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{{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==
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>

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>

== 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}}
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>

==Notable German Hindus==

*[[Claudia Ciesla]], [[Bollywood]] actress
*[[Walther Eidlitz]], writer, poet, [[Indologist]]
*[[Hansadutta Swami]]
*[[Mother Meera]]
*[[Siva Sri Paskarakurukkal]]
*[[Mathias Rust]]
*[[Sadananda]]
*[[Sacinandana Swami]]

==See also==
* [[Indians in Germany]]
* [[Religion in Germany]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{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}}

[[Category:Hinduism in Germany| ]]

Hinduism in Germany - Revision history

Iautomationtraining Hub at 05:15, 23 March 2026