Bahá'í Faith in Germany

Though mentioned in the Bahá'í literature in the 1800s, the Bahá'í Faith in Germany begins in the early 1900s when two emigrants to the United States returned on prolonged visits to Germany bringing their newfound religion. The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was established following the conversion of enough individuals to elect one in 1908.cite book | last = Mooman | first = Moojan | editor = Peter Smith | title = Bahá'ís in the West | publisher = Kalimat Press | year = 2004 | pages = pp. 63-109 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=x7wyJdyE60oC&pg=PA88&vq=german&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ACfU3U3qKat232TFk1eGQpo523IUJX_G0Q | isbn = 1890688118 ] After the visit of `Abdu'l-Bahá,cite book
last = Balyuzi
first = H.M.
authorlink = Hasan M. Balyuzi
year = 2001
title = `Abdu'l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh
edition = Paperback
publisher = George Ronald
pages = p. 159-397
location = Oxford, UK
id = ISBN 0853980438 ] then head of the religion, and the establishing of many further assemblies across Germany despite the difficulties of World War I, elections were called for the first Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly in 1923.cite book
first=Shoghi
last=Effendi
authorlink=Shoghi Effendi
year=1974
title=Bahá'í Administration
publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA
id=ISBN 0877431663
url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/BA/ba-29.html.iso8859-1?#gr1 ] Banned for a time by the Nazi government and then in East Germany the religion re-organized and was soon given the task of building the first Bahá'í House of Worship for Europe.cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Geschichte (100 Jahre)
work = Official Website of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany
publisher = National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany
date =
url = http://www.bahai.de/deutsche-gemeinde/geschichte-100-jahre/
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-16] After German reunification the community multiplied its interests across a wide range of concerns earning the praise of German politicians.Citation
last = International Community
first = Bahá'í
author-link = Bahá'í International Community
title = Senior government minister praises Baha'i contributions
newspaper = Bahá'í World News Service
date = 2005-05-31
url = http://news.bahai.org/story/374 ] cite web
last = Faridi
first = Ali
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Bahá'i community in Hannover
work = Religions in Hannover
publisher = WCRP/Hannover
date = 1998
url = http://www.religionen-in-hannover.de/bahaige.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-17] There are an estimated 5000-6000 Bahá'ís in Germany.cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Verschiedene Gemeinschaften / neuere religiöse Bewegungen | work = Religionen in Deutschland: Mitgliederzahlen (Membership of religions in Germany) | publisher = REMID - the "Religious Studies Media and Information Service" in Germany | date = 2007-8 | url = http://www.remid.de/remid_info_zahlen.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2008-07-17]

First century

Early phase

Ibrahim Kheiralla, an early Bahá'í from Lebanon, traveled through Germany in 1892 attempting to making a living but found no interest in his inventions and moved on to the United States in February, 1893. [cite web
last = Haddad
first = Anton F.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = An Outline of the Bahai Movement in the United States
work = Unpublished academic articles and papers
publisher = Bahá'í Library Online
date = 1902
url = http://bahai-library.com/unpubl.articles/outline.haddad.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-16] There he managed to convert some individuals by 1895 (see Thornton Chase.) Following these conversions, some German emigrants became Bahá'ís as well. Two in particular traveled back to Germany: Edwin Fischer and Alma Knoblock. Dr. Edwin Fischer, a dentist, had emigrated in 1878 from Germany to New York, became a Bahá'í there, and then returned to Stuttgart in 1905. Fisher used every opportunity, including talking with his patients, to mention the Bahá'í teachings, and in time a few Germans embraced the religion.Citation
last = Bahá'í International Community
first =
author-link = Bahá'í International Community
last2 = (photographs) Schramm
first2 = Alexander
author2-link =
title = German Baha'is celebrate 100 years
newspaper = Bahá'í World News Service
date = 2005-09-26
url = http://news.bahai.org/story/390?storyid=390] The other German Bahá'í, Alma Knoblock, became a Bahá'í in 1903, before Fischer, but arrived in Germany in 1907. This small group of Bahá'ís began to organize and formed a Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly in 1908 and by 1909 began self-publishing pamphlets and letters and Bahá'í books including the Hidden Words and a history of the religion by Knoblock. The second spiritual assembly in Germany was founded in 1909 in Esslingen.

In the German Colony in Palestine, as part of the world wide , "Frau Doktor Fallscheer" was the family physician for the family of `Abdu'l-Bahá, son of the founder of the religion. Fallscheer later became a Bahá'í when she moved back to Germany by 1930. [Citation
last = Gail
first = Marzieh
author-link = Marzieh Gail
title = 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Portrayals from East and West
journal = World Order
volume = 06
issue = 01
pages = pp. 29-41
date =
year = 1971
url = http://bahai-library.com/essays/portrayals.html
doi =
id = ] Prominent early Bahá'í Louis George Gregory stayed at a hotel in the German Colony in Haifa during his Bahá'í pilgrimage [cite book
last = G. Gregory
first = Louis
authorlink = Louis George Gregory
coauthors =
title = The Pilgrimage of Louis G. Gregory
publisher = R .L. Pendleton, 1997 edition printed by Alpha Services, Ferndale MI
year = c. 1912
location = Washington
pages =
url = http://bahai-library.com/pilgrims/louis.html
doi =
id =
isbn = ] to Palestine in the spring of 1911 and on his return trip visited in Germany at the request of `Abdu'l-Bahá [cite web
last = N. Francis
first = Richard
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Louis G. Gregory the Advancement of Racial Unity in America
work = Biographies
publisher = Bahá'í Library Online
year = 1993
url = http://bahai-library.com/index.php5?file=francis_gregory_biography
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-16] in the fall of 1912. [cite book | title = To move the world : Louis G. Gregory and the advancement of racial unity in America | last = Morrison | first = Gayle | publisher = Bahá'í Publishing Trust | location = Wilmette, Ill |year = 1982 | id = ISBN 0-87743-188-4]

`Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to Germany

`Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, visited Germany for 8 days in 1913, including visiting Stuttgart, Esslingen and Bad Mergentheim. During this visit he spoke to a youth group as well as a gathering of Esperantists. [cite book
first=Shoghi
last=Effendi
authorlink=Shoghi Effendi
year=1944
title=God Passes By
publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA
id=ISBN 0877430209
url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/gpb-20.html.iso8859-1?#gr16
pages=pp. 286-7. ]

`Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a series of letters, or tablets, to the followers of the religion in the United States in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book "Tablets of the Divine Plan". The seventh of the tablets mentioned European regions and was written on April 11 1916, but was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919—after the end of the First World War and the Spanish flu. The seventh tablet was translated and presented on April 4 1919, and published in "Star of the West" magazine on December 12 1919 and mentioned Germany. [cite book | last = Abbas | first = `Abdu'l-Bahá | coauthors = Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, trans. and comments | title = Tablets, Instructions and Words of Explanation | date = 1919 | month = April | url = http://bahai-library.com/index.php5?file=abdulbaha_tablets_instructions_explanation.html] He says:

In brief, this world-consuming war has set such a conflagration to the hearts that no word can describe it. In all the countries of the world the longing for universal peace is taking possession of the consciousness of men. … Therefore, O ye believers of God! Show ye an effort and after this war spread ye the synopsis of the divine teachings in the British Isles, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Portugal, Rumania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Monac, San Marino, Balearic Isles, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Malta, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Hebrides and Orkney Islands… from Germany teachers and believers may travel to the continents of America, Africa, Japan and China; in brief, they may travel through all the continents and islands of the globe. [cite book |author = `Abdu'l-Bahá |authorlink = `Abdu'l-Bahá |origdate = 1916-17 |year = 1991 |title = Tablets of the Divine Plan |edition = Paperback |publisher = Bahá'í Publishing Trust |location = Wilmette, IL |isbn = 0877432333 |url =http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/TDP/tdp-6.html | pages = p. 31-32]

`Abdu'l-Bahá praised the German Bahá'ís - "individuals...endued with perceptive eyes and attentive ears" were "attracted to the principles of the oneness of mankind" and treated "all the peoples and kindreds of the earth in a spirit of concord and fellowship." He predicted Germany will "surpass all other regions" and "lead all the nations and peoples of Europe spiritually."Citation
last = Hassall
first = Graham
author-link =
last2 = Fazel
first2 = Seena
author2-link =
title = 100 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in Europe
journal = Bahá’í Studies Review
volume = 08
issue = 1998
pages = pp. 35-44
date =
year = 1998
url = http://bahai-library.com/asia-pacific/Europe.htm
doi =
id = ] Shoghi Effendi, head of the religion after the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá, continued commentary about Germany and its Bahá'ís; he wrote that during the Nazi government the German Bahá'ís demonstrated that they were the "great-hearted, indefatigable, much admired German Bahá'í community".Citation
last = Savi
first = Julio
author-link =
title = Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland
journal = Bahá’í Studies Review
volume = 04
issue = 1994
pages =
date =
year = 1994
url = http://bahai-library.com/bsr/bsr04/4B1_comp_intro.htm#N_8_
doi =
id = ]

World War I

As World War I was becoming more widespread in its ramifications, the Bahá'ís pursued other courses of action. In 1916 a plaque was raised to honor `Abdu'l-Bahá's visit at Bad Mergentheim.Citation
last = German Baha'i News Service
first =
author-link =
title = German town re-erects monument
newspaper = Bahá'í World News Service
pages =
year =
date = 2007-04-25
url = http://news.bahai.org/story/524] On May 23, 1916, Austrian Franz Pöllinger learned of the religion while staying in Stuttgart and on returning to Austria had a prominent role in the growth of the religion there.Citation
authors = Universal House of Justice
title = In Memorium
journal = The Bahá'í World of the Bahá'í Era 136-140 (1979-1983)
volume = XVIII
publisher = Bahá'í World Centre
pages = pp. 700-704, 800-802, 825
year = 1986
url = http://bahai-library.com/books/bw18/693-719.html
isbn = 0853982341] [cite book
last = L. Root
first = Martha
authorlink = Martha Root
coauthors =
title = Tahirih the Pure
publisher = Kalimat Press
year = 2000
location =
pages = "With Martha", Marzeih Gail, pages xv-xxvii
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=IsukoZS-0NYC&pg=PR25&lpg=PR25&source=web&ots=9mk-Gws4Nx&sig=nNA2wMZwt1xxJZhAUy-9KNUwilY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result
doi =
id =
isbn = 1890688045 ] When the United States entered the war, individuals from there, as Fischer and Knoblock, had to leave Germany and both returned to the United States. On return to the US Fischer went to the Los Angeles area and Knoblock went to New York. In a wave of anti-German sentiment (see German American internment for similar issues a generation later) Fischer was caught up in charges of espionage for Germany which were dismissed. [cite book
last = edited by A. Lee
first = Anthony
authorlink =
coauthors = Richard Hollinger
title = Circle of Peace: Reflections on the Baha'i Teachings
publisher = Kalimat Press
date = 1985
location =
pages = Bahá'ís and American Peace Movements, pp. 3-20
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=KrIhZCNM99AC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&source=web&ots=ROHEFtLtDS&sig=mesWlVy4ir0aMRnwaNZ-qMQFbsE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA9,M1
doi =
id =
isbn = 0933770480] As Germany was allied with the Ottoman Empire, the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of WWI played an important role with the Bahá'ís in Palestine - particularly the Battle of Megiddo in September 1918. As a direct result of the events of the battle, `Abdu'l-Bahá was rescued after death threats were made against him in case the Ottoman side was to lose (events in which Wellesley Tudor Pole played a significant part.) [Citation
last = Maude
first = Roderic
authorlink =
last2 = Maude
first2 = Derwent
author2-link =
title = The Servant, the General and Armageddon
publisher = George Ronald Pub Ltd
year = 1997
location = London, U.K.
pages =
url = http://www.grbooks.com/show_book.php?book_id=183
doi =
id =
isbn = 0853984247] [cite book
last = Ahmad Sohrab
first = Mirza
authorlink = Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
coauthors =
title = The Story of the Divine Plan. Taking Place during, and immediately following World War I
publisher = he New History Foundation, Digitally republished, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2004
year = 1947
location = New York
pages =
url = http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/P-T/S/sohrab/SDP.htm
doi =
id =
isbn = ]

Post-War closing

After WWI, the national Bahá'í community organized a German Baháí Publishing Trust and in 1920 Adelbert Mühlschlegel became a Bahá'í, and later appointed as a Hand of the Cause, individuals who have been considered to have achieved a distinguished rank in service to the religion. He was the first of three believers who decisively influenced the German Bahá'ís. As with other German emigrants who converted to the religion, Siegfried Schopflocher who was born in Germany, as an Orthodox Jew, sought out a wider unity and found the Bahá'í Faith while in Canada in the summer of 1921; he was also later appointed a Hand of the Cause. [cite conference | last = C. van den Hoonaard | first = Will. | title = Schopflocher, Siegfried | booktitle = draft of "A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith" | publisher = Bahá'í Library Online | date = 1993-06-18 | url = http://bahai-library.com/encyclopedia/schopflocher.html | accessdate = 2008-07-16] `Abdu'l-Bahá's last tablet before his death was addressed to the Bahá'ís in Stuttgart in November 1921. [Citation
last = Effendi
first = Shoghi
author-link = Shoghi Effendi
last2 = Sara Louisa Blomfield
first2 = Lady
author2-link = Lady Blomfield
title = The Passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá
place = Haifa
publisher = Rosenfeld Brothers
year = 1922
volume =
edition =
url = http://bahai-library.com/index.php5?file=shoghieffendi_blomfield_passing_abdulbaha
doi =
id =
isbn = ]

Inter-war period

In 1921 a new magazine "Sun of Truth" was first published as one of five Bahá'í journals produced by German Bahá'ís through the 1920s. It contained newly translated Bahá'í literature and news from the Bahá'í community around the world.

In 1923 the first Bahá'í National Spiritual Assemblies were elected "where conditions are favorable and the number of the friends has grown and reached a considerable size". Along with India and the British Isles, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria was first elected in that year. [ [http://bahai-library.com/?file=handscause_statistics_1953-63&chapter=1#22 The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963] , Compiled by Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land, pages 22 and 46.] In 1925 there were 95 delegates who performed the election. A 1925 list of local Bahá'í Centers mentions no less than 26 in Germany, compared to three in England and two in Switzerland. In 1929 widely traveled Martha Root spoke in most German universities and technical colleges. Eugen Schmidt, the second of the three believers who decisively influenced the German Bahá'ís, became a Bahá'í and was elected a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany from 1932 for many years and served as chairman in the decisive years of re-building after World War II.

Among the Bahá'ís to visit Germany were Amelia Collins, Marion Jack and Louisa Mathew Gregory, wife of Louis George Gregory. [Citation
last = International Community
first = Bahá'í
author-link = Bahá'í International Community
title = Baha'i group pays homage to a heroine
newspaper = Bahá'í World News Service
date = 2005-08-03
url = http://www.BahaiWorldNews.org/story.cfm?storyid=385 ] Another Bahá'í with links to Germany was Robert Sengstacke Abbott whose adoptive father was German and, through his family connection, he kept in contact with his family in Germany.Citation
last = Perry
first = Mark
title = Robert S. Abbott and the Chicago Defender: A Door to the Masses
newspaper = Michigan Chronicle
date = 1995-10-10
url = http://www.uga.edu/bahai/News/101095.html]

