Pulpit Law

The law read:[1] Any cleric or other minister of religion shall be punished with imprisonment or incarceration of up to two years if he, while exercising his occupation or having his occupation exercised, makes state affairs the subject of announcements or discussion either in public before a crowd, in a church, or before any number of people in some other place designated for religious gatherings in such a way that it endangers the public peace.The passage of the law was part of an anti-clerical campaign including various other laws.

Clerics openly resisting these laws were fined or imprisoned and church property was confiscated.

Historian Anthony Steinhoff reports The casualty totals: The section remained in force until 1953 (in West Germany) and 1968 (In East Germany), though it was rarely enforced after 1878 when Chancellor Otto von Bismarck came to terms with the new Pope.

However, several preachers - both Catholic and Protestant - were persecuted by the Nazi regime based on the Pulpit Law.

Several religious orders like the Jesuits remained banned from the German Empire, confiscated properties were not returned, a de facto discrimination against the Catholic minority continued in Civil Service positions and civil marriage remained mandatory.