Paper short abstract:

In secularized Eastern Germany, elements recognized locally as related to, originating from or belonging to religious sphere appear nevertheless in unexpectedly strong ways. Especially religious materiality serves as a resource used by all kinds of actors in nonreligious and postreligious ways.

Paper long abstract:

Analysing cases of use of church buildings in North-Eastern Germany, I draw attention to the fact that in the region considered as strongly secularized, elements recognized as related to, originating from or belonging to religious sphere appear in public discussions in unexpectedly strong ways. Especially religious materiality, in form of religious buildings, serves as a resource used by all kinds of actors engaged in identity politics, and discussions concerning heritage as/and future.

Based on Quack (2014) and Lee (2012), I propose a scalar concept of nonreligiousness to refer to relationships between those who in a given place and time define themselves as not belonging to a religious field, and those phenomena, objects or people, who are perceived by the former as religious. Nonreligiousness is understood as a relationship between what is historically defined and recognized as religious, and what self-defines as beyond the religious field. Postreligious is a term inspired by the works of Höhn (2006) and points out that in recent decades in Europe religion is no longer seen as providing a metaphysical social bond or a reservoir of answers to questions concerning meaning of life, but instead, it is mostly seen as aesthetics and as a creator of moods.

I look at bottom-up initiatives aimed at creating a common cross-border Polish-German space, which mobilise aspects of religious practices, identities, and, most importantly, materialities. This in turn allows for looking at the role of religion in contemporary Europe, as providing a platform for negotiation and contestation of identities.