The visible church and 'invisible' Polish: Protestant and catholic clergy in Prussian Poland

This chapter suggests that the Polish language was at risk of becoming invisible as a result of the severe restrictions placed upon it by the partitioning powers - Russia, Prussia and Austria - from 1772 to 1918. Rejecting a simple correlation between coercion and decline, however, it is argued that the role of the 'visible' church, that is, the clergy, was key in determining the fortunes of Polish in the Prussian partition. While the Protestant clergy increasingly insisted on ministering to their small Polish-speaking flock through German, the Catholic clergy used the Polish language whenever possible. The result was a shift to German among Prussia's Protestant community, most notably the Mazurians, and the flourishing of Polish among the Catholics of the Prussian partition.