The

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

has a presence in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. With up to 2 million adherents, the Church is Germany's third-largest Christian denomination after Roman Catholicism and the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in German ...

(EKD). It has grown due to immigration from Eastern Europe, especially Romania, Greece, the former Soviet Union, and the former Yugoslavia. According to the 2011 census, 2% of the population identified as Orthodox, although this encompasses a number of different churches. US State Dept 2022 report
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Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in Germany

* Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ** Metropolitan of Germany *

Patriarchate of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...

** Archdiocese of Western and Central Europe *

Patriarchate of Moscow , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

** Diocese of Berlin and Germany ** Diocese of Berlin and Germany (ROCOR) * Serbian Orthodox Church **

Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Frankfurt and all of Germany Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation) ...

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates ...

Metropolis of Germany and Central Europe A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

* Bulgarian Orthodox Church ** Bulgarian Orthodox Eparchy of Central and Western Europe *

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

** Georgian Orthodox Diocese of Western Europe *

Macedonian Orthodox Church The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid (MOC-AO; mk, Македонска православна црква – Охридска архиепископија), or simply the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) or the Archdiocese o ...

** Macedonian Orthodox Diocese of Europe

Educational facilities

Institute of Orthodox Theology was founded in 1995 at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

Ecumenism

Some Orthodox churches have been working since 1974 in the Council of Christian Churches in Germany (ACK). The five Orthodox churches have represented for several years in a joint delegation. Likewise, The Orthodox churches are involved in most regional and local working group of the ACK. There are also bilateral relation with the

German Bishops' Conference The German Bishops' Conference (german: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz) is the episcopal conference of the bishops of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. Members include diocesan bishops, coadjutors, auxiliary bishops, and diocesan administrato ...

and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) with discussions on theological issues. For example, several documents were adopted in 2006 to dogmatic questions in a joint working group of the

Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Germany Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and the German Bishops' Conference. As of 2007, this working group has been redesigned and extended.

German Orthodox Church

For

ecclesiological In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of the Chu ...

and historical reasons, there is no "German Orthodox Church." In 1990, the German Orthodox Holy Trinity Monastery in

Bodenwerder The ''Münchhausenstadt'' Bodenwerder is a municipality in Holzminden district, Lower Saxony, Germany. It lies on the river Weser and is best known as the birthplace and residence of Baron von Münchhausen. Geography Bodenwerder is located in ...

founded the first ''German Orthodox''

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

which, although being ecclesiastically independent, was under the spiritual protection of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Interdenominational organization

* The Eastern Orthodox Episcopal Conference of Germany (Orthodoxe Bischofskonferenz in Deutschland), established in February 2010, includes 10 diocesan bishops and 7 vicar bishops. It covers about 1.5 million Eastern Orthodox Christians living in Germany. The President of the Conference, in accordance with the order of the Diptychs, the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, is the Metropolitan of Germany Augustinos (Labardakis). * Orthodoxe Fraternität in Deutschland * Orthodoxer Jugendbund Deutschland, youth federation

References

Sources

* Athanasios Basdekis: Die Orthodoxe Kirche. 2003, *

External links

Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Germany

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch: Germany and Central Europe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orthodox Church In Germany