Hinduism in Germany

German Hindus
Sri Kamakshi Amman temple in Hamm
Total population
c.130,000 (2017)
Religions
Shaivism (majority)
Vaishnavism, Shaktism (minority)
Scriptures
Agamas, Bhagavad Gita and Vedas
Languages
Sanskrit (sacred)
Hindi, Tamil, Pashto, Dari, Balinese, German, English (Majority)

Hinduism is a minority religion practiced by an estimated 100,000 to 150,0000 people, or an estimated 0.12% of the population in Germany.[1]

It is the country’s fourth-largest religion after Christianity, irreligion, and Islam. The community is highly diverse, consisting primarily of Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus (refugees since the 1980s), Indian Hindus (post-1950s migrants and recent skilled workers), smaller Afghan Hindu and Balinese groups, and a modest number of German/European converts.[2][1]

Germany's encounter with Hinduism has a unique history. Unlike Britain's colonial relationship with India, Germany’s engagement with Hinduism grew mainly out of academic and philosophical fascination.[3]

History

German Indology and Hindu Philosophy

German interest in Hinduism first grew out of the Romantic movement's deep fascination with ancient India. Indian literature captured the imagination of writers and thinkers. In 1791, Georg Forster published the first German translation of Kālidāsa’s famous play Śākuntalā (based on William Jones's English version). This work captivated major literary figures, including Johann Gottfried Herder and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who famously wrote an epigram praising the drama.[4][5][6] In 1808 Friedrich Schlegel’s Über die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier (On the Language and Wisdom of the Indians) argued that Sanskrit was the root of a shared Indo-European language family. This theory shaped European intellectual thought and helped drive the creation of formal academic departments for Indological research.[7][8]

Freidrich Max Mueller and the translation of the Vedas

Friedrich Max Müller (1823–1900), born in Dessau, was one of the leading scholars who introduced ancient Hindu texts to European audiences.[9] After studying Sanskrit under Franz Bopp in Berlin and Eugène Burnouf in Paris, he moved to England in 1846. With patronage from the East India Company, he produced the first critical edition of the Rigveda (including Sāyaṇa's 14th-century commentary), published in six volumes between 1849 and 1874. He later edited the Sacred Books of the East (1879–1910), a 50-volume series of English translations of major religious texts from Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and other Asian traditions.[10][11]

Demographics

From the 1950s, Indian Hindus were migrating to Germany. Since the 1970s, Tamils from Sri Lanka arrived as asylum seekers to Germany (most of them were Hindus). In 2000, there were 90,000 Hindus in Germany.[12] In 2007, there were 6,000 Hindus in Berlin, and in 2009, around 5,000 Hindus lived in Lower Saxony.[13][14]

According to the statistics of REMID,[15] in 2017 there were an estimated 130,000-150,000 Hindus in Germany. About 42,000–45,000 were Sri Lankan Tamils; 60,000–80,000 were Indian; more than 7,500 were from a white and other ethnicities; and some 7,000–10,000 were Afghan Hindus.

Temples

Main article: List of Hindu temples in Germany
  • Sri Muthumariamman Temple
  • Britz Blaschkoallee Sri Mayurapathy Murugan Temple
  • Sri Kamakshi Amman temple in Hamm

Denominations and organizations

Germany has over 50–100 Hindu temples and worship sites, the large majority are Tamil. Many began as makeshift spaces and evolved into purpose-built structures.[16]

ISKCON

The first Hare Krishna temple in Germany was built 1970 in Hamburg. The ISKCON guru Sacinandana Swami translated the Bhagavad Gita into German.[17]

Balinese Hinduism

Further information: Balinese Hinduism

There are about 700 Balinese Hindu families living in Germany,[18] with the one temple located in Hamburg in front of the Museum of Ethnology, Hamburg and the second, Pura Tri Hita Karana located in Erholungspark Marzahn, Berlin, which is a functioning Hindu temple located in the Balinese Garden of the park and it is one of the few Hindu temples of Balinese architecture built outside Indonesia.[19][20]

Notable German Hindus

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Mitgliederzahlen: Hinduismus - REMID" (in German). 13 March 2026. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  2. ^ "Religionszugehörigkeiten 2023". fowid.de (in German). 28 August 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  3. ^ McGetchin, Douglas T. (2009). Indology, Indomania, and orientalism: ancient India's rebirth in modern Germany. Madison [N.J.]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 55–101. ISBN 978-0-8386-4208-5.
  4. ^ Stanyon, Blake (16 March 2021). "Intoxicating Dreams: German Orientalism". Close Encounters With Music. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  5. ^ Marchand, Suzanne L. (2010). German orientalism in the age of empire: religion, race, and scholarship. Publications of the German Historical Institute. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 59–61. ISBN 978-0-521-16907-3.
  6. ^ Chandra, Dr Prem Lata; Mishra, Abhay Kumar (2024). "Shakuntala, critique of eurocentrism, and the grotesque: Herder and Goethe on India". International Journal of Humanities and Arts. 6 (2): 15–21. doi:10.33545/26647699.2024.v6.i2a.84. ISSN 2664-7702.
  7. ^ Schlegel, Friedrich von (1808). Ueber die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier: Ein Beitrag zur Begründung der Alterthumskunde. Cambridge Library Collection - Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-06786-7. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  8. ^ Germana, Nicholas A. (2009). The Orient of Europe: the mythical image of India and competing images of German national identity. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars. pp. 122–131. ISBN 978-1-4438-0192-8.
  9. ^ Fynes, R. C. C. (23 September 2004), "Müller, Friedrich Max (1823–1900), Sanskritist and philologist", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18394, ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8, retrieved 17 March 2026{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  10. ^ Molendijk, Arie L. (4 August 2016). Friedrich Max Müller and the Sacred Books of the East. Oxford University Press. pp. 162–186. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198784234.003.0007. ISBN 978-0-19-878423-4.
  11. ^ Molendijk, Arie L. (2016-09). "Forgotten Bibles: Friedrich Max Müller's Edition of the Sacred Books of the East". Publications of the English Goethe Society. 85 (2–3): 159–169. doi:10.1080/09593683.2016.1224507. ISSN 0959-3683. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Martin Baumann (April 2001). "Disputed Space for Beloved Goddesses". Martin Baumann (2001 International Conference at LSE). Archived from the original on 14 June 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  13. ^ "Construction Starts on Berlin's First Hindu Temple". Spiegel Online. Germany. 11 February 2007.
  14. ^ "A New Hindu Temple for Germany". Spiegel Online. Germany. 23 March 2009.
  15. ^ "Mitgliederzahlen: Hinduismus – REMID – Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst e.V." (in German). Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  16. ^ Jacobsen, Knut A.; Sardella, Ferdinando (23 July 2020). Handbook of Hinduism in Europe (2 vols). BRILL. pp. 1020–1040. doi:10.1163/9789004432284_049. ISBN 978-90-04-43228-4.
  17. ^ "First translation of the Gita". The Hindu. 11 November 2017. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Feature: The Hindu Diaspora within Continental Europe". Hinduism Today. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  19. ^ Blogger, Balinese (28 September 2008). "Bali "The Truly Of Paradise": The First Temple in Hamburg Germany". Bali "The Truly Of Paradise". Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Balinese Hinduism in Germany". Bali blogs.
  • "Hindus opposing EU swastika ban". BBC News. 17 January 2007.
  • Media related to Hinduism in Germany at Wikimedia Commons
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