ABSTRACT
Germany has a complex history when it comes to church-state relations but represents a model of moderate secularism. It has historically had two dominant and recognised churches, Protestant and Catholic, which despite increased secularisation still maintain a significant role in public life. The inherited structure of these connections between state and religion, moreover, has in important ways set the patterns for the place and governance of contemporary religious diversity. This might be both an aid to the public role of minority faiths and a hindrance to the realisation of this role. This chapter outlines this historical inheritance and how it bears on contemporary frameworks. Moreover, the historical legacy has also meant that through the processes of unification and reunification, Germany has been made and remade in a way giving it a unique religious profile within Western Europe. As part of this make-up Germany, as a federal state with 16 regions, or Länder, each with their own governmental structures, hosts a marked variation in the application and interpretation of federal laws between the regions. The chapter therefore also discusses how debates and controversies over the place of public religion have played out at national as well as regional levels.
