Erlangen is an example of change in society. In this city of 119,000 inhabitants in northern Bavaria, a lot is happening at the same time. Preparations are underway for a new synagogue for which the State of Bavaria has provided a plot of land near the university. Two major mosques in the city are planning expansion. And in a suburb of the city, an organization has purchased land to build a Shiva-Vishnu temple for the Hindu community.
Sylvia Klein, who heads Erlangen’s integration and diversity department, highlights the city’s rich mix of cultures, languages and religions. When it comes to the temple project, she points to the organization “Hindu Temple Franken”. Using donations, its own funds and loans, the group purchased the land, and construction is expected to begin before 2027.
There are many Indian students in Erlangen
Klein says the university now has more than 2,000 students from India. The association itself states that the Indian community is the largest non-German population group in Erlangen.
The city is a clear example of how religious diversity is visible in the urban landscape in Germany. Of course, established churches still exist: Catholic and Protestant houses of worship, along with a Greek Orthodox and a Russian Orthodox church.
Just three years earlier, the Coptic Church had taken over a former Catholic house of worship in the city’s Brook district. “Saints Peter and Paul” became the Coptic Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint Mary and the Holy Apostles. “At first we had 18 families with 50 or 60 members. Today there are about 60 families with 200 people living in them,” Coptic deacon Ragai Edward Mattaka told DW. And the numbers are increasing. Other 40 students also belong to the troupe.
In contrast, Germany’s major Christian churches are shrinking. Only a few years ago, more than half of all Germans still identified as Christian. Today, about 36.6 million people belong to the Catholic or Protestant Church – about 44% of the country’s 83.5 million inhabitants. Increasingly, Catholic and Protestant churches are being closed, rebuilt, or downsized.
According to Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, there were more than 5.3 million Muslims living in the country as of 2020. According to a 2024 survey of Protestant churches, about 3.8 million Orthodox Christians live in Germany. It also includes Jews, Buddhists, Baha’is – and a growing number of Hindus. For all these groups, the available figures are only estimates rather than exact calculations.
New houses of worship in German cities
One thing is clear: Germany’s urban religious landscape is becoming more diverse. That change is reflected in the construction of new houses of worship. It is almost impossible to estimate how many such buildings exist.
In the summer of 2024, Buddhist nuns opened a major new temple in Berlin-Mitte. As of now, there are about 20 Buddhist monasteries across the country.
In June 2026, Germany’s largest Hindu temple is scheduled to open in Berlin. Private individuals began planning the project in 2004 and began construction around 2010. “We are a growing community,” Vilanathan Krishnamurthy, who has run the project since its inception, told DW. According to official data, the number of Berlin residents with Indian citizenship is expected to increase more than tenfold to more than 41,000 between 2014 and 2024.
Krishnamurti emphasizes the importance of the temple: “There is a longing for a religious center where young people can meet.” For many parents in India, the existence of such a place provides reassurance and eases their worries about their children living away from home.
At the temple in Erlangen, many committed members work as engineers or managers, including Siemens. In Berlin, Amazon is one of the frequent employers. At both temples, donation levels have increased in recent years.
The construction of Hindu temples is becoming increasingly common. In Frankfurt am Main alone, there are more than half a dozen small temple locations. Cologne, Hamburg, Munich and Berlin all have several temples. They represent a variety of religious traditions and origins, including Indian, Tamil and Afghan communities.
The construction of Hindu temples is increasing. In Frankfurt am Main alone, there are more than half a dozen small temple locations. Cologne, Hamburg, Munich and Berlin all have several too. They represent different religious traditions or origins – for example, Indian, Tamil or Afghan communities.
According to the Turkish-Islamic Association for Religious Affairs (DITIB), the organization includes 862 mosque congregations in Germany. They report directly to the powerful Religious Affairs Presidency (Diyanet) in Ankara, which is subordinate to the Turkish President. It appears that some new construction projects in Germany are on hold. For example, in Krefeld, the planned mosque – once declared the third largest in the country – has remained an incomplete construction site for several years.
The Ahmadiyya community, which hails from Pakistan and faces persecution there, also opens several mosques in Germany each year – most recently in Erfurt in mid-February. Unlike DITIB, it emphasizes openness and being willing to speak. A building in Nordhorn was also opened in December 2025. Suleiman Malik, a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya community in Erfurt, told DW that construction was underway in Husum in northern Germany. Not all projects are new construction; Sometimes, the community also takes over buildings that were previously owned by church institutions.
Tourists inspect the mosque
In Erfurt, the building shell was repeatedly targeted with threats and attacks. Now, Malik tells DW with pride that he leads visitor groups to the campus almost every day — school classes as well as senior citizens, all of them with keen interest.
Among the mosques experiencing growth is the independent “Peace Mosque” in Erlangen, which is moving forward with its expansion. Visitors there encounter worshipers from diverse Muslim cultural backgrounds and sermons delivered in the German language.
There are new construction projects on the Jewish side as well. There are now Jewish houses of worship in all German state capitals, with new synagogues in Magdeburg (opened in 2023) and Potsdam (opened in 2024). There are other buildings along the way. In Erlangen, the long-awaited new synagogue project is gaining momentum. In Berlin, the Chabad community plans to significantly expand its synagogue in the near future. Many liberal Jewish communities, including those in Munich, have also been working on construction plans for years.
At the same time, another construction project is taking shape – one that stands to become a powerful symbol of Jewish life in Germany. In the heart of Frankfurt, in the shadow of the Messeturm, the “Jewish Academy” is scheduled to open in November 2026. The complex combines a historic, historically-preserved villa with a modern new building inspired by Bauhaus design. In 2021, the project was estimated to cost €34.5 million ($40 million).
The number of Orthodox congregations is increasing in Germany. And it is no longer just a matter of taking over disused churches or former monastery complexes, as the Copts did in Erlangen. New constructions are also increasing. In June 2024, “St. Peter and Paul Parish” opened in Butzbach, Hesse – the first newly built church of the “Antiochian Orthodox Metropolis of Germany and Central Europe” anywhere in Europe. Its members are predominantly Christians with roots in present-day Syria.
Many Orthodox congregations – Syrian, Greek, Russian, Romanian, or Serbian – are occupying vacant church buildings across Germany.
And when they build from scratch, they quickly discover the quirks of German construction law. In Vilshofen an der Donau, in the far southeast of Bavaria, the Romanian Orthodox Church is planning a new house of worship. But for almost three years now, Father Marius Jidevan told DW, the building application has been languishing at the district office — and about 300 families from the parish are still waiting for a response. He says the community is frustrated with the delays.
This article was translated from German