Friedrich der Große und die preußische Militärkirche

Upon his ascension to the throne, King Frederick the Great of Prussia inherited a military clergy organized by his father under a military rule still somewhat connected to the civilian church. Frederick, however, preferred to separate the military and civil branches of the church completely. He transferred the ordination of military chaplains from Berlin to Potsdam. Moreover, as the chief military chaplain he chose a theologian shaped by the Enlightenment school of Christian Wolff, rather than a pietist chaplain as his father had done. The result was a separation of the structure and culture of military and civilian clergy. In this article, the author uses relevant source material to describe for the first time Frederick's efforts to have a representative of the Enlightenment serve as head military chaplain. In the light of these findings, the familiar term »Prussia and Pietism« for the second half of the 18th century has to be supplemented by the term »Prussia and the Enlightenment.«