Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick (German: Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche in Braunschweig) is a Lutheran church in the German states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

The seat of the Landesbischof (bishop) is Wolfenbüttel. Its district as a Landeskirche covers the former Free State of Brunswick in the borders of 1945. The church has 347,546 members (as of 2015) in about 385 parishes. It is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and is based on the teachings brought forward by Martin Luther during the Reformation. It is also a member of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, the Lutheran World Federation, and the World Council of Churches. Leading bishop of the church is Dr. theol. Friedrich Weber (since 2002). The Church of Brunswick owns about 480 churches; the most famous of these is Brunswick Cathedral.

The Church of Brunswick originated as the state church (German: Landeskirche) of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, where the Protestant Reformation was ultimately introduced in 1568. The ruling duke acted as bishop of the church. In 1704, Wolfenbüttel introduced religious tolerance, so that parishes not belonging to the state church could be founded. After the monarchy was abolished in 1918, the Church of Brunswick became an independent organization, but retained — like all former state churches — certain privileges. In 1922 the Brunswickian church counted 464,000 parishioners.

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