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{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] --> | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} | |||
[[Hinduism]] is a minority religion in [[Germany]]. It is | {{Infobox religious group|group=German Hindus|flag = File:Aum_Om_red.svg | ||
[[ | | flag_size = 50px|image=Hamm_Hindutempel_Sri-Kamadchi-Ampal_Gopuram_1.jpg|image_caption=Sri Kamakshi Amman temple in [[Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia|Hamm]]|population=c.130,000 (2017)|religions=[[Shaivism]] (majority)<br/>[[Vaishnavism]], [[Shaktism]] (minority)|scriptures=[[Āgama (Hinduism)|Agamas]], [[Bhagavad Gita]] and [[Vedas]]|languages=[[Sanskrit]] (sacred)<br/>[[Hindi]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Pashto]], [[Dari]], [[Balinese language|Balinese]], [[German language|German]], [[English language|English]] (Majority)}}{{Hinduism by country}} | ||
[[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]].<ref name="REMID">{{Cite web |date=2026-03-13 |title=Mitgliederzahlen: Hinduismus - REMID |url=https://remid.de/info_zahlen/hinduismus/ |access-date=2026-03-01 |language=de}} </ref> | |||
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 [[Hinduism in Afghanistan|Afghan Hindu]] and [[Balinese Hinduism|Balinese]] groups, and a modest number of German/European converts.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-28 |title=Religionszugehörigkeiten 2023 |url=https://fowid.de/meldung/religionszugehoerigkeiten-2023 |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=fowid.de |language=de}}</ref><ref name="REMID"/> | |||
[[Germany]]'s encounter with [[Hinduism]] has a unique history. Unlike [[United Kingdom|Britain's]] colonial relationship with India, Germany’s engagement with Hinduism grew mainly out of academic and philosophical fascination.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGetchin |first=Douglas T. |title=Indology, Indomania, and orientalism: ancient India's rebirth in modern Germany |date=2009 |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press |isbn=978-0-8386-4208-5 |location=Madison [N.J.]|pages=55-101}}</ref> | |||
==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 [[Kalidasa|Kālidāsa’s]] famous play [[Shakuntala|Śākuntalā]] (based on [[William Jones (philologist)|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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stanyon |first=Blake |date=2021-03-16 |title=Intoxicating Dreams: German Orientalism |url=https://cewm.org/magazine-articles/intoxicating-dreams-german-orientalism/ |access-date=2026-03-08 |website=Close Encounters With Music |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Marchand |first=Suzanne L. |title=German orientalism in the age of empire: religion, race, and scholarship |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-16907-3 |edition= |series=Publications of the German Historical Institute |location=Cambridge |pages=59-61}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chandra |first=Dr Prem Lata |last2=Mishra |first2=Abhay Kumar |date=2024 |title=Shakuntala, critique of eurocentrism, and the grotesque: Herder and Goethe on India |url=https://www.humanitiesjournals.net/archives/2024.v6.i2.A.84/shakuntala-critique-of-eurocentrism-and-the-grotesque-herder-and-goethe-on-india |journal=International Journal of Humanities and Arts |language=en |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=15–21 |doi=10.33545/26647699.2024.v6.i2a.84 |issn=2664-7702}}</ref> 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 languages|Indo-European language family]]. This theory shaped [[Europe|European]] intellectual thought and helped drive the creation of formal academic departments for [[Indology|Indological research]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schlegel |first=Friedrich von |title=Ueber die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier: Ein Beitrag zur Begründung der Alterthumskunde |date=1808 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-06786-7 |series=Cambridge Library Collection - Linguistics |location=Cambridge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Germana |first=Nicholas A. |title=The Orient of Europe: the mythical image of India and competing images of German national identity |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars |isbn=978-1-4438-0192-8 |location=Newcastle|pages=122-131}}</ref> | |||
