ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on church-oriented religion in the area that was formerly West Germany. To the extent that there is relevant data available, it also deals with the situation in the area comprising what used to be East Germany. The chapter provides a rough sketch of institutional religion in Western and Eastern Germany. It examines the data concerning the relationship between the various post-war generations and institutional religion in both Western and Eastern Germany. The chapter addresses the question of how to interpret the relationship of the post-war generations to institutional religion. The post-war period in the Federal Republic produced, under special circumstances, a late flourishing of a "semi-modern" society with a traditional character in which institutional religion wielded an extraordinarily strong influence. The unique occurrence of a late blooming of "semi-modern" society in the Federal Republic also explains why the difference between the generations is especially pronounced in the Federal Republic.
