Barmen, Synod

Barmen, Synod of

Meeting of German Protestant leaders at Barmen in May 1934 to organize Protestant resistance to Nazism. Representatives came from Lutheran, Reformed, and United churches. Some church leaders had already chosen to limit their efforts to passive resistance, and others had been co-opted by the Nazi regime. The Pastors' Emergency League, headed by Martin Niemoller, was the backbone of active resistance. The Synod was of major importance in the founding of the Confessing Church by Karl Barth and others.