=== 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.<ref>{{Citation |last=Fynes |first=R. C. C. |title=Müller, Friedrich Max (1823–1900), Sanskritist and philologist |date=2004-09-23 |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-18394 |access-date=2026-03-17 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/18394 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Molendijk |first=Arie L. |url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198784234.001.0001/acprof-9780198784234 |title=Friedrich Max Müller and the Sacred Books of the East |date=2016-08-04 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-878423-4 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198784234.003.0007|pages=162-186}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Molendijk |first=Arie L. |date=September 2016 |title=Forgotten Bibles: Friedrich Max Müller’s Edition of the Sacred Books of the East |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09593683.2016.1224507 |journal=Publications of the English Goethe Society |language=en |volume=85 |issue=2-3 |pages=159–169 |doi=10.1080/09593683.2016.1224507 |issn=0959-3683}}</ref> | |||
==Demographics== | ==Demographics== | ||
The first significant wave of [[Hindus|Hindu]] immigration to Germany began in the 1950s. 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baumann-martin.de/london-paper.htm|title=Disputed Space for Beloved Goddesses|author=Martin Baumann|date=April 2001|publisher=Martin Baumann (2001 International Conference at LSE)|access-date=24 July 2012|archive-date=14 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160614073216/http://www.baumann-martin.de/london-paper.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2007, there were 6,000 Hindus in Berlin, and in 2009, around 5,000 Hindus lived in [[Lower Saxony]].<ref>{{cite news |date=11 February 2007 |title=Construction Starts on Berlin's First Hindu Temple |newspaper=Spiegel Online |location=Germany |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-home-for-ganesha-construction-starts-on-berlin-s-first-hindu-temple-a-515011.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=A New Hindu Temple for Germany|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/fire-ceremony-in-hanover-a-new-hindu-temple-for-germany-a-614948.html|newspaper=Spiegel Online|date=23 March 2009|location=Germany}}</ref> | |||
In 2007, there were 6,000 Hindus in Berlin.<ref>{{cite news|title=Construction Starts on Berlin's First Hindu Temple|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-home-for-ganesha-construction-starts-on-berlin-s-first-hindu-temple-a-515011.html | |||
According to the statistics of REMID,<ref>https://www.remid.de/info_zahlen/hinduismus/</ref> in | According to the statistics of REMID,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mitgliederzahlen: Hinduismus – REMID – Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst e.V.|url=https://www.remid.de/info_zahlen/hinduismus/|access-date=2021-07-12|language=de-DE|archive-date=13 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013144444/https://www.remid.de/info_zahlen/hinduismus/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 [[Indians in Germany|Indian]]; more than 7,500 were from a white and other ethnicities; and some 7,000–10,000 were [[Afghan Hindus]]. | ||
== | == Temples == | ||
{{Main|List of Hindu temples in Germany}} | |||
<gallery mode="packed"> | |||
File:Sri Muthumariamman Tempel 2020 a.jpg|Sri Muthumariamman Temple | |||
File:Britz Blaschkoallee Sri-Mayurapathy-Murugan-Tempel.JPG|Britz Blaschkoallee Sri Mayurapathy Murugan Temple | |||
File:Hamm Hindutempel Sri-Kamadchi-Ampal Gopuram 1.jpg|Sri Kamakshi Amman temple in [[Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia|Hamm]] | |||
</gallery> | |||
==Balinese Hinduism== | == Denominations and organizations == | ||
Germany has over 50–100 Hindu temples and worship sites, the large majority are [[Tamils|Tamil]]. Many began as makeshift spaces and evolved into purpose-built structures.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobsen |first=Knut A. |url=https://brill.com/view/title/56478 |title=Handbook of Hinduism in Europe (2 vols) |last2=Sardella |first2=Ferdinando |date=2020-07-23 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-43228-4 |doi=10.1163/9789004432284_049|pages=1020-1040}}</ref> | |||
===ISKCON=== | |||
The first [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishna]] temple in Germany was built 1970 in [[Hamburg]]. The ISKCON guru [[Sacinandana Swami]] translated the [[Bhagavad Gita]] into German.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2017-11-11|title=First translation of the Gita|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/first-translation-of-the-gita/article20104419.ece|access-date=2021-07-12|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> | |||
