GERMANY - Religious Diversity Is In

As Germany’s Christian following declines and churches stand empty, new Muslim, Jewish and Hindu places of worship are emerging, reshaping the country’s religious landscape.

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.

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.

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.

“We are a growing community,” Vilwanathan Krishnamurthy, who has driven the project from the beginning, told DW. According to official figures, the number of Berlin residents with Indian citizenship increased more than tenfold between 2014 and 2024, reaching over 41,000.

-www.dw.com, 5 April 2026

Commentary: When looking at religion, the tendency is diversity, due in large part to globalism. The continuous decline in membership in the Catholic and Lutheran churches, is a contributing factor toward the increased share of other religions.

However, thankfully, we repeatedly hear of growing churches that welcome immigrants. We must remember that immigrants who move to industrialized nations for better economic prospects are also often disillusioned by their native government, culture, and religion, and are thus receptive to the Gospel. Instead of complaining about immigrants, it behooves us as believers to instead take advantage of this missionary field brought to our doorstep.

When looking at Buddhism, the beginning stage is none other than bodily exercise—yoga. But that’s not the end, just the beginning.

A Google search reveals: “The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to attain Nirvana (or Nibbana), the highest state of liberation, peace, and enlightenment. It signifies the total cessation of suffering (dukkha), the elimination of greed, hatred, and delusion, and the end of the cycle of rebirth (samsara).”

Similarly, “The ultimate goal of Hinduism is Moksha, which is liberation from samsara—the continuous cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation—and unification of the soul (Atman) with the ultimate reality (Brahman).”

Quite contrary is Biblical Christianity. Here we use Google’s definition: “The ultimate goal of Christianity is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, achieved by being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, cultivating a loving relationship with Him, and bringing His Kingdom/will to bear on Earth.”

There is a choice: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

(See Luther’s View of the End Time, Item #1086, $9.95.)