Germany’s New Religious Diversity

In Erlangen, a city of 119,000 residents in northern Bavaria, a great deal is happening at once. Preparations are underway for a new synagogue for which the state of Bavaria has provided a plot of land near the university. The city’s two major mosques are planning expansions. And in one of the city’s suburbs, an association has purchased land to build a Shiva‑Vishnu temple for the Hindu community.

Silvia Klein, who heads Erlangen’s Department of Integration and Diversity, highlights the city’s rich mix of cultures, languages — and religions. When it comes to the temple project, she points to the association “Hindu Tempel Franken.” Using donations, its own funds, and a loan, the group purchased land, and construction is expected to begin no later than 2027.

Klein said the university now has more than 2,000 students from India. The association itself points out that the Indian community is the largest non-German population group in Erlangen.

The city is a clear example of how religious diversity in Germany is becoming visible in the urban landscape. The established churches are, of course, still present: Catholic and Protestant houses of worship, along with one Greek Orthodox and one Russian Orthodox church.

Just three years ago, the Coptic Church in the city’s Bruck district took over a former Catholic house of worship. “St. Peter und Paul” became the Coptic Orthodox Church dedicated to St. Mary and the Holy Apostles.

“In the past we had 18 families with 50 or 60 members,” Coptic deacon Ragai Edward Matta told DW. “Today there are around 60 families with a good 200 people.” And the numbers continue to rise. Another 40 students also belong to the congregation.

By contrast, Germany’s major Christian churches are shrinking. Only a few years ago, more than half of all Germans still identified as Christian. Today, around 36.6 million people belong to the Catholic or Protestant Church — roughly 44% of the country’s 83.5 million residents. Increasingly, Catholic and Protestant churches are being closed, repurposed or scaled down.

According to Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, more than 5.3 million Muslims were living in the country as of 2020. About 3.8 million Orthodox Christians live in Germany, according to a 2024 survey by the Protestant Church. Added to this are Jews, Buddhists, Baha’i — and a growing number of Hindus. For all of these groups, the available statistics are only estimates rather than precise counts.

One thing is clear: Germany’s urban religious landscape is becoming more diverse. That shift is visible in the construction of new houses of worship. How many such buildings exist is almost impossible to quantify.

In the summer of 2024, Buddhist nuns opened a prominent new temple in Berlin-Mitte. By now, there are roughly 20 Buddhist monasteries nationwide.

In June 2026, the largest Hindu temple in Germany is set to open in Berlin. Private individuals began planning the project in 2004 and started construction around 2010.

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