The Church of Scientology has operated in Germany since 1970. German authorities estimate that there are 3,500 active Scientologists in Germany as of 2019. The Church of Scientology gives a membership figure of around 12,000. The Church of Scientology has encountered particular antagonism from the German press and government and occupies a precarious legal, social and cultural position in Germany.
The Scientology headquarters in Berlin
The Scientology Church in Hamburg
Information leaflets on Islamic extremism, Scientology and organized crime, published by the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Ursula Caberta speaking in 2008 at a Hamburg conference on Scientology
The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The movement has been the subject of a number of controversies, and the Church of Scientology has been described by government inquiries, international parliamentary bodies, scholars, law lords, and numerous superior court judgements as both a dangerous cult and a manipulative profit-making business. In 1979, several executives of the organization were convicted and imprisoned for multiple offenses by a U.S. Federal Court. The Church of Scientology itself was convicted of fraud by a French court in 2009, a decision upheld by the supreme Court of Cassation in 2013. The German government classifies Scientology as an unconstitutional sect. In France, it has been classified as a dangerous cult. In some countries, it has attained legal recognition as a religion.
Scientology building in Los Angeles, California
L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology
Print and distribution center, California
Author Services building