One of the reasons may be better job prospects. In Germany, for aspiring protestant pastors, you may share a position in a parish as a couple (both getting pai

One of the reasons may be better job prospects. In Germany, for aspiring protestant pastors, you may share a position in a parish as a couple (both getting paid 50-75% of a full position, with the unspoken expectation of being available for 100%). Also the protestant churches are extremely territorial (a vestige of the medieval political landscape), so if you take your exam in Hamburg, you are not necessarily welcome in Munich. But you could marry a bavarian spouse who is also a pastor, which can be your entry ticket into the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria... edit: corrected name of ELCoB also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landeskirche https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landeskirche