The Translation of German Hymns into Romanian Between Poetry and Pragmatism

After centuries of celebrating the divine services only in German language, the Evangelical Church A. C. in Romania (ECR) embarked during the last few decades on the use of a second language within church. The traditional “Evangelical-Saxon” identity of the congregations is undergoing a changing process. Having lost most of its members through emigration, the Evangelical Church A. C. in Romania copes with new social circumstances which have also an effect upon the choice of language. Therefore, in 2007, the ECR published a bilingual (German and Romanian) hymnal. Translating hymns is an intricate endeavour. The practical use of a bilingual hymn-book is challenging as well. The German-Romanian Evangelical hymnal is a witness of how the diaspora church accommodates itself to new linguistic conditions.