Berkley Center

To an American student studying abroad in Germany, many rudiments of religious practice resemble those in the United States. The majority of religious Germans belong either to the Catholic Church (predominating in the southern and western regions) or to the Evangelical Church, the synod that encompasses several Protestant groups. Several religious minorities, most notably a Jewish minority centered in Berlin and a largely Turkish Muslim minority, exist.

As in many Western countries, a substantial part of the population professes themselves non-religious, a trend of concern to religious leaders (like the German-born Pope Benedict XVI), who decry the growing influence of secularism in general. Catholics and Protestants alike still celebrate the major Christian holidays with vigor, and the influence of tradition, organized labor, and a strong Christian Democratic Party have made sure that Sunday remains a day of rest in Germany so far, when boutiques and grocery stores keep their doors closed. As an American with a German mother, I have spent time in various regions in Germany and occasional attended services. Still, Kirchensteuer (“church tax”), the 8 to 9 percent of their total income tax that church members must pay to their denominations, was not something that I thought about until recently. Indeed, most Germans (my grandmother included) do not consciously think about the tax, viewing it as an integral part of the profession of one's faith, without which the fundamental Christian ceremonies— of baptism, confirmation, marriage, and burial— would not take place.

The institution of Kirchensteuer differentiates the German religious culture from the American religious ethos, dominated by the concepts of the non-profit institution and the collection plate. Professing a religion in Germany is, as in the United States, something one usually inherits from one's parents; however, in Germany, that inheritance means that the parents pay the Kirchensteuer for their children until the children have an income of their own. While paying a tax probably would not dissuade those accustomed to belonging to a religious community, it might influence the religious affiliation of the large number of Germans who choose to participate only marginally in organized religion. To cease paying the tax, citizens may formally renounce their religious conviction. If a Konfessionslose (a person who does not belong to a specific church community) then wishes their children to participate in Christian rites, those could technically be denied.

Although the idea of a church tax has roots in the sociopolitical history of the German principalities, one might question the manner in which the direct taxation integrates religion into modern German society. If one considers religion to be an asset to the social fabric, one might laud the manner in which the community helps support an internal social network. Largely because of the tax, many German dioceses are quite prosperous. In the German system, the church becomes a mini-economy with a substantial array of social, religious, and educational offerings, rather than limiting itself to spiritual guidance and belief. While the collection plate is a far from perfect institution that provides a looser, more localized, organizational structure in the United States, it appears to support a broader basis for individual religious belief.