Category:Germany
Germany is a country in Central Europe.
- See German -/- German language -/- German Scholarship -- German Scholars -/- German Fiction -- German Authors
Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Germany
Christianity spread very quickly since Roman times and grew to become the State religion in Germany. After the Reformation, the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. It ended with no winners. The "cuius regio, eius religio" principle ruled the relations between Catholics and Protestants until modern times.
Judaism also is attested in Germany since the 4th century, and in spite of periods of expulsion and persecution has maintained a strong and influential presence in German society up to the present. In the 19th century the emancipation integrated Jews in German society; the Holocaust, however, almost wiped out the once prosperous Jewish community of 600,000 people. Only after the reunification of Germany in the 1990s a significant Jewish presence has been reestablished in Germany, in particular thanks to the arrival of numerous immigrants from Eastern Europe.
The first groups of Muslims settled in Germany in the 18th century (in 1798 a Muslim cemetery was established in Berlin). Nazism did not oppose Islam and even tried to use it in support of its antisemitic policy. It was only in the 1960s and 1970s, however, that a massive immigration of workers from Turkey laid the foundations for one of the largest Muslim communities in Europe.
Contemporary times
Today, the majority of German population (60%) is Christian, equally divided between Roman Catholics (30%) and Protestants (30%), with some small Orthodox minorities.
Islam is the second religion in Germany (3%-4%) with an estimated population of around 4 millions; most of them are of Turkish origin.
200,000 Jews now living in Germany make German Jews one of the few growing Jewish communities in the world.
The German constitution grants full freedom to all religions.
External links
Pages in category "Germany"
The following 24 pages are in this category, out of 24 total.