It’s well known that after the disaster that was the Kulturkampf in Germany, German Catholics (not including Poles in this context) were welcomed once again by society. The dominance of the Zentrum Partei (Center Party) slowly dwindled, and the party was divided into both a Left and Right faction. Many Catholics there on were German Patriots in a Protestant majority empire, so I have this question to ask. Any good books or articles about this new Catholic Nationalism in the German Empire? Anything in English or German (preferably English) works. Thanks!
I have the perfect book for you! Rebecca Ayako Bennette's Fighting for the Soul of Germany: The Catholic Struggle for Inclusion after Unification (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012) deals exactly with the development of Catholic German identity and their relationship with greater German society in response to the Kulturkampf and after. A more detailed review I cannot give you, but I can definitely say that Bennette has a respectable claim to be one of the main players in the academic debate on the topic, and she both writes and lectures very well.