'From the State of One Confession to the State of Several Confessions. The Problem of Religion in the Territories of Brandenburg-Prussia from the 16th to the Early 18th Century': After the division of the papal church in the 16th century the German princes in the Holy Roman Empire decided about the 'true' catholic or protestant faith for themselves and for their subjects. When the elector of Brandenburg followed the Reformed Church in the early 17th century, but his whole lutheran population denied his decision, both confessional parties had to recognize that they lived together in one country with liberty of religious conscience without suppressing the other party. This were the beginnings of religious tolerance in Brandenburg-Prussia.