Royal Prussian Lands – the state church 1845–1875: Evangelical State Church of Prussia – the state church besides other recognised Protestant church bodies 1875–1922: Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces – the state church in the old provinces of Prussia besides other recognised Protestant church bodies 1922–1933, 24 June: Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union – an independent church among other recognised Protestant church bodies 24 June to 15 July 1933: State control abolished the freedom of religion and a Nazi-loyal leadership was imposed 15 July 1933 – 28 February 1934: Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union under new streamlined leadership 1 March to 20 November 1934: The streamlined leadership abolished the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union as an independent church body and merged it in the new Nazi-submissive German Evangelical Church 29 May 1934 – 1945: Confessing Christians declared that the imposed Nazi-inspired (so-called German Christian) leadership had brought the church to a schism, with the Confessing Church and their newly created bodies (partially established since January 1934) representing the true Evangelical church. 20 November 1934 – 1945: The Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union restored by the verdict of the (Berlin court), resulting in two church bodies–one Nazi-recognised and one gradually driven underground–each claiming to represent the true church. 1945–1953: The Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union partially cleansed its leading bodies of German Christians and appointed Nazi opponents and persons of moderate neutrality. 1953–2003 Evangelical Church of the Union, an independent ecclesiastical umbrella among other recognised Protestant umbrellas and church bodies. 2004 The Evangelical Church of the Union merged in the Union of Evangelical Churches. History The Calvinist (Reformed) and Lutheran Protestant churches had existed in parallel after Prince-Elector John Sigismund declared his conversion from Lutheranism to Calvinism in 1617, with most of his subjects remaining Lutheran. However, a significant Calvinist minority had grown due to the reception of thousands of Calvinists refugees fleeing oppression by the Catholic Counter-Reformation in Bohemia, France (Huguenots), the Low Countries, and Wallonia or migrants from Jülich-Cleves-Berg, the Netherlands, Poland, or Switzerland. Their descendants made up the bulk of the Calvinists in Brandenburg. At issue over many decades was how to unite into one church. Royal attempts to merge Lutherans and Calvinists One year after he ascended to the throne in 1798, Frederick William III, being summus episcopus (Supreme Governor of the Protestant Churches), decreed a new common liturgical agenda