Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands the Kingdom of the Netherlands' did not come into being until 1818. The city of Amsterdam was, and still is, the centre of Dutch Lutheranism. Most Lutherans in the Netherlands are descendants of German or Scandinavian merchants, and the Lutheran church has always been quite small. Because of the urban and internationally oriented membership of the Lutheran Church, liberal influences have always been relatively strong. The church was always counted among the most liberal denominations in the Netherlands. They were among the first churches to ordain women. On May 1, 2004, the Lutheran Church's membership was down to a mere
Capital punishment in the Netherlands and 1952 several war criminals from World War II were sentenced to death by the Bijzonder Gerechtshof for treason of the State of the Netherlands and the deportation of Dutch Jews. The last persons to be executed under military law were SS officers Andries Jan Pieters and Artur Albrecht in March 1952. Capital punishment remained a legal military option until 1983 when it was explicitly forbidden in the Constitution of the Netherlands. In 1991, all references to the death penalty were removed from Dutch law. Today the Netherlands operates a clear policy against capital punishment, not participating in extradition if