Das Staat-Kirche-Verhältnis in Bayern nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg
abstract
The Catholic Church in Bavaria was highly affected by the collapse of the monarchic system at the end of World War I. The Concordat from 1817 granted the king a lot of privileges the Holy See was not at all willing to transfer to a revolutionary, especially far left wing government. Thus, immediately after the end of the war, first steps were taken to negotiate a new treaty. The process took much longer than anyone of the protagonists had thought at first. In particular, the constant change of governments in Munich and the change of minds of the German as well as of the Prussian government concerning a new Bavarian concordat made it difficult to come to a fast conclusion. But Bavaria was determined to save this last glimpse of State sovereignty and was willing to literally pay whatever it may cost to save its goal. After long and sometimes crucial negotiations it was finally signed in 1924 and ratified by the Bavarian Parliament in 1925.
Keywords: Concordat • Post First World War Period • Bavaria