Congregations in Germany: Mapping of organizations, beliefs, activities, and relations: The case study of Hamburg

Abstract

Because of the secularization thesis and the assumption of the de-institutionalization of religion that had been thought to be valid for a long time, it was primarily either the great trends of religious developments in a macro-perspective or individual religiosity in a micro-perspective that were dealt with in German sociology of religion. In contrast, the meso-level of social forms of religion including the congregations remained unconsidered for a long time. This is not only contrary to their numerical strength - with nearly 14,200 Protestant, 10,300 Catholic and a hardly comprehensible number of congregations of the many different Christian denominations as well as about 130 Jewish, more than 2,200 Muslim and 100 Alevi, several hundred Buddhist and Hindu, about 30 Sikh and a few hundred Bahá'í congregations throughout Germany - but also to the high expectations that are addressed to them, especially in the course of the increasing religious pluralization. Drawing on a locally representative study of congregations the paper maps the religious landscape in Hamburg in view of main characteristics such organization, activities, beliefs and networks. In view of the city's self description of being the "capital of interreligious dialogue" special attention is given to the interreligious practice and networks of congregations and thus their bridge building potential.