 The first ordinary state synod (Landessynode), succeeding the proto-synod, only convened in 1869, when after the Prussian annexation the Hanoverian Lutherans desired a representative body separate from Prussian rule, though it was restricted to Lutheran matters only.The Church of Hanover became a stronghold of Hanoverian separatism and therefore somewhat politicised.It opposed the Prussian Union, comprising the Protestant parishes in the Prussian territory prior the 1866 annexations, not only for its being a stronghold of Prussian patriotism, but for being a united church of Lutheran and Calvinist congregations, with a preponderance of Calvinism because the Calvinist Hohenzollern dynasty wielded its influence in the unification of Lutherans and Calvinists in then Prussia in 1817.