"Blätter der MAUS Heft 11"

Karl Schulz

The bookkeeping of the church records of the Bremen Saint Peters cathedral has taken a particular development. The cathedral was closed in 1561 after the expulsion of the preacher Hardenberg (the City council had turned to the evangelic reformed persuasion.) The cathedral was reopened on September 23^rd, 1686 by Archbishop Friedrich to enable the increasingly grown Lutheran population a reasonable Lutheran-Orthodox worship. The resulting conflict with the council was settled in the “Stader Vergleich” from October 4^th, 1639. The council agreed the terms, from there on the Lutherans were allowed to worship their belief in the Bremen cathedral. The Lutherans though, remained in their own parish of their residence their preachers had the right of proclamate and marry the Lutherans. The Saint Peters cathedral preachers were allowed to fulfill the christening and to record it. The entries in christening records start in 1642. The marriage register from 1710 didn’t record any Lutheran marriages (regarding the Stader comparisons from 1639).