Religion in Germany

Christianity is the largest religion in Germany with 54 million (65%) adherents. The second largest religion is Islam with 3.3 million adherents (4%) followed by Buddhism and Judaism, both with around 200,000 adherents (ca. 0.25%). Hinduism has some 90,000 adherents (0.1%). All other religious communities in Germany have fewer than 50,000 (or less than 0.05%) adherents. About 24.4 million Germans (29.6%) have no religion

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,

• 47% of German citizens responded that "they believe there is a God".
• 25% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force".
• 25% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".

Religious communities in Germany

The religious situation in the German Empire about 1895. Red and pink areas are predominantly Protestant, blue areas predominantly Catholic. The distribution within the borders of modern-day Germany remains roughly the same today.

Christianity is the major religion, with the protestant Evangelical Church in Germany (particularly in the north and east) comprising 30.8 % of the population and Roman Catholics (particularly in the south and west) 31.4 %. In total 64.3 percent of the people officially belong to a Christian denomination, although most of them take no part in church life except at such events as weddings and funerals. Sunday church attendance as reported annually by the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches has dropped to about 6 percent in 2005. 1.7 percent of the population are Orthodox Christians composed of mostly Greek and Serbian immigrants in Germany.

Independent and congregational churches exist in all larger towns and many smaller ones, but most such churches are small. One of these is the confessional Lutheran Church called Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany.

Roman Catholicism was the sole established religion in the country in the 15th century, but the Reformation changed this drastically. In 1517 Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church as he saw it as a corruption of Christian faith. Through this, he altered the course of European and world history and established Protestantism. Before World War II, about two-thirds of the German population was Protestant and one-third was Roman Catholic. In the north and northeast of Germany especially, Protestants dominated. In the separated West Germany between 1945 and 1990, Catholics had a small majority since the 1980s. Protestant areas got much more affected by secularism than predominantly Catholic areas. The predominantly non-religious states (Hamburg and the East German states) used to be Lutheran strongholds.

Secularism in Germany

In eastern Germany both religious observance and affiliation are much lower than in the rest of the country after forty years of Communist rule. The government of the German Democratic Republic encouraged an atheist worldview through institutions such as Jugendweihen (youth consecrations), secular coming-of-age ceremonies akin to Christian confirmation which all young people were strongly encouraged to attend (and disadvantaged socially if they did not). The average church attendance is now one of the lowest in the world, with only 5% attending at least once per week, compared to 14% in the rest of the country according to a recent study. The number of christenings, religious weddings and funerals is also lower than in the West.

There is a non-religious majority in Hamburg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt only 19.7 percent belong to the two big denominations of the country. This is the state where Martin Luther was born.

Islam in Germany

As of 2006, according to U.S. Department of State, approximately 3.2 million Muslims (mostly of Turkish descent) live in Germany. This figure includes the different denominations of Islam as well as religions thought to be forms of Islam by most Germans who are even aware of them, such as Alevit balls es. Lately there have been heated discussions about the question of whether Muslim women in public service, such as schoolteachers, should be allowed to wear headscarves to work or not.

Scientology in Germany

The government of Germany does not accept Church of Scientology's claim to be a religion but asserts that it is a business enterprise and as such denies tax exemption. Scientology is also generally considered a totalitarian cult. This however does not restrict the group's activities in Germany. This classification has led to complaints in the United States of America, but the United States Congress did not pass a resolution in 1997 related to "discrimination by the German Government against members of minority religious groups" that mentioned only Scientology-related examples of discrimination.

Judaism in Germany today

Main article: History of the Jews in Germany

Today Germany, especially its capital Berlin, has the fastest growing Jewish community worldwide. Circa ninety thousand Jews from the former Eastern Bloc, mostly from ex-Soviet Union countries, settled in Germany since the fall of the Berlin wall. This is mainly due to a German government policy which basically grants an immigration ticket to anyone from the CIS and the Baltic states with Jewish heritage, and the fact that today's Germans are seen as significantly more accepting of Jews than many people in the ex-Soviet realm. Some of the about 60,000 long-time resident German Jews have expressed some mixed feelings about this immigration that they perceive as making them a minority not only in their own country but also in their own community. Prior to Nazism, about 600,000 Jews lived in Germany, with familiar background going back to Roman times or even earlier. Many Jews from Russia and other former communist countries in Germany adhere to Reform Judaism.

