" "The decline of the parishes and the rise of city churches: the German Evangelical Church in the age of neoliberalism". Other sources obviously refer to this group. At the moment I'm in favor of "Reich Church". Doug Weller talk 16:14, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
• Support. The proposed name is used in the one English-language source in this article,[3] and various other relevant sources.[4][5][6][7] The term is far more common on Google Books, suggesting that it is indeed the more WP:COMMONNAME.--Cúchullain ^t/c 13:55, 17 October 2016 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Requested move 24 July 2023

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. (closed by non-admin page mover) – MaterialWorks 15:14, 5 August 2023 (UTC)

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German Evangelical Church → German Protestant Church – When this article was last re-named, the German word evangelische was translated to English evangelical. Such a translation is wrong. The correct translation for German evangelisch is Protestant. The English word currently used in the article name evangelical means evangelikal in German, which would be an erroneous description of the church in question. K1812 (talk) 16:22, 24 July 2023 (UTC)

• Weak Support. The word "evangelical" has a different meaning in English and German. "Protestant" would be the right translation. But I am wondering if the phrasing is too generic for such a specific institution and if it might need additional disambiguation (dates?). Someone searching for the "German Protestant Church" might be simply looking for Protestantism in Germany. Walrasiad (talk) 10:15, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

  Wiktionary defines six different meanings of the word 'evangelical':

  1) Pertaining to the doctrines or teachings of the Christian gospel or Christianity in general.

  2) Pertaining to the gospel(s) of the Christian New Testament.

  3) Protestant; specifically Lutheran and Calvinist churches in continental Europe as well as their offshoots in North America.

  4) Pertaining to a movement in Protestant Christianity that stresses personal conversion and the authority of the Bible (evangelicalism).

  5) Pertaining to Islamic groups that are dedicated to dawah and preaching the Quran and sunnah.

  6) Zealously enthusiastic.

  It also says: "While evangelical may have all the above meanings, it is often used now for meaning 4."

  The most common current meaning, No. 4, does not mean the entire mainline Protestantism, but a subset of Protestantism, which affirms the centrality of being 'born again'. This is probably the reason why the current German Protestant Church changed their English name one year ago from 'Evangelical Church in Germany' to 'Protestant Church in Germany' - they wanted to avoid the impression that they represent the mere subset of Protestantism, which stresses 'being born again', when - as a matter of fact - they include the entire mainline Protestantism in Germany.

  The German Protestant Church also encompassed the entire mainline Protestantism during the Nazi era, therefore, imho, it's wrong to call it the 'German Evangelical Church', it should be called the 'German Protestant Church'.

  In order to prevent mix-up with Protestantism in Germany, we could include a hatnote that points to that article. K1812 (talk) 14:30, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

  I suppose we could make a disambiguation page for German Protestant Church which leaves a choice of:

  German Protestant Church (1933-1945)

  Protestantism in Germany

  Protestant Church in Germany

  K1812 (talk) 04:29, 5 August 2023 (UTC)

• Oppose. Yes, "Protestant" is what it means, but the current title is still its usual translation. However, given the Protestant Church in Germany is also commonly known as the German Evangelical Church, it should probably have some sort of disambiguation. German Evangelical Church (1933–1945) maybe? -- Necrothesp (talk) 12:50, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

  According to my German-English dictionary, the usual and correct translation for the German word 'evangelisch' is 'Protestant', and not 'evangelical'. There might be a number of churches that call themselves 'evangelical' in English, whether they are evangelical in the sense, that they stress their members' being-born-again or in the sense 'mainline Protestant', i don't know. Germany's Protestant Church between 1933 and 1945, however, was mainline Protestant, and therefore, imho, should be called the 'German Protestant Church' and not the 'German Evangelical Church'. K1812 (talk) 11:30, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

  I reiterate, its usual translation is "Evangelical". I'm not disputing the difference in meanings between the German and British words (as I said), but WP:COMMONNAME still applies. We don't change common names on Wikipedia because they're not 100% clear. -- Necrothesp (talk) 09:39, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

  You write 'its usual translation is "Evangelical"'. What do you mean by 'it'? The German word "evangelisch" or the word "evangelisch" in the expression "Deutsche Evangelische Kirche"? The correct and thus also usual translation of the sole word "evangelisch" is "Protestant" according to my dictionary.

  I suppose that several current German Protestant Churches on the German federal state level mistranslate the word "evangelisch" in their German names to "Evangelical" in English - but just because a substantial number of German Churches apply an erroneous translation we don't have to make the same mistake.

  I doubt that we can determine how the "Deutsche Evangelische Kirche" would have translated their name to English during the period 1933-1945 - i haven't found any English language publications by the Deutsche Evangelisch Kirche from that period of time.

