Cars for Priests : Material Aid of Protestant Churches across the Iron Curtain in the 1970s and 1980s
Abstract
During the 1970s and 1980s, the pastors of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren regularly received cars as gifts from their partners in the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland. This was a form of aid that Protestants in Czechoslovakia received from their West German partners. However, the transfers had to be approved by representatives of the Secretariat for Church Affairs.
Through analyzing the selection of the pastors who received the cars and the process of approving of the foreign donations, we can show how the disciplination by the state authorities was carried out. It can also shed a light on how the pastors themselves were disciplined by their ecclesiastical superiors.
The research further shows that the car deliveries during the Cold War were made possible by the long-standing relationship between Protestants from Czech and German countries that goes back well into the 19th century.