How the Alevi community came to thrive in Germany
Key takeaways
- The Alevis make up the fourth largest religious community in Germany today.
- Members of this religious community once predominantly lived in rural Anatolia, Turkey, passing on their spiritual beliefs and rites orally.
- Today, Alevis constitute the second largest religious community in Turkey after Sunni Islam.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The Alevis make up the fourth largest religious community in Germany today. What are the main tenets of their faith? And how are they preserving their unique culture?
https://p.dw.com/p/5EUv4Alevi Muslims celebrate the arrival of spring at the Nowruz festival, like here in Izmir, Turkey, in March 2022Image: Idil Toffolo/Cover-Images/IMAGOAdvertisement Alevis make up around 13% of Muslims living in Germany today. Members of this religious community once predominantly lived in rural Anatolia, Turkey, passing on their spiritual beliefs and rites orally.
When Turkey began experiencing a rural exodus from the 1950s onwards, along with increasing urbanization and migration to Europe, many Alevi village communities disappeared — and with them the knowledge of their faith in many places.