  WP:TITLE says that a good article title meets five requirements, one of them being precision - the title unambiguously identifies the article's subject and distinguishes it from other subjects. Evangelicalism is a subset of Protestantism. Statistics from 2015 say that there were 329 million Evangelical Christians at the time and 543 million Protestants. Every Evangelical Christian is a Protestant, but not every Protestant is an Evangelical Christian. Calling the German Protestant Church of 1933-1945 the "German Evangelical Church" is wrong because a substantial part of its members weren't Evangelical. They were Protestants, but not Evangelicals. The name "German Evangelical Church" fails to meet the precision requirement. Calling the German Protestant Church of 1933-1945 the "German Evangelical Church" is similarly wrong as calling the Wikipedia article on the United Kingdom "England" instead of "United Kingdom". England is a part of the UK in the same way as Evangelical Christians are a mere subset of Protestant Christians. Imagine someone - by mistake - having called the Wikipedia article on the United Kingdom "England" instead of "United Kingdom", and when someone else would ask to have it moved to "United Kingdom", you would deny such a move by saying "we don't change common names on Wikipedia because they're not 100% clear". The result would be a major turmoil. K1812 (talk) 02:16, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

  Try a simple Google search. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, the EKD itself, the German church in London, the Church Times, all translate "evangelisch" as "evangelical". And that's just on the first page. Just because you think it's incorrect does not invalidate it as a common name, clearly used by the modern church itself. -- Necrothesp (talk) 12:11, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

  The Encyclopaedia Britannica has made the same error in translation as many others also have made - to translate "evangelisch" with "evangelical". The EKD have mistranslated their German name into English for decades, and still do in some instances, e.g. The Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany and are thus not a reliable source. What you refer to as the "German church in London" actually call themselves the "German Protestant Congregation London-West", and they have made the same mistake as many others too by calling the "Deutsche Evangelische Kirche" the "German Evangelical Church". The article from the Church Times that you cite doesn't say anything at all about how they call the Deutsche Evangelische Kirche in English, it just only shows that they haven't noticed that the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland call themselves the Protestant Church in Germany in English since 2022. The Church Times still uses the old, erroneous translation which was used by the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland for decades until 2022.

  The English word "evangelical" is translated correctly to German "evangelikal". Therefore, German churches not denoted as "evangelikal" in German should not be called "evangelical" in English, it's as easy as that. K1812 (talk) 18:22, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

  What you don't seem to get, despite it being pointed out several times, is that WP:COMMONNAME applies here. Yes, the translation may be incorrect. No, you may not like it. But that's completely irrelevant. The clear evidence is that this is how the name is commonly translated, including by the church itself. -- Necrothesp (talk) 13:07, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

  I agree that WP:COMMONNAME applies. It says: " Wikipedia ... generally prefers the name that is most commonly used (as determined by its prevalence in a significant majority of independent, reliable English-language sources) as such names will usually best fit the five criteria listed above." Please be aware that WP:COMMONNAME says "Wikipedia ... generally prefers the name that is most commonly used..." and "... as such a name will usually best fit the five criteria listed above". The way i understand this is, that the most important aspect is that the article name shall meet the five criteria spelled out at WP:CRITERIA and that applying the most commonly used name often is a way to meet the five criteria, but not necessarily a requirement. Using the most commonly used name isn't a goal in itself. Also, organizations which mistranslate a German Church's name to English can hardly be considered to be reliable English-language sources. In this special case, the most commonly used name doesn't best meet the five criteria, as it contains an erroneous translation. The naturalness requirement, the recognizability requirement, and the precision requirement aren't best met by the word evangelical, as it's an erroneous translation. So in this special case i think we should refrain from using the most commonly used name, simply because it doesn't best fit the five criteria. K1812 (talk) 15:38, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

  This is basically Wikilawyering. You know that the current title represents the actual English-language common name -- you admit that. But you want a different name, so you root around to find something (anything) that will support your personal preference. Sorry, but that simply isn't going to fly. "German Evangelical Church" is the English-language COMMONNAME, that's what people will be looking for, and that's what the article should continue to be called.

  Now, please, stop WP:BLUDGEONing this discussion and allow it to proceed to a conclusion without any more commentary from you. You've made it abundantly clear what you opinion is, and there's no need to continue to do so. Beyond My Ken (talk) 20:42, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

  You are trying to prove that the usual translation of Deutsche Evangelische Kirche to English is German Evangelical Church by four instances that you found by Google search. When trying to determine which church name is most commonly used, we should also try to find out how often the name German Protestant Church is used. Here are a few results from Google search:

  "Niemöller's conflicts with National Socialism emerged out of his opposition to the German Christians, a pro-Nazi faction within the German Protestant Church that sought to apply Nazi racial dogma to church membership in such a way as to bar so-called non-Aryans (people considered Jewish under Nazi racial laws) from the ministry and from religious teaching positions.", Martin Niemöller: Biography, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.