Nazi period

During the early Nazi period Bahá'ís had general freedom; May Maxwell, wife of William Sutherland Maxwell, was still able to travel through Germany in 1936, [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink = Compiled by Universal House of Justice
coauthors =
title = May Ellis Maxwell
work = Biographies
publisher = Bahá'í Library Online
date =
url = http://bahai-library.com/file.php5?file=may_ellis_maxwell_bw&language=
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-17] though the plaque commemorating `Abdu'l-Bahá's visit had been taken down. By 1937 however, Heinrich Himmler signed an order disbanding the Bahá'í Faith's institutions in Germany. In 1939 and in 1942 there were sweeping arrests of former members of the National Spiritual Assembly. In May 1944 there was a public trial in Darmstadt at which Dr. Hermann Grossmann was allowed to defend the character of the religion but the Bahá'ís were instead heavily fined and its institutions continued to be disbanded. However for this service and others, Grossmann was ranked as the third of the three believers who decisively influenced the German Bahá'ís.

After the Nazi period

Following the fall of Nazi Germany, an American Bahá'í, John C. Eichenauer who was a medic of the 100th Infantry division then at Geislingen started searching for the Bahá'í community in Stuttgart. He drove through Stuttgart looking and asking for Bahá'ís and was able to find an individual by nightfall/curfew. The next day saw the first meeting of Bahá'ís since their disbandment in 1937. Two other American Bahá'ís, Bruce Davison and Henry Jarvis, in Frankfurt and Heidelberg respectively, also connected with the Bahá'í community in Germany. At the beginning of the partition of Germany there were about 150 German Bahá'ís in the American section and they became registered with the American authorities. The National Spiritual Assembly was re-elected in 1946 and by 1950 there were 14 Local Spiritual Assemblies: [cite book | url = http://bahai-library.com/index.php5?file=shoghieffendi_statistics_1844-1950 | first = Shoghi | last = Effendi | authorlink = Shoghi Effendi | title = Bahá'í Faith, The: 1844-1950 | location = Wilmette, IL | publisher = Bahá'í Publishing Committee | year = 1950]

and smaller Bahá'í communities in 27 cities. [Communities existed in Auerbach bei Zwickau , Berlin, Heilbronn, Ebingen, Essen, Furtwangen, Garmisch, Geisenfeld, Giessen, Heilbronn, Immenstadt, Küssnach bei Waldshut, Lich, Lohme, Laubach, München, Murnau, Murrhardt, Bad Nauheim, Neuburg an der Donau, Oldenburg, Plochingen, Schwerin, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, Pfullingen, and Talheim]

However in Soviet controlled East Germany, the Bahá'í Faith was again disbanded in 1948. In West Germany, by 1954 there were reports of large growth in the religion, [cite web
last = A Brown
first = Ramona
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Haifa Notes
work = Pilgrims' notes
publisher = Bahá'í Academics Online
date = 1954-05-02
url = http://bahai-library.com/pilgrims/brown.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-17 ] and from 1951 to 1966 philately stationary and a "Cinderella stamp" religious stationary were produced in West Germany. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Bahá'í Postal Stationery
work = Bahá'í Philately
publisher = Bahá'í Academics Online
date = 2007-09-17
url = http://bahai-library.com/stamps/BahaiStationery.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-17]

House of Worship

The construction of the Bahá'í House of Worship in Langenhain near Frankfurt, began in 1952. Hand of the Cause Amelia Collins represented the Bahá'í International Community at the groundbreaking 20th November 1960. Designated as the "Mother Temple of Europe", [cite book
last = House of Justice
first = Universal
authorlink = Universal House of Justice
coauthors = compiled by Geoffry W. Marks
title = Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986 : the Third Epoch of the Formative Age
publisher = Bahá'í Publishing Trust
year = 1996
location = Wilmette, Illinois 60091-2844
pages = pp. 37-8
url = http://bahai-library.com/published.uhj/messages.1963-86.html#20
doi =
id =
isbn = 0877432392] it was dedicated in 1964 by Hand of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum, representing the first elected Universal House of Justice. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Historie
work = Official Website of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany
publisher = National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany
date =
url = http://www.bahai.de/haus-der-andacht/historie/
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-16]

