I was asked to talk about religion. Religion in Germany. As is so often necessary to distinguish this topic from East Germany and West Germany. For in East Germany, so in the former GDR, the government had an anti-religious attitude. Therefore, today, 68 percent of East Germans are not religious. More precisely, they belong to no church. Whether they have a belief in itself is difficult to research. In West Germany, this figure looks very different: there are only 15 percent belong to any religious community. People like me.
Most Germans are Christians. A third of Germans are Catholic, one third are Protestants, Protestants so. The rest belongs to none of these communities. One can recognize a territorial subdivision: The north of Germany is more Protestant, the Catholic south.
Of course there are other denominations in Germany, there are Jews or Orthodox Christians, Baptists and Jehovah's Witnesses, but their number is very small. After the Catholics and Protestants there are in Germany, especially Muslims, they account for four percent of the population. This is because in the 60s there were many guest workers from Turkey to Germany and are still here.
The Christian churches in Germany have worried. More and more people come out of the church, is they do not want to officially belong to this religious community. This not only spiritual problems for the Church, but also financial. For each of the faithful in Germany pays the so-called church tax. You will be confiscated by the state with the other taxes and distributed to the churches. Of this money will be mainly financed social services, and church nurseries, nursing homes and other care facilities. The more people leave the church, the less people pay church tax.
It is important to church attendance for most Christians at Christmas or Easter. Here, then, the festival is celebrated each in size. Few Germans, however, go to church every Sunday.
In a city like Munich, the Catholic Church is everywhere. This means it is everywhere. Especially in the old city are numerous Catholic churches, old buildings, which are very ornate. Even the symbol of Munich, the Frauenkirche, a church with two towers. On the hour, ringing church bells can be heard everywhere. For me it's a beautiful sound, even though I'm not a believer. Religion has indeed been separated since 1919 in the German Constitution of the state, but she always plays a role again. For example, there are many religious festivals in Germany, such as All Saints, of which I have already told you.
In many schools, courtrooms and crosses hanging on the wall. This triggered a few years ago from the so-called crucifix decision. If a child feels disturbed in his classroom from the cross, the cross must be removed. Was another legal fight over whether teachers and students in the school may wear headscarves, that is a clear sign of their Muslim religion.
At school there are also religious education that is compulsory for all students. Who does not want to go to the Catholic or Protestant teaching, instead of going into an ethics class today.
Today, some music of Cat-music , the song is called mental cinema. Found in the Podsafe Music Network.
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I was asked to talk about religion. Religion in Germany. As is so often necessary to distinguish this topic from East Germany and West Germany. For in East Germany, so in the former GDR, the government had an anti-religious attitude. Therefore, today, 68 percent of East Germans are not religious. More precisely, they belong to no church. ...
