Why did the Confessing Church cease to exist in 1948?

The Confessing Church ceased to exist in 1948 because its purpose as a movement of resistance and revival within the German Protestant churches had been fulfilled through the formation of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).1

Following the end of World War II, leaders of the various territorial churches sought to restore and reorganize the German Protestant landscape. In 1948, these territorial churches formally united to establish the EKD, a federation of Lutheran, Reformed, and United churches. With the creation of this new, organized body to oversee church life and reestablish international relations, the Confessing Church—which had functioned as a provisional, often underground movement during the Nazi era—was no longer necessary as a separate entity.21