17.06.2025

New Publication „Zwischen Heimatfront und Schlachtfeld. ‚Kriegsbilder‘ in protestantischen Predigten und Andachtsschriften des Ersten Weltkriegs“

A new volume has been published in the series publications of the Institute of European History Mainz (VIEG): The publication „Zwischen Heimatfront und Schlachtfeld. ‚Kriegsbilder‘ in protestantischen Predigten und Andachtsschriften des Ersten Weltkriegs“ ("Between home front and battlefield. 'Images of war' in Protestant sermons and devotional writings of the First World War") by Andrea Hofmann offers an in-depth analysis of theological interpretations during the First World War.

The study, which is published as volume 273 of the VIEG, is primarily dedicated to the question of how pastors and religious communities interpreted the events of the war and what role propaganda, the endowment of meaning and coping with contingency played in this.
The author examines sermons and devotional writings from the years 1914 to 1918, taking into account previously untapped source material, in particular sources from the south-west of the Deutsches Reich, including Alsace. Through her detailed study, Andrea Hofmann succeeds in bringing order to the diversity of theological images of war in the German Upper Rhine region and opening up new perspectives on the theology of the First World War.

Andrea Hofmann is Professor of Kirchen- und Theologiegeschichte at the Faculty of Theology in Basel. This study, which is also her habilitation thesis, was written during her academic work at the IEG in Mainz (2013-2022).

The title is available in German via Open Access from Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Image copyright: Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht