the area of the district osnabrück has been confessionally mixed since protestant reformation and the peace of westphalia: lutherans (evangelical lutheran state church of hanover) and catholics (roman catholic diocese of osnabrück). because the (catholic) osnabrücker land bordered on lutheran territories, there have been lutherans in the district since the 19th century. the confessional distribution has not changed significantly in spite of the influx of heimatvertriebene after 1945.