Hans Meiser (bishop)

Hans Meiser (16 February 1881, Nuremberg - 8 June 1956, Munich) was a German Protestant theologian, pastor and from 1933 to 1955 the first 'Landesbischof' of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria.

Today Meiser's political stance between 1933 and 1945 is intensely studied and debated within the parameters of Germany's Culture of Remembrance. In his unsuccessful attempt to maintain his 'landeskirche' and its independence he decided to make several compromises with the Nazi state. His attitude towards Judaism is also controversial in light of studies of the Shoah.

Theologically, Meiser was in the tradition of Wilhelm Loehe, supporting a single church with a single clear Lutheran confessional identity. Unlike other Bavarian theology professors such as Werner Elert, Paul Althaus and Hermann Sasse, Meiser explicitly recognized the Barmen Theological Declaration and engaged with the links it brought to Unitarians and the Reformed Church. His confessional orientation aligned him with Theophil Wurm and divided him from Martin Niemöller.

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