Development in West Germany

By 1963 the list of local assemblies was: Isolated Bahá'ís were found in an additional 86 locations. [ [http://bahai-library.com/?file=handscause_statistics_1953-63&chapter=1#22 The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963] , Compiled by Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land, pages 84-5.]

West German Bahá'ís were given the responsibility of trying to strengthen the Bahá'í community in Russia in 1963. During the 1960s and 1970s, a small number of Bahá'ís visited the Soviet Union as tourists but no attempt was made to promulgate the religion. In 1986 Friedo and Shole Zölzer and Karen Reitz from Germany traveled into the Soviet Union but remained for only short periods of time.cite web | last = Momen | first = Moojan | title = Russia | work = Draft for "A Short Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith" | publisher = Bahá'í Academics Resource Library | date = | url = http://bahai-library.com/encyclopedia/russia.html | accessdate = 2008-04-14] Continuing in the 1980s and into the 1990s the Bahá'í Esperanto-League began to prosper especially in West Germany. One reason behind this was that Esperanto had acquired the reputation of being an "entrance ticket" to countries behind the Iron Curtain, [cite web
title = The Baha'i Esperanto League
work = The Baha'i Faith and Esperanto
publisher = Bahaa Esperanto-Ligo
date =
url = http://bahaaeligo.bahai.de/angla/englisch.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-16] countries to which the Bahá'í Faith had had little access during the preceding decades (the first post-WWII Bahá'í know to pioneer to Russia was in 1979.)

Reunion

Following the German reunification in 1989-91 the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany handed down a judgement affirming the status of the Bahá'í Faith as a religion in Germany. [See judgement 2BvR 263/86=BVerfGE 83.341 of 05.02.1991 - see [http://www.lauben.de/download/lha040604.pdf Lauden Heising Aktuell] ] Continued development of youth oriented programs included the Diversity Dance Theater (see Oscar DeGruy) which traveled to Albania in February 1997. [Citation
last = Strieth
first = P and J
title = Albania - Family Life Conference
newspaper = Bahá'í World News Service
pages =
year = 1998
date =
url = http://www.northill.demon.co.uk/bahainews/#Albania] Udo Schaefer et al.'s 2001 "Making the Crooked Straight" was written to refute a polemic supported by the Evangelical Church in Germany written in 1981. [Citation
last = Cannuyer
first = Christian
title = Desinformation als Methode. Die Baha'ismus-Monographie des F. Ficicchia
journal = Bahá'í Studies Review
publisher = Association for Baha'i Studies (English-Speaking Europe)
volume = 08
issue = 1998
pages =
date =
year = 1998
url = http://bahai-library.org/bsr/bsr08/841_books.htm
doi =
id = ] [Citation
first = Silja (University of Heidelberg, Germany)
last = Joneleit-Oesch
contribution = The Church and the Gurus
contribution-url = http://www.cesnur.org/2001/london2001/joneleit.htm
title = The 2001 International Conference in London
year = 2001
place = London
publisher = Center for Studies on New Religions
url = http://www.cesnur.org/2001/london2001/index.htm
doi =
id = ] [Citation
first = Udo
last = Schaefer
author-link = Udo Schaefer
contribution = Challenges to Bahá'í Studies
contribution-url = http://www.udoschaefer.com/pdffiles/challenges_bstudies.pdf
title = European Conference on Bahá'í activities in Universities
year = 1992
pages =
place = Brno, Czech.
publisher = European Conference on Bahá'í activities in Universities
url = http://www.udoschaefer.com/pdffiles/challenges_bstudies.pdf
doi =
id = ] Since its publication the Evangelical Church in Germany has revised its own relationship to the German Bahá'í Community. [Ulrich Dehn in "Materialdienst der Evangelischen Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen (EZW)", 1/1997, pp. 14-17: “Baha'i und EZW”] Former member of the federal parliament Ernst Ulrich von Weizsaecker commended the ideas of the German Bahá'í community on social integration, which were published in a statement in 1998, and Chancellor Helmut Kohl spoke at the 1992 ceremony marking the 100th Anniversary of the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh.

