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Article: Freedom and control in the unified Germany: governmental approaches to alternative religions since 1989.
- Article from:
- Sociology of Religion
- Article date:
- September 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Association for the Sociology of Religion. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Until 1989, East Germany, that is, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was part of the socialist world system and under Soviet control. Unlike other East European countries, however, the end of communist rule in East Germany did not bring about a long and tentative search for new modes of church-state relations or a new policy in response to a rapidly changing religious landscape. The process of unification of the two German states did not leave much room for experiments. It led to an almost complete transfer of the West German legal system to East Germany. After a very short period in 1990 there were few options for new institutional arrangements for religions that ...