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In the 17th century, the Peace of Westphalia guaranteed everyone the freedom to choose their religion. To this day, we can practice our faith freely. Anyone who has ever wondered why the north of Germany is predominantly Protestant while the south is predominantly Catholic will find the answer in the aftershocks of the Reformation. Fortunately, the followers of both denominations now live peacefully together in one country. That was not always the case. In the 17th century, the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was divided not only by territories, but also by denomination. And denominations were not allowed to be practiced freely. Religion was always tied to the ruler of the respective region. And there were many of them in the empire at the time, which was more like a huge patchwork of large kingdoms and small principalities. There was constant tension between the two denominations. Catholics and Protestants were of the opinion that the other had the wrong faith and therefore had to disappear from history. This is why many of the empire's nobles formed alliances. In 1618 the Defenestration of Prague occurred, the spark that led to the Thirty Years' War. It was fought in every possible and impossible combination of alliances. In the end the war simply became too expensive and full of privations. In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia was signed. Thirty years of war were suddenly over, in which, according to estimates, around 30% of the population of the Holy Roman Empire died. Apart from a few territorial changes in Europe, the original motto "Whose region, whose religion" remained when it came to religion and denomination. However, there was the important addition that other denominations could also be practiced and not persecuted. All denominations were to be treated equally under the law. A type of religious freedom came into force for Catholics, Protestants and Calvinists. This video was produced by ZDF, in cooperation with objektiv media. Motion Design: Nicolas de Leval Jezierski Subscribe? Just click here – / @terraxhistory All films and information about Terra X can be found here – https://terra-x.zdf.de/#xtor=CS3-82 Terra X on Facebook – / zdfterrax Terra X on Instagram – / terrax