The 'Protestantenverein' was a society in Germany the general object of which was to promote the union (Verein) and progress of the various Protestant established Churches of the country in harmony with the advance of culture and on the basis of Christianity.
•
It was founded at Frankfurt am Main in 1863 by a number of distinguished clergymen and laymen of liberal tendencies, representing the freer parties of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches of the various German states, amongst whom were the statesmen Bluntschli and von Bennigsen and the professors Richard Rothe, Heinrich Ewald, D. Schenkel, A. Hilgenfeld and F. Hitzig.