===Balinese Hinduism=== | |||
{{see|Balinese Hinduism}} | {{see|Balinese Hinduism}} | ||
There are about 700 [[Balinese Hinduism|Balinese Hindu]] families living in Germany,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-01-01|title=Feature: The Hindu Diaspora within Continental Europe|url=https://www.hinduismtoday.com/magazine/january-february-march-2014/2014-01-special-feature-the-hindu-diaspora-within-continental-europe/|access-date=2021-07-12|website=Hinduism Today|language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Blogger|first=Balinese|date=2008-09-28|title=Bali "The Truly Of Paradise": The First Temple in Hamburg Germany|url=http://balinesehome.blogspot.com/2008/09/first-temple-in-hamburg-germany.html|access-date=2021-07-12|website=Bali "The Truly Of Paradise"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Balinese Hinduism in Germany|url=http://blog.baliwww.com/religion/1751|website=Bali blogs}}</ref> | |||
There are about 700 Balinese Hindu families<ref>https://www.hinduismtoday.com/ | |||
== | ==Notable German Hindus== | ||
*[[Claudia Ciesla]] | *[[Claudia Ciesla]], [[Bollywood]] actress | ||
*[[Walther Eidlitz]] | *[[Walther Eidlitz]], writer, poet, [[Indologist]] | ||
*[[Hansadutta Swami]] | *[[Hansadutta Swami]] | ||
*[[Mother Meera]] | *[[Mother Meera]] | ||
| Line 34: | Line 54: | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* [[Indians in Germany]] | * [[Indians in Germany]] | ||
* [[ | * [[Religion in Germany]] | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
| Line 43: | Line 61: | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* {{Cite news |title=Hindus opposing EU swastika ban |url= | {{Portal|Germany|Hinduism|Religion|Europe | ||
}} | |||
* {{Cite news |title=Hindus opposing EU swastika ban |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6269627.stm |newspaper=[[BBC News]] |date=17 January 2007}} | |||
*{{Commons category-inline}} | |||
{{Hinduism in Europe}} | {{Hinduism in Europe}} | ||
[[Category:Hinduism in Germany| ]] | [[Category:Hinduism in Germany| ]] | ||
Latest revision as of 10:45, 23 March 2026
 | |
 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 by country |
|---|
  |
| Full list |
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[edit | edit source]
German Indology and Hindu Philosophy[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
The first significant wave of Hindu immigration to Germany began in the 1950s. 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[edit | edit source]
-
Sri Muthumariamman Temple -
Britz Blaschkoallee Sri Mayurapathy Murugan Temple -
Sri Kamakshi Amman temple in Hamm
Denominations and organizations[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
- Claudia Ciesla, Bollywood actress
- Walther Eidlitz, writer, poet, Indologist
- Hansadutta Swami
- Mother Meera
- Siva Sri Paskarakurukkal
- Mathias Rust
- Sadananda
- Sacinandana Swami
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Mitgliederzahlen: Hinduismus - REMID" (in Deutsch). 13 March 2026. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
- ↑ "Religionszugehörigkeiten 2023". fowid.de (in Deutsch). 28 August 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Stanyon, Blake (16 March 2021). "Intoxicating Dreams: German Orientalism". Close Encounters With Music. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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) - ↑ 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.
- ↑ Molendijk, Arie L. (September 2016). "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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Construction Starts on Berlin's First Hindu Temple". Spiegel Online. Germany. 11 February 2007.
- ↑ "A New Hindu Temple for Germany". Spiegel Online. Germany. 23 March 2009.
- ↑ "Mitgliederzahlen: Hinduismus – REMID – Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst e.V." (in Deutsch). Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "First translation of the Gita". The Hindu. 11 November 2017. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ↑ "Feature: The Hindu Diaspora within Continental Europe". Hinduism Today. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Balinese Hinduism in Germany". Bali blogs.
External links[edit | edit source]
- "Hindus opposing EU swastika ban". BBC News. 17 January 2007.