Baptists in Germany can be documented as having existed since 1834, the year in which the first congregation was formed by

Johann Gerhard Oncken Johann Gerhard Oncken (26 January 1800 - 2 January 1884) was a pioneer German Baptist preacher, variously referred to as the "Father of Continental Baptists", the "Father of German Baptists" and the "Apostle of European Baptists". Oncken, Gottfri ...

Barnas Sears Barnas Sears (November 19, 1802 – July 6, 1880) was an American educational theorist and Baptist theologian. Biography Sears graduated from Brown University in 1825 and from Newton Theological Institution in 1827. For a short time, he served ...

and others, in Hamburg that became the nucleus of the Baptist movement in

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

. Together with Oncken, Gottfried Wilhelm Lehmann and Julius Köbner formed the "Baptist cloverleaf" of Germany, having a great impact on the movement. Most German Baptists belong to the Union of Evangelical Free Churches, which is part of the

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

through the

European Baptist Federation The European Baptist Federation (EBF) is a federation of 59 Baptist associations and is one of six regional fellowships in the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Amsterdam, Netherlands. History The EBF was founded in Ruschlikon, Swit ...

. Other German Baptist congregations, some with Russian-German roots, joined together in new unions beginning in the 1980s. In addition, other smaller congregational networks and a number of so-called free Baptist congregations emerged.

Associations and groups

Baptists are

congregationalists Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

, which means that their congregations are autonomous. Therefore, regional and supra-regional alliances play only a subordinate role. They have no function in relation to hierarchy, but serve primarily to deal with tasks that a single congregation cannot accomplish. These include, among other things, mission work,

diaconia A diaconia was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples (the successor to the Roman grain supply system, often standing on the very sites o ...

and the theological training of full-time and volunteer staff. The following is a selection of Baptist unions and movements in Germany.

Union of Evangelical Free Churches

The

Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany The Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany (german: Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlicher Gemeinden in Deutschland ) is a Baptist Christian denomination in Germany. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Wuster ...

(, BEFG; Baptist and Brethren congregations), originating in the church Oncken founded in Hamburg, has 80,195 members in 801 churches , of which 73,000 are Baptists in about 700 congregations. Founded in 1849, the Union of United Congregations of Baptized Christians in Germany and Denmark (; later: , Union of German Baptist Congregations) merged in 1942 with the Union of Free Church Christians (, BfC), which originated in the

Brethren movement The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasize ...

, and thereby took its present name.

Evangeliumschristen-Baptisten

The ('Evangelical Christians-Baptists') are mostly of Russian-German origin. They were formed in 1944 from the merger of Evangeliums-Christen with the Baptists. Later, other evangelical

free churches A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...

joined them. In contrast to their Eastern European countries of origin, no unified union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists was founded in Germany. Some of the newly formed congregations have come together in congregational associations such as ('the Brotherhood of Free Evangelical Christian Congregations') or the ('Working Group of Evangelical Congregations'). Another part is connected with German Baptists through the in the Union of Evangelical Free Churches or is united with Mennonite Brethren congregations in the Bund Taufgesinnter Gemeinden ('Union of Baptist-Minded Congregations'). In addition, there are also congregations outside of congregational associations.

Bund Taufgesinnter Gemeinden

The congregations in the ('Union of Baptist-Minded Congregations'; BTG) have partly Baptist, partly

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

roots. The federation was formed in 1989 from the merger of originally six Baptist-oriented congregations, which were primarily located in the region of

Ostwestfalen-Lippe Ostwestfalen-Lippe (, literally ''East(ern) Westphalia-Lippe'', abbreviation OWL) is the eastern region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, congruent with the administrative region of Detmold and containing the eastern part of Westph ...

. The BTG has about 6000 members spread over 30 congregations. The ('Bible

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

'), the theological training center of this association of congregations, is located in Bonn and offers a regular study program as well as a theological correspondence course and a theological evening school.

International Baptist Convention

The International Baptist Convention goes back to church plantings by American soldiers. In Germany, 25 English-speaking congregations belong to it. From its beginnings in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, a loose working group was formed in 1958, the Association of Baptists in Continental Europe, which was joined by other congregations and, from 1961, supported by the North American congregational association of the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

. In 1964, the Association adopted its current name.

Missionsdienst der Freien Baptisten

The ('Free Baptist Mission Service') works together with Baptist Mid-Missions. About ten congregations belong to it. According to their own statements, the Free Baptist congregations are more "theologically conservative" than the Baptists in the Union of Evangelical Free Churches. The main differences are their positions on

women's ordination The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordin ...

, the

charismatic movement The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spirit ...

and

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

, as well as the understanding of the Bible.

Baptists connected to KfG

The churches of the Missionsdienstes der Freien Baptisten and other free Baptist churches are associated with the ('Conference for Church Planting'; KfG). Around 30 congregations are affiliated.

Bibel-Baptisten

The ('Bible Baptists') include about 50 churches.

Reformed Baptists

The

Reformed Baptists Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith w ...

, who are strongly influenced by

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

, include about ten congregations in Germany.

Total statistics

The or REMID ('German Religious Studies Media and Information Service') gives a total membership for "Free Baptist and Mennonite congregations" of about 290,000 in "550 free congregations" in 2012. According to this, most members come from the area of the former Soviet Union. Apart from the fact that these are explicitly not only Baptists, this figure, with the exception of the Union of Evangelical Free Churches, likely also includes some if not all of the above-mentioned groupings.