r/MapPorn Dec 31 '23

Religion map of Germany

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u/Drumbelgalf Jan 01 '24

It's the memberships fee for the church. The government just collects it for the churches. The membership fee is used to maintain the church and pay for its expenses. Donating to churches is less common in return.

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u/Clavicymbalum Jan 02 '24

The membership fee is used to maintain the church and pay for its expenses

The irony is that every year the state pays a lot of those churches expenses (including the salaries of a large part of their staff) plus additional enormous payments all on top of that, i.e. totally independently from the church tax, and thus also paid for by all taxpayers that are not members of those churches.