Irreligion in Germany

Irreligion is prevalent in Germany. As of 2009, more Germans are non-believers in Eastern Germany than Western Germany. When taken overall, Germany is one of the least religious countries.

Eastern Germany is perhaps the least religious region outside East Asia. Atheism is embraced by young and old, though even more so by younger Germans. One study in September 2012 was unable to find a single person under 28 who believed in a god. An explanation for this, popular in other regions, is the aggressive state atheist policies of German Democratic Republic's Socialist Unity Party of Germany. However, the enforcement of atheism existed only for the first few years. After that, the state allowed churches to have a relatively high level of autonomy. As those born after unification, the oldest of whom would be about 28 in 2017, never directly experienced it, the argument that the DDR could be an influence in their lack of belief is problematic.

Also, comparable numbers of atheists don't exist in Western Germany, other European countries that have a history of state communism, except for the Czech Republic and Estonia or Northern Europe generally. Another explanation could be the secularizing trend dating back to late Prussia and through the Weimar Republic which was strongest in the states of Thuringia and Saxony as well as the late arrival of Christianity to the region as opposed to southern Europe where it was the state religion from late antiquity.

Christianity still has a notable presence in the rest of Germany, though there is a non-religious majority in Hamburg.

...
Wikipedia