Pse është Berlini kryeqyteti i fesë?

2024-07-28 09:21:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

With around 3.6 million inhabitants (data from May 2022), the German capital is the largest city in the Federal Republic of Germany. But Berlin is also a kind of capital of religions. At the same time, it must be said that the majority of Berliners do not belong to any religious community at all. This is true for three quarters of Berliners. According to some estimates, there are more than 250 different religious communities in the city, that is, communities with a specific view of the world.

The two largest groups in Berlin are members of the Evangelical and Catholic churches. According to official data, at the end of 2023 there were exactly 468,925 Protestants in Berlin. Ten years ago, there were about 625,000 of them in Berlin. The Catholic Church in Berlin has 275,399 believers. Ten years ago, there were more than 330 thousand of them.

More and more orthodox

For other religious communities in Berlin, such precise data do not exist or are not recorded. In addition to the approximately 744,000 Christians, i.e. believers who are members of the two largest churches, there are also Christians who are members of other faiths living in Berlin. The largest group is the Orthodox, whose numbers have increased in the last decade. In addition to Christians from countries where Orthodoxy dominates, mainly in the Central and Eastern European area, this applies especially to people who fled from Middle Eastern countries in recent years.

A noticeable increase in membership in recent times has been marked especially by those church communities that have roots traditionally in Syria or Iraq, but also in Ukraine. Even representatives of the Ukrainian church in Berlin could not state at least an approximate number of Orthodox Christians from that country, i.e. people currently living in Berlin because of Russian aggression against their homeland, when asked by a journalist.

After the Christian communities, the largest group of believers in Berlin is made up of Muslims. The latest scientific research, the results of which are still often cited in public, say that in 2018, between 250 and 300 thousand people of the Islamic religion lived in Berlin. In addition to Sunnis and Shiites, there is also a smaller community of traditional Ahmadiyya Muslims in Berlin. The oldest Islamic temple of God was built in 1924, it is a representative mosque of the Ahmadi community, located in Wilmersdorf.

Berlin's Jewish community claims 10,000 members, and there are probably several thousand other Jews in the city who are not officially "registered". One of the spokespersons considers the estimate that 20,000 Jews live in Berlin to be "completely exaggerated". At the same time, many observers estimate that many more members of the Jewish community live in the capital.

In some urban areas, there has been a recent increase in the number of immigrants from India. Due to this, the Hindu community in the city will probably grow. Their number, like the number of Buddhists, is estimated at about 5000-7000.

Hundreds of churches...

Just as there is a variety of religious affiliations, there is also a veritable wealth of different holy buildings in Berlin. According to the Evangelical Church (as of July 2024), there are exactly 200 Protestant churches in Berlin. According to the Archdiocese of Berlin, the Catholic Church has 106 churches in the city area. In addition, there are many other places of worship in Berlin, such as the chapel at the Olympic Stadium or the chapel at Berlin Airport, which are used ecumenically, that is, by members of the two largest Christian communities.

The number of Orthodox houses of God has increased significantly in the last decade. These are mostly reused buildings, ie churches that were previously used by Protestants and Catholics. As for Muslims, the situation has not changed since 2018 – there are still seven mosques, or about 90 different places for prayer. The Jewish community says there are eight synagogues in the city. The most representative religious buildings that have been built in recent years are the Buddhist temple of the Fo-Guang-Shan movement (opened in June this year) and the Hindu temple that is currently in the process of completion. The facility is located between Kreuzberg and Neukölln and should open in September 2024./ DW