The Evangelical Church in Wurttemberg (Evangelische Landeskirche in Wurttemberg) is one of the twenty regional Lutheran and Reformed member churches making up the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), covering most of the historic region of Wurttemberg in southwestern Germany with its seat in Stuttgart. As a body under German public law, it publishes its own annual financial statement (Jahresabschluss), presented each year to its regional synod, distinct from the EKD-wide aggregate church-tax figures already recorded on the national entity.
Facts
Finances
Institutional Wealth or FinancesThe Evangelical Church in Wurttemberg reports a balance sheet total (Bilanzsumme) of 3.04 billion euros as of 31 December 2024, up from 2.98 billion euros a year earlier, in its own annual financial statement. The Landeskirche's equity is negative, at minus 0.63 billion euros, driven chiefly by 1.86 billion euros of pension and welfare provisions for its clergy and church employees, leaving a deficit not covered by equity of 1.44 billion euros, a figure the statement itself names as the Landeskirche's largest financial challenge, projected to keep growing into the mid-2030s. This is the regional church's own balance sheet, distinct from the national church-tax aggregate already recorded on the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). 2 Basis of the Wealth Figure Financial Disclosure RegimeAs a body under German public law funded partly by church tax (Kirchensteuer), the Landeskirche publishes its own accrual-basis annual financial statement each year for presentation to its regional synod, part of a wider transparency move across the EKD's twenty regional member churches. 2 Wealth Figure As Of Year Status
Current StatusContinues today as one of the twenty regional Lutheran and Reformed member churches making up the Evangelical Church in Germany, covering most of the historic region of Wurttemberg with its seat in Stuttgart, and publishes its own annual financial statement presented each year to its regional synod. 2 Origins
FoundedSourced to the subject's own accountFounded in 1534, when Duke Ulrich of Wurttemberg imposed the Reformation on his duchy and the reformer Johannes Brenz began organizing its parishes on Lutheran lines, with the first public evangelical service held in the Stuttgart Stiftskirche on 16 May 1534. 1 Learn More
Founded in 1534: The Reformation Comes to Wurttemberg
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
The Evangelical Church in Wurttemberg, known in German as the Evangelische Landeskirche in Wurttemberg, traces its founding to 1534, when Duke Ulrich of Wurttemberg imposed the Reformation on his duchy. The reformer Johannes Brenz began organizing its parishes on Lutheran lines, and the first public evangelical service was held in the Stuttgart Stiftskirche on 16 May 1534, the date the Landeskirche marks as its own beginning.
The church is one of twenty regional Lutheran and Reformed member churches making up the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), covering most of the historic region of Wurttemberg in southwestern Germany with its seat in Stuttgart. As a body under German public law, it is funded partly through church tax (Kirchensteuer), a financing model shared across the EKD's twenty regional churches, and it presents its own annual financial statement each year to its regional synod rather than relying solely on the EKD-wide aggregate figures reported for the federation as a whole.
Nearly five centuries after Brenz organized its first parishes on Lutheran lines, the Landeskirche continues to operate as a full regional church, with its own synod, clergy and parish structure serving the historic Wurttemberg region within the wider EKD federation, a continuity running from a single duke's decision in 1534 to a functioning regional institution today.
A Regional Church's Own Balance Sheet
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
The Evangelical Church in Wurttemberg publishes its own annual financial statement, distinct from the aggregate church-tax figures the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) reports for its wider federation of twenty regional churches. In its most recent statement, the Landeskirche reported a balance sheet total (Bilanzsumme) of 3.04 billion euros as of 31 December 2024, up from 2.98 billion euros a year earlier.
That statement also records something less common in a published church balance sheet: negative equity of minus 0.63 billion euros. The Landeskirche's own account attributes this chiefly to 1.86 billion euros set aside in pension and welfare provisions for its clergy and church employees, leaving a deficit not covered by equity of 1.44 billion euros. The statement itself names this deficit as the Landeskirche's largest financial challenge, and projects it will keep growing into the mid-2030s as more clergy reach retirement age.
The figures are the regional church's own, presented each year to its regional synod as part of a wider transparency practice adopted across the EKD's twenty regional member churches, and they describe Wurttemberg's own balance sheet rather than the national EKD aggregate.
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