Editing Franconia (section)

=== Religions ===
==== Christianity ====
The proportion of [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholics]] and [[Protestant Church in Germany|Protestants]] among the population of Franconia is roughly the same, but varies from region to region.<ref name="religion">Karten zur Geschichte Bayerns: ''Überwiegend protestantische und überwiegend katholische Gebiete in Franken.'' In: Kirmeier, Josef et al. (ed.): ''200 Jahre Franken in Bayern.'' Aufsatzband zur Landesausstellung 2006, Augsburg, 2006 (Veröffentlichungen zur Bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur 51), see [http://www.hdbg.eu/karten/karten_detail_114.php House of Bavarian History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305204518/http://www.hdbg.eu/karten/karten_detail_114.php |date=5 March 2016}}</ref> Large areas of Middle and Upper Franconia are mainly Protestant.<ref name="religion" />

The [[religious denomination|denominational]] orientation today still reflects the territorial structure of Franconia at the time of the Franconian Circle. For example, regions, that used to be under the care of the bishoprics of Bamberg, Würzburg and Eichstätt, are mainly Catholic today. On the other hand, all former territories of the imperial cities and the margraviates of Ansbach and Bayreuth have remained mainly Lutheran. The region around the city of [[Erlangen]], which belonged to the Margraviate of Bayreuth, was a refuge for the [[Huguenot]]s who fled there after the [[St Bartholomew's Day massacre]] in France.<ref>Ferdinand Lammers, ''Geschichte der Stadt Erlangen'', Erlangen, 1834 (1997 reprint), pg. 17.</ref>

Following the success of [[the Reformation]] in Nuremberg under [[Andreas Osiander]], it had been an exclusively Protestant imperial city and belonged to the Protestant league of imperial states, the [[Corpus Evangelicorum]], within the ''[[Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)|Reichstag]]''.<ref name="lex">{{Stadtlexikon Nürnberg}}</ref> Subsequent historical events such as the [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–50)|stream of refugees]] after the [[Second World War]] and the increasing mobility of the population has since blurred denominational geographical boundaries, however.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe has also seen the establishment of an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] community in Franconia. The Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of Germany, Central and Northern Europe has its headquarters in Nuremberg.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

==== Judaism ====
Before the [[Nazi era]], Franconia was a region with significant Jewish communities, most of whom were [[Ashkenazi Jews]].<ref name="juden1">Steven M. Lowenstein: ''Alltag und Tradition: Eine fränkisch-jüdische Geographie.'' In: ''Die Juden in Franken.'' (= ''Studien zur Jüdischen Geschichte und Kultur in Bayern'', Volume 5) Munich, 2012 pp.&nbsp;5-24, here: pg. 5.</ref> The first Jewish communities appeared in Franconia in the 12th and 13th&nbsp;centuries and thus later than, for example, in [[Regensburg]]. In the Middle Ages, Franconia was a stronghold of [[Torah]] studies. But Franconia also began to exclude the Jewish populations particularly early on. For example, there were two Jewish massacres – the [[Rintfleisch massacres]] of 1298 and the [[Armleder Uprising]] of 1336-1338 – and in the 15th and 16th centuries, many cities exiled their Jewish populations, which is why many Jews settled in rural communities. Franconia also rose to early prominence in the discrimination against Jews during the Nazi era.<ref name="juden2">Steven M. Lowenstein: ''Alltag und Tradition: Eine fränkisch-jüdische Geographie.'' In: ''Die Juden in Franken.'' (= ''Studien zur Jüdischen Geschichte und Kultur in Bayern'', Volume 5) Munich, 2012 pp. 5-24, here: pp. 5-6.</ref> One of the first casualties of the organized Nazi persecution of Jews took place on 21 March in [[Künzelsau]] and on 25–26 March 1933 in [[Creglingen]], where police and [[Sturmabteilung|SA]] troops under the leadership of ''[[Standartenführer]]'' Fritz Klein led so-called "weapons search operations".<ref>[http://www.stimme.de/hohenlohe/nachrichten/sonstige-Hohenloher-waren-die-ersten-Opfer;art1919,1207588 ''Hohenloher waren die ersten Opfer''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917184855/http://www.stimme.de/hohenlohe/nachrichten/sonstige-Hohenloher-waren-die-ersten-Opfer;art1919,1207588 |date=17: September 2016}} at stimme.de</ref><ref>Hartwig Behr, Horst&nbsp;F. Rupp: ''Vom Leben und Sterben. Juden in Creglingen.'' 2nd edition. Königshausen and Neumann, Würzburg. 2001; {{ISBN|3-8260-2226-2}}</ref>

In 1818, about 65% of Bavarian Jews lived in the Bavarian part of Franconia;<ref name="juden3">Steven M. Lowenstein: ''Alltag und Tradition: Eine fränkisch-jüdische Geographie.'' In: ''Die Juden in Franken.'' (= ''Studien zur Jüdischen Geschichte und Kultur in Bayern'', Volume 5) Munich, 2012 pp. 5-24, here: pg. 14</ref> today there are Jewish communities only in Bamberg, Bayreuth, Erlangen, Fürth, Hof, Nuremberg and Würzburg<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110417123051/http://ikg-bayern.de/rsgem_1.html ''Jewish communities in Bavaria''], State Association of Jewish communities in Bavaria, retrieved 24 May 2014.</ref> as well as in Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg.

==== Islam ====
Adherents of Islam continue to grow, especially in the larger cities, due to the influx of ''[[gastarbeiter]]s'' and other [[immigrant]]s from Muslim countries. As a result, many "backyard mosques" (''Hinterhofmoscheen'') have sprung up, which are gradually being replaced by purpose-built [[mosque]]s.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}