A new record in 2021: 6401 church departures in Hanover
Once again, the number of people leaving the church in Hanover has risen rapidly. After an all-time record of 5271 exits in 2020, according to preliminary figures for 2021, there were now 6401 exits across the city. For comparison: Up until 2013, Hanover’s statistics office recorded more than 3,000 exits, in 2019 it was 3737.
Church resignations at record high in 2021
“The people’s churches are changing,” said city superintendent Rainer Müller-Brandes in an initial reaction: “We are getting smaller, we are getting fewer, but we will continue to be interlocutors.”
Despite the enormous increase in the number of people leaving – the Evangelical Church in Hanover had 4366 last year – the church also recorded a high level of commitment among active members when they re-entered. “There is a change of direction towards a conscious membership,” says Müller-Brandes.
2022 as the year of baptisms
The number of baptisms has also fallen sharply, partly because many family celebrations have been canceled due to the pandemic. In the first Corona year 2020, there were only 535 baptisms in the entire city church association (also includes Garbsen and Seelze), and for the first time there were more baptisms by adults and young people than by children. At the same time, however, there is a growing interest in baptisms, says Müller-Brandes. “2022 should therefore be a year of baptisms.”
The most common reason for leaving a Christian denomination worldwide is church tax. In Lower Saxony it is 9 percent of wage or income tax. But you don’t always save the full amount.
“Special church money”: There is a way out
If, in the case of married people, only the higher-income spouse leaves, the large churches have been making use of their right for some years to collect the so-called “special church money”. Then the tax office determines a so-called lifestyle expense for the resigned partner and collects compensation amounts for it. The “special church money” is only used in cases in which the church benefits from it, not when it is harmful.
Since 2019 you can get around that, the exiting spouse compensates for joining the Humanist Association. This is recognized as not a confessionelle denomination and levies an annual church tax of 84 euros then you may no longer be used otherwise.
2034 Catholics left
Catholics can also register withdrawals. According to city statistics, it was in the end of the year 2034.
One person resigned from an “other” denomination.
There are no figures from the Muslim communities as they do not levy church taxes and therefore do not record membership figures.
More marriages, more deaths, fewer births
In 2021, the number of marriages in Hanover also increased slightly (from 1716 to 1776, of which 68 were same-sex marriages). The number of deaths increased slightly (by around 3 percent from 7,493 to 7,723), the number of births fell slightly (by around 200 to 8,982). These developments are all within the normal fluctuation ranges, says city spokesman Udo Möller.
The number of births does not allow any direct conclusions to be drawn about how many Hanoverian couples have children. Because Hanover, with its many maternity clinics, attracts considerable foreign couples
These are the most popular children’s names in 2021
The most common children’s names of the newborns for the girls were Emilia (followed by Ella and Mila in second place, then Mia, Emma and Lia, Sophia, Charlotte, Ida, Lea and Marie and Anna and Clara). For the boys it was Noah, Emil, Liam, Elias, Theo, Finn and Leon, Adam and Paul, Oskar, Felix as well as Ben and Maximilian.
The city advises that all data was collected on December 27th. There may also be minor changes up to the end of the year.
From Conrad von Meding