Endzeitstimmung Der Umgang der evangelischen Kirche A.B. mit der Aussiedlung der Siebenbürger Sachsen

The present paper deals with the attitude of the Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania (the Lutheran Church of the German-speaking Transylvanian Saxons) regarding the massive emigration of the Saxons after the events of December 1989 in Romania. The investigation is based on official documents of the Central Consistory of the Evangelical Church, from the central church archives in Sibiu/Hermannstadt at the Friedrich Teutsch cultural centre, as well as several editions of the publications Landeskirchliche Information (numbers 1 to 6 of the 1^st year) and Kirchliche Blätter (numbers 1 to 12 of the 18^th year). The analysis in the present study covers the year 1990 and shows the Evangelical Church as an institution that tries to face the challenges caused by the massive wave of emigrated Saxons. The topics the church leadership dealt with can also be found in the public discourse in the periodicals of the church. They were visibly trying to adapt to the new challenges; the responsible were constantly looking for solutions in order to be able to maintain the structures of the church.