Democracy and religion in Germany in 2025

Posted by Thomas Klikauer

Recently, Germany’s widely known Mitte Study – conducted by the highly influential Ebert Foundation – found three things: a) overwhelmingly, Germans support democracy; b) at the same time, they reject right-wing populism – to a substantial degree; and c) Germans are becoming less religious, leaving the country’s two dominant churches – Catholic and Protestant – in droves.

The good news is that a whopping 76% of all Germans oppose right-wing extremism. This comes despite the media hype and the neo-fascist AfD’s self-congratulatory propaganda presenting the party as omnipotent.

Yet it gets worse for the anti-democratic AfD: right-wing extremist attitudes in Germany have also decreased. But – and there is always a “but” – about 20% of all Germans agree with statements reflecting nationalistic and chauvinistic attitudes.

Coincidentally, this 20% figure reflects a number that one of the most astute witnesses of Nazism – Sebastian Haffner – identified in the 1930s when writing his seminal masterpiece Germany: Jekyll and Hyde – An Eyewitness Analysis of Nazi Germany (1940):

• 20% of the population were committed Nazis
• 40% were loyal to them
• 35% were disloyal … and, at most,
• 5% constituted the Opposition

As for Germany in 2025, the good news is that roughly three-quarters of all Germans reject extreme right-wing attitudes – namely, 76.1%.

In other words, the authoritarian and anti-democratic AfD is likely to remain a 20-plus per-cent party – no more. Unsurprisingly, studies have also shown that in geographical areas where Hitler’s Nazis did well in elections (before they abolished them), today’s AfD tends to perform strongly – until, perhaps, they might abolish elections too.

Worse, Germany seems to have developed a kind of apprehensive middle – the middle class or petty bourgeoisie – marked by wavering and ambivalence. Yet, the majority of Germany’s middle class still holds strong democratic beliefs, though deeply concerned about the rise of right-wing extremism.

This concern runs so deep that every second German is willing to take personal action against right-wing extremism. Those “willing to act against the right” are supported by another 25% who agree that one must act against it. Meanwhile, 61% of Germans have called for more political education, with another 23% supporting more education for democracy.

At the same time, there is an increasing normalization of anti-democratic and far-right statements, slowly seeping ever deeper into Germany’s middle.

Here we come to the truly bad news: a staggering 20% (19.8% to be precise) agree with nationalistic and chauvinist statements. Worse, a quarter of Germany’s population believes that the country needs a single strong party that embodies the people’s community – the Aryan Volksgemeinschaft.

Despite the currently high polling numbers of the neo-Nazi AfD, there are fewer Germans with a far-right worldview than two years ago. At that time, about 8% were clearly right-wing extremists; now, it is 3.3%. 

However, one in five Germans remain ambivalent toward right-wing extremist statements. It is precisely this grey area of about 20% that shows a certain “openness” to anti-democratic propaganda.

Meanwhile, 23% of Germans think that “the top priority of German politics should be to give Germany the power and prestige it deserves.” And 15% say that “Germany should have a leader who governs the country with a strong hand for the benefit of all.”

While Germans support democracy, there are growing doubts about its actual functioning. Seventy per-cent see right-wing extremism as a threat to Germany. Surprisingly, however, a very high 22% consider the problem of right-wing extremism to be a creation of the media – or they trivialize it.

In reality, and according to statista.de, Germany saw 21,000 right-wing and neo-Nazi crimes in 2022, 25,600 in 2023, and a staggering 38,000 in 2024. 

Germany’s secret service – the Verfassungsschutz – estimated that the country had about 38,000 right-wing extremists or neo-Nazis in 2022, 40,600 in 2023, and 50,250 in 2024. In short: far-right extremism and neo-Nazism are not creations of the media – Neo-Nazism in Germany is very real.

It is not surprising that those who downplay right-wing extremism are themselves more often associated with right-wing extremists. Worse still, they also – more often than not – approve of the use of violence to achieve ideological goals.

Despite these grim numbers, 52% of all Germans still think that democracy works well “on the whole.” At the same time, 79% describe themselves as “convinced democrats.” Simultaneously, however, doubts about democracy’s functioning are growing: 24% of Germans think that democracy does not work.

There is also ambivalence when it comes to fundamental human rights. While 88% of all Germans say that the dignity and equality of all should come first, a third also believe that “in the national interest, not everyone can be granted the same rights” – a sobering number. 

Worse, a quarter of all Germans say that too much consideration is given to minorities. And it gets even worse: 36% believe that refugees abuse the welfare state. Right-wing propaganda is working.

