ABSTRACT
In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), scientific atheism has its roots in the 1950s and remained a recognised university discipline until 1990. Despite a wealth of sources, the full history of its existence had never been told, with previous articles focusing only on the university chair labelled “scientific atheism” between 1963 and 1968. More generally, the history of nonreligion in (former) communist countries is still in its early stages, lacking common definitions and comparisons. In this book, “scientific atheism” refers to what the historical actors understood by this term in the GDR, i.e. an academic discipline with its scholars, lessons, research projects, debates and definitions. Indeed, the scholars of scientific atheism were trying to make their voices heard to promote a certain kind of atheism. The study of East German scientific atheism makes a novel contribution to nonreligious studies in two respects. Firstly, through the shaping of a special kind of atheism; and secondly, as an attempt to institutionalise a science of irreligion. The results produced are virtually the only statistical data available on the decline of religion in East Germany and have been taken up by many historians, making a close and critical look all the more important.