Multiplying interests

Nearing the century mark of the Bahá'í community in Germany, the Bahá'ís in Germany have begun efforts in diverse fields of interest. An estimated 500,000 people visited the Bahá'í pavilion at the Hanover Expo 2000. The 170 square-meter Bahá'í exhibit, hosted by the Bahá'í International Community and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany, featured development projects in Colombia, Kenya and Eastern Europe that illustrated the importance of grassroots capacity-building, the advancement of women, and moral and spiritual values in the process of social and economic development. [Citation
last = International Community
first = Bahá'í
author-link = Bahá'í International Community
title = 500,000 people visit Baha'i exhibit at the Hanover Expo 2000
newspaper = Bahá'í World News Service
date = 2000-11-05
url = http://news.bahai.org/story/74 ] The German community organized a national Bahá'í Choir in 2001 which tours various events in Germany and Europe. [cite web
last = Gottardi
first = Cosma
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Stimmen Bahás Bahá'í-Chor Deutschland
work = Bahá'í-Choir Deutschland
publisher = Bahá'í-Choir Deutschland
date =
url = http://www.stimmenbahas.de/startseite.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-17] In 2002 the director of the Ernst Lange-Institute for Ecumenical Studies held a meeting under the auspices of the German Federal Environment Ministry titled "Orientation dialogue of religions represented in Germany on environmental politics with reference to the climate issue" for the interfaith community including the Bahá'ís. [Citation
last = International Community
first = Bahá'í
author-link = Bahá'í International Community
title = Faith groups, including Baha'is of Germany, meet on environment and climate concerns
newspaper = Bahá'í World News Service
date = 2002-06-04
url = http://news.bahai.org/story/160 ] In 2005 former federal Minister of the Interior, Otto Schily, praised the contributions of German Bahá'ís to the social stability of the country, noting "It is not enough to make a declaration of belief. It is important to live according to the basic values of our constitutional state, to defend them and make them secure in the face of all opposition. The members of the Bahá'í Faith do this because of their faith and the way they see themselves." In 2007 a new memorial was unveiled replacing the one that had been taken down in Bad Mergentheim during Nazi Germany.

Demographics

A 1997-8 estimate is of 4000 Bahá'ís in Germany (40 in Hannover).In 2002 there were 106 Local Spiritual Assemblies.The 2007-8 German Census using sampling estimated 5-6,000 Bahá'ís in Germany.

Artists

Among the better known Bahá'í artists of Germany are:
*Peter Held - Composer pianist. [cite web
last = Held
first = Peter
authorlink = Peter Held
title = Biographie
work = Peter Held - Pianist/Composer
publisher = Peter Held
url = http://www.peter-held.de/index.php5?page=7&lang=0
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-17]
*Parisa Badiyi - violinist and educator [cite web | url = http://bahai-library.com/bafa/b/badiyip.htm | title = Parisa Badiyi violinist and educator, living in Germany | publisher = Arts Dialogue | accessdate = 2008-03-08]
*Brigitte Schirren - textiles [cite web | url = http://bahai-library.com/bafa/s/schirren.htm | title = Brigitte Schirren textiles, Germany. | publisher = Arts Dialogue | accessdate = 2008-03-08]
*Hans J. Knospe - photopoetry [cite web | url = http://bahai-library.com/bafa/k/knospe.htm | title = Hans J. Knospe photopoetry, Germany | publisher = Arts Dialogue | accessdate = 2008-03-08]
*Anne Bahrinipour - painting, sculpture [cite web | url = http://bahai-library.com/bafa/b/bahrinipour.htm | title = Anne Bahrinipour painting, sculpture, Germany | publisher = Arts Dialogue | accessdate = 2008-03-08]