Meanwhile, the German government estimates that the amounts lost through welfare fraud are only 6% of those lost through tax avoidance by the rich and the tax dodging by the ultra-rich and companies committing subsidy fraud. Yet just as many people agreed with the statement that the long-term unemployed “live comfortably at the expense of society.”

A quarter of Germans support a libertarian-authoritarian ideology combining neoliberal, hyper-individualistic, and totalitarian elements. This group is also more inclined toward far-right ideologies (13%).

Against the background of the ongoing climate crisis, it is rather alarming that only 56% of Germans see global warming as “a major threat” – down from 70%. 

This may reflect the fact that in Germany’s media – and even more so in online filter bubbles – global warming has been replaced by a daily barrage of “news” on migrants and refugees.

Beyond that, an incredible 84% of Germans believe that politicians should make “neutral decisions” – even though politics, by definition, cannot be neutral. Politicians make political decisions. That is the nature of the game.

Yet the concept of “political neutrality” is constantly conjured up by the neo-fascist AfD. The far-right party insists on “political neutrality,” using it as an ideological propaganda tool against democracy.

Meanwhile, 76% agree that ethical and moral decisions should be based “on reason and compassion” and “not on divine commandments.” In other words, in a battle of moral philosophy vs. God and religion, philosophy wins.

This is the result of a recent survey on “State and Society.” It shows how far secularization has advanced in Germany. In fact, 76% of Germans hold views aligned more with secular humanism than with traditional religious communities – a remarkable finding. 

Predictably, the greatest approval for this view is found among non-denominational people (85.7%), but approval is also surprisingly high among Catholics (66.2%) and even higher among Protestants (72.3%).

The trend of secularization has not only arrived in Germany but also – and this came as a surprise – within Germany’s churches.

When asked to respond to the statement that “the world works according to scientific laws and not according to supernatural forces such as gods or devils,” 39% of all Germans agreed completely. Another 16% were “more likely” to agree, and 10% “completely” rejected supernatural explanations. 

The fact that 26% believe the world is run by supernatural forces – while 64% agree with natural laws – shows that secularization and scientific reasoning have gained ground.

As expected, approval is highest among the non-religious (77%), followed by Protestants (59%) and Catholics (52%).

Furthermore, 82% of all Germans think that state institutions such as courts, schools, and the police should, in principle, be neutral regarding religion. Meanwhile, 75% believe that religious communities should not receive any preferential treatment.

Beyond that, 65% of Germans oppose Islamic headscarves worn by teachers in public schools. Meanwhile, 61% oppose the Catholic Church’s continued prohibition of medically indicated abortions in its clinics. A further 44% support the idea that Germany’s chancellor and state ministers should not use religious oaths.

Signs of Christian and Islamic religiosity are evaluated differently. For example, 50% oppose the placement of religious symbols such as crosses in schools and courtrooms.

Meanwhile, the cluster of non-religious people in Germany is – despite their lack of organization – significantly more homogeneous in attitudes and political orientation than Germany’s Catholics and Protestants, both of whom show wide differences on many issues.

At the same time, AfD supporters appear extremely united in rejecting the Islamic headscarf, yet they are also unusually polarized on whether the oath of office should omit references to God.

Despite the AfD’s “Christian rhetoric,” there is little genuine Christian conviction among its followers. The focus is not on Christianity but rather on rejecting Islam.

Beyond that, Catholics and Protestants were asked whether they would re-enter their churches today. The result surprised many: a massive 53% – a clear majority – said they would probably not re-enter (33%) or certainly not (20%).

In the end, Germans in 2025 remain strong supporters of democracy – albeit with reservations about its actual workings. Most significantly, Germany’s neo-fascist AfD – together with right-wing extremism and neo-Nazism – is strongly rejected by the vast majority of Germans.

In other words, pushing Germany’s authoritarian and anti-democratic AfD beyond its current 20–24% support (according to recent polling) seems rather impossible. In short, neither Hitler’s Nazism (1932) nor modern-day neo-Nazism will ever command a majority.

Just as Germans reject right-wing extremism, they also reject the idea that God and the Devil rule the world. Secularization is advancing, and Germans continue to favor a strong separation of church and state.

Most worryingly, however, too many Germans still favor the idea of a single strong political party that runs society. This stands in sharp contradiction to their professed support for democracy. 

Worse still, a quarter of the population believes that Germany needs a strong leader who embodies the Volksgemeinschaft – the Führer still looms large.

Photo: (source: https://deepai.org/machine-learning-model/text2img)

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