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reticent about providing data, the seriousness of animal disease is indicated by the imposition of strict controls over the movement of animals and humans and the virtual quarantine of many rural areas each year. The leading diseases are foot-and-mouth disease and hog cholera. Other common livestock diseases are fever, erysipelas, and hog salmonellosis, and pest, plague, and pip in poultry. A serious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 1967 caused the East Germans to initiate stringent controls over animals and animal products entering or leaving the country. Persons crossing the border during the epidemic were required to step into trays of disinfectant before being allowed to proceed across the border. These and other measures, which lasted several months, eventually succeeded in controlling the disease.
G. Religion
Since the Reformation the area comprising East Germany has been predominantly Protestant in its religious convictions. According to the 1964 census 59.3% of the population claimed affiliation with the Protestant Evangelical churches of Germany (Figure 22). The Roman Catholics, despite postwar immigration from heavily Catholic areas in Silesia, now under Polish administration, constituted only about 8% of the population. Nearly one-third of the population in 1964 professed no religious affiliation. Regime efforts to suppress religion have resulted in a sharp drop in church membership and an even greater decline in active participation by those claiming affiliation. Only about 25% of the Catholics and an estimated 5% of the Protestants actually attend church on a regular basis.
| 1939 | 1946 | 1950 | 1964 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evangelical | 85.1 | 80.9 | 80.5 | 59.3 |
| Roman Catholic | 6.6 | 12.1 | 11.0 | 8.1 |
| Other | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Not stated | Less than .05 percent. | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Not affiliated | 7.3 | 5.8 | 7.6 | 31.6 |
The predominance of Protestantism in East Germany dates back to the Peace of Augsburg (1555) and the Peace of Westphalia (1648), under which local German princes were allowed to determine whether the Catholic or Lutheran confession would be the established church in their respective domains. This settlement was modified slightly by the Prussian state's union in 1817 of Lutheran and Calvinist churches within its borders into a single established church. On the eve of World War II there were eight established territorial churches (Landeskirchen) in what was to become East Germany. Three of the Landeskirchen (Saxony, Thuringia, and Mecklenburg) subscribe to an undiluted Lutheran doctrine. Anhalt Province of Saxony, Pomerania (Greifswald), and Silesia (Goerlitz) are the heirs to the Prussian-sponsored Evangelical Church of the Union, which includes Lutheran as well as Reformed traditions. Each Landeskirche enjoys a wide degree of autonomy in dogma and liturgy. The eight Landeskirchen are subdivided into a total of about 7,500 parishes. Pastors are paid by funds granted to the churches by the state. Approximately 6,000 clergymen and 15,000 other church officials work in the parishes. The Evangelical churches maintain hospitals, homes for the elderly, children's homes, and infirmaries. In addition the churches have their own newspapers and publishing houses, but the content of the output is carefully screened by the state.
Until 1969, all eight were associated with similar Landeskirchen in West Germany in the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD). Formed in 1945, the EKD was organized to represent the member churches in their dealings with their respective governments and international church organizations, and to coordinate missionary and welfare work, theological training, ecclesiastical law, church music, and general administration. The regime opposed the all-German aspect of the organization for years as part of its advocacy of a separate East German state. The regime in 1958 refused to deal officially with any EKD official who was not an East German citizen, and since 1961 it has refused to allow representatives to attend the annual EKD synod in West Germany. On the other hand, the regime permitted the EKD in West Germany to funnel financial aid to the East German churches and also used the EKD channel to negotiate secretly with the Bonn government on such sensitive matters as the ransoming of prisoners from East German jails. In 1969, all eight Landeskirchen yielded to pressure by the regime and agreed to establish a separate organization called the League of Evangelical Churches (BEK) in East Germany. Parallel steps were taken in 1968 against the three Evangelical Lutheran Landeskirchen, forcing them to sever their ties with the United Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) and form a separate East German organization. In 1972 the five union Landeskirchen followed suit, severing their ties with the Evangelical Church of the Union and forming a strictly East German body, the East Synod, under the leadership of Bishop Albrecht Schoenherr.
Although the majority of Protestant clergymen in East Germany are believed to have had reservations
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