  "In the fall of 1934 each was removed from office and placed under house arrest by the Reichbishop of the German Protestant Church, Ludwig Müller.", German Churches and the Holocaust - Assessing the Argument for Complicity, p. 16, Robert P. Ericksen, Kurt Mayer Chair in Holocaust Studies, Pacific Lutheran University, The Raul Hilberg Memorial Lecture, The University of Vermont, April 15, 2013.

  "The Confessing Church, die Bekennende Kirche, was an association of Protestant pastors approximately 7,000 strong, established in May 1934 in protest against National Socialist infringements on the German Protestant Church’s administration, liturgical practice, theology, and institutional integrity.", Preaching to Nazi Germany: The Confessing Church on National Socialism, the Jews, and the Question of Opposition, p. 6, William Stewart Skiles, University of California, San Diego, 2016.

  "The creation of the new German Protestant Church [Deutsche Evangelische Kirche (DEK) or Reich Church] on July 23, 1933, marked the first step in the direction of absolute state control over the Protestant Church." in The Confessing Church: Excerpt from the Declaration of the Second Confessing Synod of the German Protestant Church in Berlin-Dahlem (October 20, 1934)

  "... This article reviews the historical origins, nature, methods, and evolution of this movement within the German Protestant Church from 1933–1945." The Resistance of the Protestant Church in Nazi Germany and its Relevance for Contemporary Politics by Tobias Cremer in The Review of Faith & International Affairs 17(4):36-47.

  "Without doubt, the German Christian Faith Movement was the driving force of Gleichschaltung in the German Protestant Church.", The Orthodox Betrayal: How German Christians Embraced and Taught Nazism and Sparked a Christian Battle. by William D. Wilson, Georgia Southern University. (pdf) The name "German Protestant Church" occurs four times in the article.

  'However, not only in the infamous Godesberger Declaration, but also in an announcement in the German Protestant Church bulletin of 6.4.1939, which was signed by eleven state churches, it is stated: "The Christian faith stands in irreconcilable opposition to Judaism".', The German churches before and after 1945, Johannes Neumann (professor for the sociology of law and the sociology of religion), University of Tübingen, 1995.

  "In July 1933, the German Protestant Church came into being with Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller as its supreme representative.", When Protestantism reorganized itself, Prof. Dr. Alf Christophersen, University of Wuppertal.

  "... before becoming part of the German Protestant Church in 1938/39 and celebrating the annexation to Hitler’s Germany as a long-awaited revision of the Paris Peace Dictate.", Der Zusammenbruch der Habsburgermonarchie (1918) und seine Auswirkungen auf den österreichischen Protestantismus (The collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy and its effects on Austrian Protestantism), Karl W. Schwarz, Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte/Contemporary Church History, Volume 35, Issue 2, December 2022.

  "The German Protestant church dealt with the problem of Nazi interference into its affairs differently: it split." in Christian Churches, Shoah Resource Center, The International School for Holocaust Studies.

  "With the election of Ludwig Müller as the Reich-Bishop of the German Protestant Church in July 1933, the main core of the Protestant Church now seemed firmly under Hitler's grasp.", Protestant Dissent in Nazi Germany: The Confessing Church Struggle with Hitler's Government, p. 12, Jenisa Story, Western Washington University, (pdf).

  Above, I have listed eleven instances where the Deutsche Evangelische Kirche is translated to the German Protestant Church in English. Therefore, i can't find your four samples of translation of evangelisch to evangelical convincing that the German Evangelical Church would be the most commonly used English name for the Church. K1812 (talk) 03:38, 5 August 2023 (UTC)

• Oppose - per WP:COMMONNAME which is controlling in this circumstance, not random German-English dictionary translations. Beyond My Ken (talk) 02:36, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

  WP:COMMONNAME says: Wikipedia ... generally prefers the name that is most commonly used (as determined by its prevalence in a significant majority of independent, reliable English-language sources). If i understand you correctly, you seem to claim that the name "German Evangelical Church" is used in a significant majority of independent, reliable English-language sources. Please supply proof that the name "German Evangelical Church" would be used in a significant majority of independent, reliable English-language sources. K1812 (talk) 03:53, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

  You've got that backwards. Because it is you who is requesting a change of consensus, you have to provide proof that your preferred name is the English-language common name, not I. Beyond My Ken (talk) 13:54, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.