In Germany, the crucible of the Reformation 500 years ago, the country’s former Protestant majority now makes up less than a third of the population.
A recent study at the University of Münster tracks religious trends since 1950. Between 1950 and 2010, membership of the Catholic Church has dropped from 37 per cent to 30 per cent, but the major Protestant churches have seen their proportion halved from 59 to 29 per cent (a further 30 per cent were unaffiliated). This figure is itself flattering, because it reflects formal church membership rather than activity, and the trend since 2010 has been downward.
