Religion and Аrt in the GDR: Christian Сhurches as an Alternative to Official Cultural Policy

Abstract

The article explores the dialogue between Christian churches and contemporary art in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). First, the so-called Evangelical Art Services, created as early as the 1920s, became a platform for dialogue with those art movements that were not encouraged by the socialist state. Secondly, the policy of the GDR regarding the construction of Christian churches was contradictory: on the one hand, there was support for the restoration of churches damaged during the Second World War; on the other hand, it was difficult to obtain permission to build new churches. The state program of the 1970s and 1980s, “Churches for new cities,” had pragmatic goals in many respects. Thirdly, the cultural policy of the GDR was quite successful in creating a new secular humanistic culture. Artists mostly belonged to a broadly understood “realism,” which often admitted classical patterns, including mythological and religious motifs, while they could hold different views on religion or remain atheists. Religious motifs and symbols in painting helped to express existentially significant issues of life and death, good and evil; understanding the tragedy of World War II; they conveyed the artist’s political beliefs and contributed to the understanding of the position of the artist in modern society. Thus, even in the countries of the “Eastern Bloc” the artistic quest for religious understanding of reality remained relevant, and Christian churches were interested in dialogue with contemporary art.