Leave the church (Kirchenaustritt)

The fee is governed by state law and ranges from €0 to around €75. Leaving is free of charge in Bremen and Brandenburg; Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania charges €12, Schleswig-Holstein €20, Bavaria and Lower Saxony €25 each, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia €30 each, and Hamburg €31. In Baden-Württemberg, each town and municipality sets the fee itself; the range there is around €6 to €75.

No. According to the official service portal of the state of Berlin, the declaration of leaving at the Amtsgericht costs €30.00. Leaving the church is, however, free of charge in Brandenburg and in Bremen.

That depends on the federal state. In Berlin, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, the competent authority is the Amtsgericht in whose district you have your place of residence. In the remaining thirteen federal states, the Standesamt of your place of residence, or the municipal or city administration, receives the declaration — this also includes Hesse and Thuringia, for which the Amtsgericht is often wrongly named. In Lower Saxony, the declaration can additionally be made before a notary; in Bremen, you can make it either at the Standesamt or at the church body.

Yes, but only in certified form. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the declaration can be made orally for the record of the clerk at the Amtsgericht, or in writing in publicly certified form; Berlin requires either the declaration in person at the Amtsgericht or a written declaration with a notarially certified signature. Brandenburg and Baden-Württemberg also permit the certified written declaration. An informal letter, a fax or an email without certification, by contrast, has no legal effect.

This differs from one federal state to another. In Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt, the liability for church tax ends at the end of the month in which you left — after leaving on 15 March, you pay nothing more there from April onwards. In the remaining ten federal states, it only ends at the end of the following month, so in the example not until the end of April; there, church tax is collected for one month longer.

Leaving takes effect at the end of the day on which the record of the oral declaration was signed, or on which the publicly certified written declaration was received by the competent body; this is expressly how the North Rhine-Westphalia Kirchenaustrittsgesetz regulates it, and comparable rules exist in the other federal states. For church tax, the monthly cut-off date of the relevant federal state then applies.

Generally not. The church tax feature is one of the electronic wage tax deduction features (ELStAM); the registration authority transmits the change, and the employer retrieves it automatically. Nevertheless, check your next payslip — if church tax continues to be withheld even though the liability has ended, claim back amounts overpaid via your income tax return.

No, you do not have to give a reason; leaving the church is a unilateral declaration of intent with no obligation to give reasons, and the authority does not record one. However, the declaration must be unconditional and without reservation — additions such as "I am leaving provided that …" make it invalid.

For children under 14, the parents with custody make the declaration; for this, the child's birth certificate and, where applicable, proof of custody must be presented. From their 14th birthday, young people have reached religious majority under the Act on the Religious Upbringing of Children and decide for themselves about leaving.

Yes, rejoining is possible in principle; the conditions are determined by the relevant church or religious community, not by the state. Contact your congregation or a church rejoining office — you can then leave again at any time.

Leaving ends your membership, so official church acts such as a church wedding, acting as a godparent, or a church funeral are no longer automatically open to people who have left. Anyone working for a church institution such as Caritas or Diakonie should check their employment contract and duties of loyalty beforehand, because leaving can have employment-law consequences there depending on the role.

A uniform nationwide rule applies to minors, which stands alongside state law and is therefore often overlooked: § 5 of the Act on the Religious Upbringing of Children provides that, after reaching the age of fourteen, the child "is entitled to decide which religious denomination they wish to adhere to". From age 14, the young person therefore decides for themselves — even against the wishes of the parents. And from as early as twelve years of age, a child "may not be brought up in a denomination other than the previous one against their will": between 12 and 14, the parents with custody do declare the leaving, but only with the child's consent.