Apologetische Centrale (Berlin)

In 2025, a book from the library of the Apologetische Centrale in Berlin was returned to the archive and library of the Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V. (Protestant Agency for Social Welfare and Development).

The Apologetische Centrale was an institution of the German Protestant Church, founded in 1921 by its Central Committee for Inner Mission. Its task was to observe and document the activities of religious and ideological movements. The Apologetische Centrale organised seminars and lectures and published the magazine ‘Wort und Tat’. One particular focus was on combating the freethought movement.

The Apologetische Centrale was forced to close at the end of 1937 and in 1938 all of its assets, including its 2,000-volume library, were confiscated in favour of the German Reich. The headquarters of the Apologetische Centrale was located in the Evangelical Johannesstift in Berlin-Spandau.

It is unclear how the volume was acquired by the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin. The book was added to the stock of the Berlin City Library as a ‘gift’ in 1947, and only the in-house storage room is listed as the supplier in the acquisition journal. There are no traces of intermediate owners in the volume itself. Based on the history of the Apologetische Centrale's library, it is likely that it was acquired via the Salvage Office No. 15 (a depot of the Reich Main Security Office, RSHA).