Irreligion is prevalent in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Following near universal adoption of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, religious traditions in Germany were weakened by the rule of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the subsequent rule of the Socialist Unity Party in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. As of 2021, approximately 42% of Germans are irreligious, with a significantly higher concentration of irreligious citizens in East Germany. Eastern Germany, which was historically Protestant, is perhaps the least religious region in the world.

History

One early irreligious German philosopher was

Ludwig Feuerbach Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach (; 28 July 1804 – 13 September 1872) was a German anthropologist and philosopher, best known for his book '' The Essence of Christianity'', which provided a critique of Christianity that strongly influenced gene ...

, who developed a theory of

anthropological materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materialism ...

in his book ''

The Essence of Christianity ''The Essence of Christianity'' (german: Das Wesen des Christentums; historical orthography: ''Das Weſen des Chriſtenthums'') is a book by Ludwig Feuerbach first published in 1841. It explains Feuerbach's philosophy and critique of religion. ...

''. Feuerbach's work influenced contemporaries

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Freethought movement gained support in Germany during the 19th century. The secular coming of age ceremony

Jugendweihe Jugendweihe (''Youth consecration'') or Jugendfeier (''Youth ceremony'') is a secular coming of age ceremony practised by Germany, German 14-year-olds. It originated among the secular societies in the 19th century as an alternative to Confirmatio ...

was developed in the 1850s, and

Ludwig Büchner Friedrich Karl Christian Ludwig Büchner (29 March 1824 – 30 April 1899) was a German philosopher, physiologist and physician who became one of the exponents of 19th-century scientific materialism. Biography Büchner was born at Darmstadt on ...

founded the

German Freethinkers League The German Freethinkers League ('Deutscher Freidenkerbund') was an organization founded in the late 19th century by German freethinkers and atheists with the main goal to oppose the power of the state churches in Germany. Its aim was to provide a ...

in 1881. After its unification in the 1870s, the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

sought to resist attempts by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

to impose its authority over the empire's sovereignty. During the Kulturkampf, Germany passed several laws that limited the power of religious authorities over the state.

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

was a notable voice in German irreligion at this time, famously declaring that "

God is dead "God is dead" (German: ; also known as the death of God) is a statement made by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche's first use of this statement is his 1882 ''The Gay Science'', where it appears three times. The phrase also app ...

" in his works ''

The Gay Science ''The Gay Science'' (german: Die fröhliche Wissenschaft), sometimes translated as ''The Joyful Wisdom'' or ''The Joyous Science'', is a book by Friedrich Nietzsche published in 1882, and followed by a second edition in 1887 after the completio ...

'' and ''

Thus Spoke Zarathustra ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None'' (german: Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen), also translated as ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', is a work of philosophical fiction written by German philosopher Friedrich Niet ...

'', predicting further growth of irreligion as a result of Enlightenment ideas. The

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

guaranteed freedom of religion when its

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

came into force in 1919. After the Nazi Party took control of the country in 1933, constitutional protections were ignored in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Secular and Freethought movements were banned, including the German Freethinkers League, which by then had grown to about 500,000 members. By 1939, 1.5% of Germans were irreligious. After

, Germany was divided into East and West Germany. While West Germany allowed for religious protections, East Germany enacted a system of state atheism and persecuted Christian groups for the first several years of its existence, resulting in East Germany having significantly higher levels of irreligion than West Germany. This divide persisted after the German reunification and still exists today.

Demographics

A 2020 estimate shows that 40.7% of the German population were non-confessional and not members of any religious group. Christianity still has a notable presence in Western Germany, though a majority of the population in the northern states of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and Bremen are not registered members of the main Catholic and Protestant churches. When taken overall, Germany is one of the least religious countries. As of 2009, more Germans are non-believers in

Eastern Germany The new states of Germany () are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 states upon German reunification on 3 October 1990. The new st ...

than

Western Germany The old states of Germany (german: die alten Länder) is a jargon referring to the ten of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) that were part of West Germany and that unified with the eastern German Democratic Republic' ...

. Eastern Germany, which was historically Protestant, is perhaps the least religious region in the world. An explanation for this, popular in other regions, is the aggressive state atheist policies of the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

. However, the enforcement of atheism existed only for the first few years. After that, the state allowed churches to have a relatively high level of autonomy. Atheism is embraced by Germans of all ages, though irreligion is particularly common among younger Germans. One study in September 2012 was unable to find a single person under 28 who believes in God.

References

{{Europe topic, Irreligion in Religion in Germany

History

Demographics

See also

References