Religion in Berlin

Berliner Dom, held by a congregation and the Protestant umbrella UEK.

More than 60 percent of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation and Berlin has been described as the "atheist capital of Europe".^[1] As for the other nearly 40 percent, 30.5 percent identify with some form of Christianity, 8.1 percent are Muslim, 0.3 percent are Jewish, and 0.9 percent are another religion. Berlin is considered to contain one of the fastest growing Jewish communities in the world due to return migration of descendants of German Jews who fled the country during the Nazi regime.

There are many places of worship in Berlin for the variety of religions and denominations. For examples there are 36 Baptist congregations (within Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany), 15 United Methodist churches, six congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), an Old Catholic church and even an Anglican church. It also has among others, 76 mosques and two Buddhist temples.

Overview

The largest denominations as of 2010 are the Protestant regional church body of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO), a united church comprising mostly Lutheran, a few reformed and United Protestant congregations. EKBO is a member of both the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and Union Evangelischer Kirchen (UEK) claiming 18.7 percent of the city population.^[2] The Roman Catholic Church claims 9.1 percent of the city's registered members,^[2] and about 2.7 percent of the population identify with other Christian denominations, mostly Eastern Orthodox.^[3] Muslims make up 8.1 percent of the Berlin population.^[4] 0.9% of Berliners belong to other religions.^[5] Approximately 80 percent of the 12,000 registered Jews (0.3 percent of the total population;^[3] or up to 50,000)^[6] now residing in Berlin have come from the former Soviet Union (now Russia). Additionally, Berlin is considered to contain one of the fastest growing Jewish communities in the world due to Russian, Israeli and German Jewish immigrants, whose ancestors fled Germany during the Holocaust of World War II.^[7][8]

Berlin is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin; the EKBO's elected chairperson is called a bishop. Berlin is also the seat of Orthodox cathedrals, such as the Cathedral of St. Boris the Baptist, one of the two seats of the Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of Western and Central Europe, and the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral of the Diocese of Berlin (Patriarchate of Moscow).

The faithful of the other religions and denominations maintain many places of worship in Berlin. The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church has eight parishes of different sizes in Berlin.^[9] There are 36 Baptist congregations (within Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany), 29 New Apostolic Churches, 15 United Methodist churches, eight Free Evangelical Congregations, six congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), an Old Catholic church and an Anglican church in Berlin.

Berlin also has 76 mosques, eleven synagogues, and two Buddhist temples. There are also a number of humanist and atheist groups in the city.

See also

• List of places of worship in Berlin

References

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