Religion in Germany

Germany was the birthplace of one of the biggest religious events in recent history: the Protestant Reformation. Initiated by a German monk named Martin Luther, the Reformation forever changed the face of Christianity and birthed numerous denominations and independent churches. Luther questioned the doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and, as a consequence, a separatist religious movement was founded.

After years of religious conflict between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants, the Peace of Augsburg was signed. This treaty decreed that German territories should follow the religion of their respective rulers. Thus, Germany was divided into Roman Catholic west and Protestant east.

During and after the Second World War, a significant number of Protestants moved to the west thereby equalizing the numbers of adherents of the two religions. In East Germany, Protestants heavily outnumbered the Catholics.

Since a communist government ruled East Germany from 1949 to 1990, religion and church membership were heavily discouraged. Atheism was promoted by the state and adherence to a religious belief became a social stigma. Religious people were practically barred from enjoying recreational facilities, career advancements, and admission to universities. The Protestant churches, however, became a unifying force in East Germany and was a key factor in bringing down communist rule.

Today, Christianity is still the primary religion in Germany with about 54 million adherents. Protestants and Roman Catholics are fairly even in number. A small part of the religious population are members of Free Churches such as Jehova's Witnesses, Calvinists, Evangelical Methodists, Old Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox.

A recent trend in the German religious sphere is the increase of people (currently about 24 million) who do not adhere to any religion. In a 2005 survey, 25 percent of the respondents said they do not believe in any God, spirit, or life force.

Muslims make up about five percent of the total population. A majority of them are immigrants from Turkey. Jews and Buddhists currently number to about 200,000 each while adherents of Hinduism are about 90,000.