Origins

It originated in the Province of Saxony

Province of Saxony

The Province of Saxony was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1945. Its capital was Magdeburg.-History:The province was created in 1816 out of the following territories:...

, in 1841. The members were also called Protestant Friends. The immediate occasion was an attempt to discipline a Magdeburg preacher who had expressed heretical views. Early leaders in the movement were Leberecht Uhlich

Leberecht Uhlich

Leberecht Uhlich was a German clergyman and one of the founders of the German Free Congregations.-Biography:He studied at Halle, and served as pastor in various places till 1847, when he withdrew from the Evangelical Church, and thenceforth was preacher of the Free Congregation at Magdeburg...

 and Gustav Adolf Wislicenus

Gustav Adolf Wislicenus

Gustav Adolf Wislicenus was a German theologian, one of the leaders of the Free Congregations.-Biography:...

, both of whom were forced out of the Evangelical Church

Evangelical Church in Germany

The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...

 for expressing liberal views. In like manner, independent congregations arose in a number of places. In 1847, a union was effected between them on the basis of a simple profession of faith in God and called Free Congregations (Ger. freie Gemeinden). By this time their gatherings, held symbolically in the open air, had come to number more than two thousand, including delegates from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

In 1850, they united with the German Catholics

German Catholics

The German Catholics were a schismatic sect formed in December 1844 by German dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of Johannes Ronge.-History:...

, and in the same year and the years immediately following some forty congregations were established in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, but had a short existence. After the Revolutions of 1848

Revolutions of 1848

The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...

, several of the German governments undertook to suppress them, partly for political reasons. Many congregations were broken up. Those still in existence in 1859, about fifty in number, under Uhlich's leadership, formed a “Union of Free Congregations in Germany,” upon a highly rationalistic basis. Inasmuch as the fullest individual liberty was allowed, the belief of members and congregations varied greatly. There was a tendency toward radical free thought, and some even denied the existence of a personal God

Personal God

A personal god is a deity who can be related to as a person instead of as an "impersonal force", such as the Absolute, "the All", or the "Ground of Being"....

. The association was strongest in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Breslau, and Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

. Its numbers and influence gradually diminished. It was superseded by the Old Catholic Church

Old Catholic Church

The term Old Catholic Church is commonly used to describe a number of Ultrajectine Christian churches that originated with groups that split from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, most importantly that of Papal Infallibility...

.