Prophecies regarding Germany

The writings of Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá in the late 1800s and early 1900s contain some prophecies regarding Germany. The first mention related to Germany in the Bahá'í Faith is when the founder of the religion, Bahá'u'lláh wrote in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in 1873:

O banks of the Rhine! We have seen you covered with gore, inasmuch as the swords of retribution were drawn against you; and you shall have another turn. And We hear the lamentations of Berlin, though she be today in conspicuous glory. [cite book
author=Bahá'u'lláh
authorlink=Bahá'u'lláh
year=1873
title=The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book
publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA
id=ISBN 0853989990
url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/KA/ka-6.html#pg53]

In 1912, shortly before visiting Germany, `Abdu'l-Bahá spoke of the increasing tensions in Europe: [Citation
last = Lambden
first = Stephen
author-link = Stephen Lambden
title = Catastrophe, Armageddon and Millennium: some aspects of the Bábí-Bahá’í exegesis of apocalyptic symbolism
journal = Bahá'í Studies Review
volume = 09
issue = 1999/2000
year = 2000
url = http://bahai-library.com/bsr/bsr09/9B3_lambden_armageddon.htm
doi =
id = ]

We are on the eve of the Battle of Armageddon referred to in the sixteenth chapter of Revelation... The time is two years hence, when only a spark will set aflame the whole of Europe... by 1917 kingdoms will fall and cataclysms will rock the earth. [cite book
author = Esslemont, J.E.
authorlink = John Esslemont
year = 1980
title = Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era
edition = 5th ed.
publisher = Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location = Wilmette, Illinois, USA
pages = p. 244
id = ISBN 0877431604
url = http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/o/BNE/bne-184.html#pg244 ]

and in January 1920 he wrote:

The ills from which the world now suffers... will multiply; the gloom which envelops it will deepen. The Balkans will remain discontented. Its restlessness will increase. The vanquished Powers will continue to agitate. They will resort to every measure that may rekindle the flame of war. [cite book
first=Shoghi
last=Effendi
authorlink= Shoghi Effendi
year= 1938
title= The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA
pages = pp. 30-1
id= ISBN 0877432317
url= http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/WOB/wob-15.html#pg31]

ee also

*History of Germany
*Religion in Germany

References

External links

* [http://www.bahai.li/ Bahá'ís of Liechtenstein]
* [http://www.at.bahai.org/ Bahá'ís of Austria]
* [http://www.bahai.ch/ Bahá'ís of Switzerland]
* [http://www.bahai.de/ Bahá'ís of Germany]
** [http://www.hannover.bahai.de/ Bahá'i Community of Hannover]
** [http://garbsen.bahai.de/ Bahá'í Community in Garbsen]
** [http://hildesheim.bahai.de/ Bahá'í Community in Hildesheim]
*** [http://www.bahai-verlag.de Bahá'í Publishing Trust]
*** [http://www.bahai-studien.de Society for Bahá'í Studies for the German-speaking Europe]
*** [http://www.bahai.de/bff Bahá'í women's forum]
*** [http://jdd.bahai.de Bahá'í youth page]
*** [http://www.stimmenbahas.de website of the Bahá'í Choir Germany]
**** [http://www.1planet.de 1Planet] news and opinion website
* [http://www.bahai.de/wsite/hda/weg.html House of Worship in Germany]
* [http://www.chants.info/ Singe die Verse Gottes] live recordings at the House of Worship in Germany
* [http://www.udoschaefer.com/ Udo Shaefer] prominent published scholar/apologist of the Bahá'í Faith.