Pulpit Law

The Pulpit Law (German "Kanzelparagraph") was a section (§ 130a) to the "Strafgesetzbuch" (the German Criminal Code) passed by the Reichstag in 1871 during the German Kulturkampf or fight against the Catholic Church. It made it a crime for any cleric in public to make a political statements that the government thought would "endanger the public peace." It applied to all of Germany. There were no jury trials in Germany, so the government could act aggressively. The law reads:
The passage of the law was part of an anti-clerical campaign including various other laws. Clerics openly resisting these laws were fined or imprisoned and church property was confiscated. By 1872, clerics were banned from teaching in schools and the Jesuits were ordered out of the country. Historian Anthony Steinhoff reports The casualty totals: 
The section remained in force until 1953, though it was rarely enforced after 1878 when Chancellor Otto von Bismarck came to terms with the new Pope. Several religious orders like the Jesuits remained banned from the German Empire, confiscated properties were not returned, a de facto discrimination against the Catholic minority continued in Civil Service positions and civil marriage remained mandatory.