Waldmohr - Religion

Religion

In the time of the Reformation, under the principle of cuius regio, eius religio, all the inhabitants had to convert, at the Duke’s behest, to Lutheranism, that is, until 1588, when Duke Johannes I made them all convert once again, this time to Calvinism. Only beginning in 1648 – after the Thirty Years' War – could Lutherans, Reformed believers and Catholics once more live side-by-side in the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken.

With the new arrangement of parish areas in 1821, Dunzweiler, along with the Waldziegelhütte, passed to the parish of Breitenbach, and to make for a fair endowment, the parochial estate in Waldmohr was also signed over to the parish of Breitenbach. The parish still holds property in Waldmohr to this day. In 1902, the Catholic community, which belonged to the parish of Kübelberg, had 371 souls. Only in 1929 did Waldmohr welcome its own pastor. The two Catholic parishes of Waldmohr and Breitenbach would thereafter be administered together. The oldest church or chapel likely stood on the stony ridge, upon which the later church was built, upon whose foundations and walls, in turn, the current Protestant church from 1765 stands. It was said to be at that time a village hub of sorts, and the first known graveyard in the village – the churchyard – was there. In 1814, another graveyard was laid out in the Krämmel (a cadastral area), and expanded in 1852. The current graveyard in the Brüchelchen dates from 1898. This has already twice been expanded, and in 1958 it got a new mortuary. In 1924, a forest graveyard was also built at the Waldziegelhütte, right at Saint Mary’s Chapel (Marienkapelle), likewise built at that time.

In August 1923, the Catholic parish’s long planned so-called “Emergency Church” (Notkirche) was consecrated. It was later torn down, and on its former site arose Saint George’s Church (St. Georgskirche) in 1960. The “White Hall” (Weiße Halle), a Catholic parish community centre, was likewise torn down. It had at one time housed a shoe factory and outlet. Now it was to get a new building and it went into service as a meeting place in 1992. In 1866, the Stumm organ at the Protestant church was dedicated.

At the time when the Palatine Union came into effect in 1818, which united the Reformed and Lutheran churches, the small Lutheran parish had all together 620 parishioners, 130 of whom lived in Waldmohr.