CCG Functions
In CCG’s matrix organisation structure, policies were developed by Headquarters Divisions, and then implemented in each of the four Länder (plus Hansestadt Hamburg[1] and Berlin) through a network of regional offices throughout the British Zone. The arrangement was designed to facilitate efficient interaction between policy and implementation and the ability to respond rapidly to changes.
Committees such as BERCOS (Berlin Chiefs of Staff) and REGCO (Regional Commissioners) coordinated and acted as communication channels between the various actors. Everything came together at the door of the Military Governor, who was the ultimate arbiter of all military and civilian matters in Germany and was a member of the four-power Allied Control Council alongside the American, French and Soviet Commanders. Day-to-day responsibility for the management of CCG was in practice exercised by the Deputy Military Governor.
Key to operationalising policy quickly throughout the Zone was the regional organisation through the Kreis (District) Resident Officers (KROs), who established day-to-day relationships with German local authorities and were the eyes and ears of CCG on the ground. They were issued with a two part handbook – the Kreis Resident Officers’ Handbook. Part 1 summarised the role of the KRO and British occupation policy in Germany. Part 2 was composed of ten individual pamphlets – which set out for each function the policy to be implemented, and the tasks the KRO was to perform.
The following sections describe CCG's functions in more detail and link to the individual pamphlets:-
Public Relations and Information Services Control
Manpower
Transport
RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS
The Allies believed that a fundamental transformation of Germans’ mindsets would be required to rid the nation of Nazi ideology. Education eform would be one element. Another was the German churches, thought to be “perhaps the most influential factor in German life today”, and thus important in generating the spiritual values which would lead the Germans back to “European civilisation with its humane and democratic values”.[1] There should be freedom of worship for all denominations, but also precautionary functions against the misuse of religious freedom for political purposes. German Churches were mainly Roman Catholic or Evangelical (Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Lutheran (Lutheran and Reformed)), plus the Free Churches (predominantly Baptists and Methodists). Each denomination was organised and governed independently (see Appendix x). Moreover, the Churches had never been controlled by CCG, so the Religious Affairs branch had to operate by offering advice and assistance, rather than by direction. Specifically, its responsibilities were:[2]
i.Advice to CCG on all Church Policy
ii.Representation of CCG at German Church conferences
iii.Representation of Church affairs at quadripartite conferences
iv.Advice and assistance to German Churches on internal diocesan affairs
v.Supervision of Church denazification. Denazification of ordained clergy was carried out by special Church panels, and the completion of a special clerical Fragebogen
vi.Liaison with assistance to all German Church-sponsored organisations (Innere Mission, Caritas-Verband, Hilfswerk etc)
vii.Restoration of Church property and repairs to Church buildings
viii.Spiritual welfare in Civilian Internment Camps. The Religious Affairs branch was responsible for screening clergy and allocating them to administer spiritual welfare in the camps
ix.Breaking down spiritual isolation of the German Churches by fostering relations between them and foreign Churches: chiefly by encouraging visits of suitable foreign Church representatives to Germany, and the travel of suitable German Churchmen to other countries
x.Assistance with Young activities, especially those carried out under Christian auspices
There were plenty of challenges in fulfilling these responsibilities: denazification of the German Churches was incomplete and gave rise to delicate problems; there were shortages of paper, bibles, theological literature and even communion wine, as well as major items such as building materials for the restoration of damaged and erection of new Church property. Meanwhile there was a considerable quantity of Church property to be de-requisitioned. And, while CCG had a responsibility for promoting Christian Youth activities, both the German Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches had their own definite ideas about the aims and purpose of Christian Youth work, which needed to be clearly distinguished from those of secular agencies engaged in youth activities.[3]
However, the Religious Affairs Branch, based in Bunde, was tiny, compared with other CCG branches, employing a total of only around fifteen civilian Control Officers Grades I - III, plus a pool of clerical staff. These were divided between sections for each main denomination, with a Youth section and an Intelligence section. Reflecting the fact that the Churches were organised at sub-national level, one Control Officer was posted at Land level in North Rhine/Westphalia, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein, and Hamburg.