Religious freedom in Germany

Main article: Status of religious freedom in Germany

The German constitution guarantees freedom of faith and religion. It also states that no one may be discriminated against due to their faith or religious opinions. However, unlike some other countries, cooperation between the state and religious communities is entirely in keeping with the German constitution. Religious communities that are of considerable size and stability and are loyal to the constitution can be recognized as "corporations under public law". This gives them certain privileges, for example being able to give religious instruction in state schools to adherents' children and having membership fees collected by the German Finanzamt (the German equivalent of the Internal Revenue Service) or by themselves. Such Church tax is levied if a person lists a religion on their tax form or is listed as member in the population registry. It amounts to between 8 or 9% of the income tax. The status mainly applies to the Roman Catholic Church, the mainline Protestant EKD, and Jewish communities. There have been numerous discussions of allowing other religious groups like Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslims into this system as well. The Muslim efforts were hampered by the Muslims' own disorganized state in Germany, with many small rivaling organizations and no central leadership, which does not fit well into a legal frame that was originally created with well-organized, large Christian churches in mind.

In 2005 the local government in the city of Paderborn became embroiled in a controversy whereby a number of Baptist families refused to send their children to any mainstream school or accepted substitute, preferring homeschooling with a strong religious theme. It is a requirement of German law that every child be educated in a state school or an acceptable alternative. The local government acted to force the parents to comply with the law, but to no avail - firstly warnings, then fines, then brief custodial sentences did little to deter them. Eventually, in August 2005, the city took the parents to court, and the parents lost custody of the children. The legal argument behind this decision was the balancing between the religious freedom of the parents and the freedom to be educated and to have equal opportunities in life of the children. This was preceded by a similar case in the nearby city of Gütersloh in 2004.

Church and state are separate, but there is cooperation in many fields, most importantly in the social sector. See Status of religious freedom in Germany and Separation of church and state in Germany.

Also of note is that Germany hosts one of only seven Bahá'í Houses of Worship in the world. Completed in 1964, it is located at the foot of the Taunus Mountains in the village of Langenhain (close to Hofheim am Taunus), approximately 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) west of Frankfurt.

Cults, Sects and New Religious Movements

More than in most other countries the churches are actively involved in disseminating information and warnings about sects and cults (the German word Sekte is used in both senses) and new religious movements. The state churches are generally regarded as experts regarding religious subjects and such information is expected from them by the public. In public opinion, minor religious groups are often referred to as Sekten, that can both refer to destructive cults but also to all religious movements which are not Christian or different from the Roman Catholicism and the mainstream Protestantism. Mainstream Orthodox Christians, Jews and Muslims are usually not referred to as Sekten either.

When classifying religious groups, the Roman Catholic Church and the mainline Protestant EKD use a three-step of "Churches", "free-churches" and Sekten [1]

1. Kirchen (churches) is the term generally applied to the Roman Catholic Church, the EKD's member churches, and the Orthodox Churches. The churches are not only granted the status of a Non-profit organization, but they have additional rights as a de:Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts, which means they have the right to employ civil servants (Beamter), do official duties or issue official documents.
2. Freikirchen (free-churches) is the term generally applied to Protestant organisations outside of the EKD, e.g. Baptists, Methodists, Jehovah's Witnesses, independent Lutherans, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists. However, the Old Catholics can be referred to as a free-church as well. The free-churches are not only granted the tax-free status of a Non-profit organization, but many of them have additional rights as a de:Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts.
3. Sekten is the term for religious groups which do not see themselves as part of a major religion (but maybe as the only real believers of a major religion). A common feature of Sekten is that they make it difficult for their members to quit, if they decide to do so. Examples of groups called Sekten are Scientology and Hare Krishna. Although these religious groups have full religious freedom and protection against discrimination of their members, their organizations in most cases are not granted the tax-free status of a Non-profit organization.

