My question refers to all germans who were considered a part of the social elite at the time. For example, were there devout Catholics at high political positions in the government? In the movie “Operation valkyrie” we can see the military officer Claus von Stauffenberg going to church whilst being a high ranking officer. Were there more people like him in the nazi circles? How were they treated?
I am not an expert in this field, but I can speak with some experience to say there was no objection to being Catholic or Protestant (mainly Lutheran in Germany) in the National Socialist Party and the Wehrmacht - former Reichswehr (German Army).
Yes, you can find the SS slowly working against this over time, but from my own opinion, I would characterize this as a power struggle and not something so ideologically ground. That sounds odd since it is obviously an ideological struggle, but the clergy in Germany were essentially the only group able to stand up to the Nazis and as such the SS - the sword of the party so to speak - would need to root this out.
They never quite got to that stage, but the grounds were being laid. In any case, Christianity had strong ties to National Socialism, thus any member could openly practice. Without hindrance.
I mainly studied the officer corps of the German Army in WWI and can say religious observance and practice was integral to the German military. There was no separating these two whatsoever. Even Jews in the German army (WWI Kaiserheer) were allowed to openly practice their religion and were buried with honors and religious rights in cemeteries in Berlin (among other cities). They are still there by the way and amazing to see.
In any case, being that the Nazi party and the Officer Corps were always in a way kept separate, I see no reason why religious observance would be prevented.
But it's also important to look at it from two other ways:
Christians who bought into the National Socialism as an ideology saw it as a logical conclusion to the larger racial sciences born from the 19th century. That is to say, many saw Aryans (themselves) as not just the purist race but the purest christian race and as such, needed to purify Germany as Luther had called for in the 16th century and as Catholics had been calling for..for a long time (see, Houston Stewart Chamberlain The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century). Even for those religious in the SS, seen through this lens it could very well be justified to exterminate Untermenschen in order to secure their religion and country. I am simplifying this greatly, but this is one aspect.
I feel by your post you are somewhat surprised or skeptical, perhaps? Sorry if I am assuming anything, but if this is true, it may be because you have been lead to believe that Nazis were against religion or were for their own form of religion. This is absolutely untrue on the whole. If you want to find atheist texts, quotes, or members, feel free, but this does not means National Socialism was inherently atheist. You can find homosexual Nazis, doesn't mean they were for homosexuality. You can find Nazis who made excuses to save Jews, doesn't mean they wanted to save Jews. Etc. etc. Was it because the ideology already fell in line with so many christians views? Sort of. A broad generalization though. Perhaps it is just the pragmatic side:
Germans were observant Christians and you cannot go gaining power while offending 99% of the country.
Instead you find ways to exploit and use them, especially if there were plenty of organizations willing to join in the early 30s. Christianity, especially Catholicism, had strong roots in German Nationalism and Antisemitism in Germany. I am loathe to cite Wikipedia, but for a quick read check out the Deutsche Zentrumpartei. This political party, though not overtly Catholic per se in its ideological drive, is the single reason the Nazis came to power. This isn't to lay any blame on Catholics - this falls to Hindenburg - but just so you can see the joint nature of German Catholicism, politics, and National Socialism. There is also the Deutsche Christen though less is available in the English wikipedia you can get the picture.
This is just a rough outline, but don't forgot the Nazis were only in power for 6 years before war broke out and a further 4.5 after that. Half of which "in power" means Total War. There isn't a lot of wiggle room to set the foundations for subverting the power dynamic of the Christian Church.
I would highly suggest reading Richard J. Evans' books The Coming of the Third Reich and The Third Reich in Power for more insight into the developments within Germany. He doesn't give a view solely on Christianity in Nazi Germany, but it is present and you can see how the instances of Christian persecution were very targeted. I have also found his style of writing easy going for those not used to reading academic texts.