While I identify as an Aussie, my family’s roots are German Lutheran. That is Protestant German.
Some of my ancestors migrated to Australia in the late 1800s due to religious persecution. The villages they left were once within German territory but today they reside within Polish borders. Apparently, the borders changed after World War 2.
This week, as I holidayed in Germany I thought I might catch a glimpse of what these roots might mean for me. I am not sure that the castles and churches did that for me. I am confident I come from poorer roots than the nobility who resided in the castles and my Lutheran roots, while connected, did not seem congruent with the many Catholic churches.
If anything I saw first hand some of the remnants of what Martin Luther protested against 500 years ago. The stories and monuments to the wealth and power of ruling church bishops concerned me more than cheered me. At whose expense and for whose glory were these buildings erected?
Travelling companions joked about my German heritage and my link with Hitler. As jesting as these statements were, I could not help but feel ashamed of my ancestors anti-semitic sentiments as if somehow I was or could have been complicit in the Jewish deaths.
My family were involved though. By their Australian citizenship my family alligned with the Allies in the second world war. In fact it was the Allies who bombed these churches and castles nearly 70 years ago. Does that make me complicit in many German deaths and destruction of ancient buildings? Whose side was I on?
Confused? Me too. My links to Germany and Protestantism seem complicated by layers of history that include religion, politics and war. This history has proved more sobering than cheerful.
As I wrestle with understanding my roots I realised I have not found them in Germany. Instead many times I found myself returning to my rootedness in Jesus Christ; because of my adoption into His family. I am thankful that in Him I can find my identity and make some sense of history and humanity.
A Lutheran church in Nuremberg, Germany.
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