Are religion and politics necessarily connected? How and why does one distinguish between religion and culture? And how do these categories determine rights and legal status? In this course we will examine inter-religious and inter-confessional tensions in the German territories in the 19th century, with an emphasis on the conceptualization and legislation of religious rights. We will examine how the definition of “religion” became a point of contention between liberals and conservatives, and how this affected religious minorities, primarily Catholics and Jews. We will examine how the definition of religious freedom as a private matter of conscience affected freedom of worship in public spaces; whether, and in what way, ethnic, national, and cultural elements informed religious divisions; how legal and political controversies surrounding mixed marriages were managed; when and how having no religion at all become a legal option; and more. We will put these broad issues in specific historical contexts pertaining to inter-confessional tensions and the question of Jewish emancipation.