Because of the celibacy it was not possible for catholic preachers to get married and found a family. The one who wanted to receive the higher ordinations was subjected to the celibacy.

The reformers were clearly against the celibacy. Since 1520 Protestant theologists got married. Based on this, the Protestant parish house was founded, which includes the minister’s family (the minister or parish minister, the minister’s wife, the minister’s children).

The financing and the living conditions in the parsonage

At the beginning of the Protestant parish house it was very difficult for Protestant pastors, because they did not receive their usual income and therefore had to suffer under great poverty. Many Protestant pastors also continued to live closely together with women which can be compared to marriages. This resulted in the fact that parishioners started to complain about the immoral way of life of their pastors and flew into other communities to listen to the Protestant doctrines. These abuses had to be remedied and solutions had to be found.

In 1532 one decided that the goods of the monestaries that were shut down as a result of the Reformation were now administered by the princely officials („Sequestration“). The money that was made by this was partly used to pay the pastors, which was actually a suggestion of Luther. But also the former monks who did not turn Protestant had to be supplied, so that only a small amount was left over for the pastors.

Often, a piece of land, the so called prebend or „Pfründe“, belonged to the parishes, too, which was also cultivated by the pastor to earn one’s living. The livelihood of the pastors was measured by the quality of their prebend. Therefore, there were big differences concerning the quality of life.

This changed in the 19th and 20th century. In the 19th century the pastors rarely cultivated their land by themselves, instead, it was leased. In the 20th century, as well as in these days, the wages of the pastors is borne by church taxes of the congregation members. Therefore, retirement costs can also be paid, so no pastor is obliged anymore to be on duty until death.
 

The pastor’s wife

It is true that the minister’s wife played a significant role in the parsonage, but seldom did she become known compared to the male members of the parsonage. The main reasons are the respective roles in the house that remained until today. Above all, the minister’s wife supported her husband so that he could concentrate on his work. She also helped him doing some community work and maintained the parish house once in a while. But on the whole, the minister’s wife was seen as an ordinary woman and was not worth mentioning.

Only later the image of the minister’s wife changed fundamentally. In the first place she was often practising her own occupation and among other things, did her work and her household duties, she had no more time left to look after the interests of the congregation.

In these days we do also have the woman pastor. Nowadays , the woman takes on the work in the congregation more often , with a husband at her side.

The meaning of the parsonage

The parsonage has always been a cultural institution, sometimes the only one in the community. Most of the children of the pastor received a solid and cultural education.

Some important scientists and artists came from a parsonage. One can say that approximately half of the important men being involved in science and culture were members of a parsonage. An observation of the Catholic Friedrich von Schulte verifies that 861 men out of 1.631, who were mentioned in the „General German Biography“, came from a parsonage.

Information about all members of parsonages are collected in the Protestant Vicarage Archives. This should supply evidence for the meaning of the parish house by giving isolated cases. One who has a closer look round the exhibition will be amazed by getting to know which persons were coming from parsonages.

Here are the names of some important persons:

• Johannes Agricola (pastor; important theologian in times of the reformation; important collector of German proverbs)
• Friedrich von Bodelschwingh (pastor; founder and manager of deacon institutions in Bethel)
• Alfred Brehm (son of a pastor; zoologist and being on expeditions)
• Friederike Brun, nee Münter, (daughter of a pastor; authoress and poetess)
• Gottfried August Bürger (son of a pastor; poet)
• Johann Amos Comenius (pastor; educator of the people in the 17th century)
• Georg Samuel Dörffel (pastor; astrologer)
• Johann August Duncker (son of a pastor and pastor itself; founder of the optical industry in Rathenow)
• Dorothea Christine Erxleben, nee Leporin, (woman pastor; first German female doctor of medicine 1754)
• Leonard Euler (son of a pastor; mathematician; physicist and astrologer)
• Gottfried Wilhelm Fink (son of a pastor and pastor himself; composer and musician)
• Friedrich Fröbel (son of a pastor; founder of the kindergarten)
• Paul Gerhardt (pastor; important poet of hymns)
• Georg Friedrich Händel (grandson of a pastor; composer)
• Philipp Matthäus Hahn (pastor; inventor)
• Johann Gottfried Herder (pastor; author, philosopher)
• Hermann Hesse (son of a pastor; author)
• Friedrich Hölderlin (grandson of a pastor; lyricist)
• Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (son of a pastor; poet)
• Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (son of a pastor; poet)
• Philipp Melanchthon (professor of theology)
• Eduard Mörike (pastor; author)
• Thomas Müntzer (pastor; theologian)
• Friedrich Nietzsche (son of a pastor; philosopher)
• Michael Praetorius (son of a pastor; composer; theorist of music)
• Friedrich Ferdinand Runge (son of a pastor; physician and chemist)
• Karl Friedrich Schinkel (son of a pastor; architect)
• Heinrich Schliemann (son of a pastor; archaeologist)
• Albert Schweitzer (son of a pastor and pastor himself, bearer of the Nobel Peace Prize)
• Georg Philipp Telemann (son of a pastor; composer)
• Alfred Wegener (son of a pastor; researcher in Greenland)
• Christoph Martin Wieland (son of a pastor; poet)