Every Protestant Landeskirche (church whose canonical jurisdiction extends over one or several states, or Länder) and Catholic episcopacy has a Sektenbeauftragte (Sekten referee) where information about religious movements may be obtained.

Demographics

Religions in Germany: Listed are 2006 estimates by the Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- Informationsdienst e. V. (REMID) [2] for groups with more than 10,000 adherents:

• Religious 58.1 M (70.4%)

Christianity

• Christians 54.2 M (68%)

Protestantism

• Protestants 27.1 M (32.7%)
  • Evangelical Church in Germany 25.386 M (30.8%)
  • New Apostolic Church 380,490 (rather special, not Protestant in a strict sense)
  • Aussiedler-Baptisten 300,000-380,000
  • Jehovah's Witnesses 166,000
  • Baptists (mostly Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlicher Gemeinden in Deutschland KdöR) 85,000
  • Methodists 63,000
  • Free Evangelical / Charismatic 50,000
  • Christliche Versammlungen / Freier Brüderkreis / Plymouth Brethren 45,000
  • Bund Freikirchlicher Pfingstgemeinden 40,000
  • Evangelical Methodist Church (Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche) 38,000
  • Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church 37,460
  • Mennonites 39,414
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 36,000
  • Gemeinschaft der Siebenten-Tags-Adventisten (STA) 36,000
  • Apostelamt Jesu Christi 20,000
  • Federation of Evangelist-reformed churches of Germany (Bund Evangelisch-reformierter Kirchen Deutschlands) 13,000
  • Johannische Kirche [3] 3,500
  • Christian municipalities Elim (Christengemeinden Elim) 10,000
  • Apostolische Gemeinschaft 6,000

Catholicism

• Roman Catholics 25.905 M (31.4%)
• Old Catholics 25,000

Orthodoxy

• Orthodox 1.5-2 M. (ca. 2%)
  • Orthodox Church of Constantinople 450,000
  • Russian Orthodox Church 300,000 - 400,000
  • Romanian Orthodox Church 300,000
  • Serbian Orthodox Church 250,000 - 300,000
  • Syriac Orthodox Church 180,000 - 230,000
  • Armenian Orthodox Church 85,000 - 120,000
  • Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church 13,000
  • Greek Orthodox Church 13,000
  • Assyrian Church 6,000
  • Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church 3,600
  • Coptic Orthodox Church (Egyptian) 3,000
  • Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate 1,000

• The Christian Community 10,000

Islam

• Muslims 3.3 M (4.0%); number of Muslims with German citizenship: 732,000 (1.0%).
  • Sunni 2.2 M
  • Alevite 340,000
  • Shi'a 170,000
  • Ahmadiyya 50,000
  • Ismaili 12,000
  • Sufi 10,000

Buddhism

• Buddhists 230,000 (0.27%)

Judaism

• Jews 200,000 (0.25%)
• Union of Progressive Jews in Germany 3,000 members
• Central Council of Jews in Germany Most Jewish communities

Others

• Hindu 90,000 (0.1%)
• Yazidi 30,000

No Religion

• Non Religious 24.4 M (29.6%)

See also

• History of Germany
• History of the Jews in Germany
• Martin Luther
• Lutheranism
• Max Weber
• Protestant Reformation
• Status of religious freedom in Germany
• Islam in Germany
• Religion by country
• Roman Catholicism in Germany

External links

• Eurel: sociological and legal data on religions in Europe
• Germany - Catholic Encyclopedia
• Germany - Sacred Destinations
• Statistic by REMID about Adherence to Religious Communities in Germany
• Germans Reconsider Religion
• Religion in Germany (Deutschland): Mitgliederzahlen
• History of Pentecostal Churches in Germany