Special Church Panels carried out the denazification of ordained clergy, and the Religious Affairs Branch was responsible for screening and allocating German clergy of the various denominations to administer spiritual welfare in the Civilian Internment Camps. The Branch was also responsible for promoting and organising visits and exchanges between German and overseas Churches. But the Branch relied a great deal on the BAOR Army Chaplaincy Branch, which had clergy on the ground throughout the British Zone (see below); and CCG’s Kreis Resident Officers (KROs), who were specifically tasked with making direct contact with all parish clergy and were the designated intermediaries for requests from local Churches for facilities and services such as travel permits, transport, and the de-requisitioning of Church property. The KROs were encouraged to make their own decisions without referring to higher authorities and were to do ‘everything possible’ to discourage German clergy and officials from making personal visits to HQ RA Branch which, as a policy and administration organisation, aimed to remain at arms distance from activities on the ground.
KROs were expected to note and report the formation and activities of any new religious movements or sects “and the kind of people who propose to run them”. CCG was particularly concerned about an organisation called the Deutsche Christen movement, evidence of which was to be reported immediately to the Regional Religious Affairs officer, although no repressive action was to be taken.[4] The KRO was expected to ‘keep a finger on the pulse’ of the local population, and to note any feelings of discontent or lack of co-operation, and enlist the help of local clergy where possible to explain problems and the causes of grievances. Equally, clerics who were found to be encouraging discontent among their parishioners were to be reported to RA HQ. It was recognised that most local clergy would be cooperative, and KROs were encouraged to establish friendly relations with them, not least because they were often the most informed and educated person in the area and could offer valuable and constructive advice.
The Religious Affairs Branch worked alongside the Royal Army Chaplains Branch, whose role was to minister to the religious needs of British civilians and military employed by both CCG and BAOR. In 1948 there were thirteen CCG Chaplains in the British Zone, including a Principal Chaplain. Of these, nine were Church of England and two were Roman Catholic, plus one Methodist and one Church of Scotland Minister (see Appendix A). They were deployed to various locations throughout the Zone, often sharing church premises with the local German congregations. In Lübbecke, for example, Church of England churchgoers held services in the town’s Lutheran St Andreaskirche (St Andrews Church), alternating service times with local German parishioners. Gratitude for the church’s hospitality was expressed in the form of a lectern given to St Andreaskirche by the British when CCG left the town for Wahnerheide in 1950 (see Appendix B).
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B. ST ANDREAS KIRCHE LÜBBECKE
St Andreas Church Lübbecke
Lectern presented St Andreas Church by British on CCG’s departure from Lübbecke. Plaque reads: Der Gemeinde Lübbecke in Dankbarkeit für die Benutztung der Andreskirche von der Brittischen Gemeinde die dort Gott ehrte 1945-1950[5]
APPENDIX [X] CCG CHAPLAINS APPOINTED TO THE BRITISH ZONE IN 1948[6]
[1] KRO Handbook Part II Pamphlet 4: Religious Affairs
[2] KRO Handbook Part II Pamphlet 4: Religious Affairs
[3] KRO Handbook Part II Pamphlet 4: Religious Affairs
[4] Deutsche Christen were a pressure group and a movement within the German Evangelical Church that existed between 1932 and 1945, aligned towards the antisemitic, racist and Führerprinzip ideological principles of Nazism with the goal to align German Protestantism as a whole towards those pronciples. Their advocacy of these principles led to a schism within 23 of the initially 28 regional church bodies (Landeskirchen) in Germany and the attendant foundation of the opposing Confessing Church in 1934. Theologians Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer drafted the Barmen Declaration the same year opposing Nazi doctrines. (Source: Wikipedia)
[5] To the Lübbecke community with gratitude for the use of St Andreas church from the British community who worshipped God there 1945-1950
[6] 8.4.48 Appendix A to CCG Routine Order 15/218 National Archives File FO1005/1877