Here are some facts about the Jehovah's Witnesses and their community in Germany, shaken by a mass shooting at a Jehovah's Witness hall in Hamburg on Thursday.
Floral tributes are laid outside a building housing a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, where a deadly shooting took place, in Hamburg, northern Germany, March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
BERLIN, March 10 - Here are some facts about the Jehovah's Witnesses and their community in Germany, shaken by a- The Jehovah's Witnesses are an international Christian denomination that was founded in the United States in around 1870. They have around 8.7 million active followers in 239 countries worldwide, according to the denomination's website.
- The first German branch was founded in 1902 in Elberfeld in west Germany - before the "Watch Tower Society" was renamed Jehovah's Witnesses. The denomination was not granted legal recognition however until 2005, in the city of Berlin. Since 2017, they have been recognized as a public corporation everywhere in Germany.
- Jehovah's Witnesses have struggled to have their beliefs and practices accepted in some parts of the world. The group has faced court proceedings in several countries, mostly over its pacifism and rejection of blood transfusions.has depicted the Jehovah's Witnesses as a dangerous foreign sect, allegations the group denies.
- There are 175,558 members in Germany, meaning about 1 in 500 Germans are Jehovah's Witnesses, according to the denomination's website, which was updated in January. In total there are 2,003 congregations and 884 places of worship, called Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses.
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