New Religions in Germany

The Reformation has left its traces on Germany’s religious landscape, which still shows a distinctively regional distribution of Roman Catholics and Lutheran and Reformed Protestants. While in 1950, 94 percent of the population belonged to the two churches, ¹ membership has dropped rapidly since then. In 2000, 27 million members or about 33 percent of the population belonged to each church. ² Ex-members remain largely unchurched. Reunification also brought a significant increase in the number of non-believers. Within this framework dominated by the two established Christian churches, minority religions continue to seek a place for themselves. They are estimated to have five million members, or about six percent of the population, with the largest minority religion, Islam, numbering about three million members. Though not a new religion itself, Islam is a relatively new phenomenon in Germany, and as the most influential minority religion it has raised many issues which directly affect new religions. Figures for new religions vary considerably. ³ While there is disagreement concerning numbers as well as which communities count as new religions, they certainly are a fringe phenomenon. The typical size of new religions ranges from several hundred to a few thousand members.