Facsimile of the first page of the law of May 31, 1875, regarding “the religious orders and similar congregations of the Catholic Church” [“die geistlichen Orden und ordensähnlichen Kongregationen der katholischen Kirche”]. (Note: “similar congregations of the Catholic Church” refers to communities comprised of clergy and lay members of religious orders living in the outside world—i.e., schools, hospitals, and missions—as opposed to monasteries and convents.) This law was part of the legislation behind Bismarck’s Kulturkampf against the authority of the Catholic Church in Germany. This facsimile was taken from Gesetzsammlung für die Königlichen- Preußischen Staaten [Collection of Laws for the Royal-Prussian States] (1875), p. 217.
Source: Gesetzsammlung für die Königlich-Preußischen Staaten, no. 15, number 8292: “Gesetz, betreffend die geistlichen Orden und ordensähnlichen Kongregationen der katholischen Kirche.” May 31, 1875, issued in Berlin, June 3, 1875. Digital Collections, Staatsbibliothek Berlin. Available online at: http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB000155D000000000