Editing Thuringia (section)

=== Religion ===
{{bar box
|title=Religion in Thuringia - 2018
|left1=religion
|right1=percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[Irreligion|None]] or other|SlateGray|71.6}}
{{bar percent|[[Protestant Church in Germany|EKD Protestants]]|DodgerBlue|20.8}}
{{bar percent|[[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholics]]|DarkOrchid|7.6}}
}}
Since the [[Protestant Reformation]], the most prominent Christian denomination in Thuringia has been [[Lutheranism]]. During the [[GDR]] period, church membership was discouraged and has continued shrinking since the reunification in 1990. Today over two thirds of the population is non-religious. The [[Protestant Church in Germany]] has had the largest number of members in the state, adhered to by 20.8% of the population in 2018. Members of the [[Catholic Church]] formed 7.6% of the population, while 71.6% of Thuringians were non-religious or adhere to other faiths.<ref>[https://www.ekd.de/ekd_de/ds_doc/Ber_Kirchenmitglieder_2018.pdf Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland – Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31. Dezember 2018] EKD, January 2020</ref> The highest Protestant concentrations are in the small villages of southern and western Thuringia, whereas the bigger cities are even more non-religious (up to 88% in [[Gera]]). Catholic regions are [[Eichsfeld]] in the northwest and parts of the [[Rhön Mountains]] around [[Geisa]] in the southwest. Protestant church membership is shrinking rapidly, whereas the Catholic Church is somewhat more stable because of Catholic migration from Poland, Southern Europe and West Germany.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}} Other religions play no significant role in Thuringia. There are only a few thousand Muslims (largely migrants) and about 750 Jews (mostly migrants from Russia) living in Thuringia. Furthermore, there are some Orthodox communities of Eastern European migrants and some traditional Protestant [[Free church]]es in Thuringia without any societal influence.

The Protestant parishes of Thuringia belong to the [[Evangelical Church in Central Germany]] or to the [[Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck]] ([[Schmalkalden]] region). Catholic dioceses are [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Erfurt|Erfurt]] (most of Thuringia), [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen|Dresden-Meissen]] (eastern parts) and [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fulda|Fulda]] (Rhön around [[Geisa]] in the very west).

<gallery>
File:Evangelisch Thüringen.png|EKD Protestant membership in 2011 (municipalities)
File:Katholisch Thüringen.png|Catholic membership in 2011 (municipalities)
</gallery>