There was "no substantial decline in religious practice and church membership between 1933 and 1939".[25] The option to be taken off the church rolls (Kirchenaustritt) has existed in Germany since 1873, when Otto von Bismarck had introduced it as part of the Kulturkampf aimed against Catholicism.[26] For parity this was also made possible for Protestants, and for the next 40 years it was mostly they who took advantage of it.[26] Statistics exist since 1884 for the Protestant churches and since 1917 for the Catholic Church.[26]