Military pastorał ministry in Bydgoszcz during the period of Prussian rule (1772-1920)

Abstract

Military pastoral ministry in the Prussian army, which units stationed in Bydgoszcz in 1772-1920, was a link of military-state organization of the army and people in the Kingdom of Prussia. Religion served as a component of education and disciplining of the nation ruled by the king, who in the structures of the United Protestant Evangelical Church (since 1817) served as supreme bishop (summus episcopus). Both the Evangelical Church and the Roman Catholic Church were treated as privileged institutions enjoying special protection from the state. In 1849, within this protection, separate (exemte) military pastoral ministries were established, embedded in the structures of the army - at the level of army corps and division. In the case of larger garrisons, like the one in Bydgoszcz, Protestant and Catholic garrison parishes had been established, to which churches maintained by the state had been assigned. Frequently, these places of worship were used by both denominations (Simmultankirche). In the city on the Brda River, it was the Bernardine church, which after refurbishment and renovation had been used since 1865. Both the Prussian structure of the military pastoral ministry and the function of garrison church on 2 Bernardyńska Street - obviously after modification - taken over by the Polish State in 1920, with some changes, have been functioning to this day.