DIE ZEIT
May 15, 2026
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has discontinued its systematic monitoring of the Scientology organization . The agency stated that Scientology has lost significance at the federal level in recent years. Therefore, the organization will no longer be subject to separate and ongoing surveillance by the BfV.
It was also announced that Scientology will no longer appear as a separate item in the annual report of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution . This is because the agency wants to focus more on other threats, such as espionage, sabotage, and terrorism.
The organization was founded in the USA in 1954 by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard . It opened its first branch in Germany in 1970. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Germany's domestic intelligence agency) has been monitoring Scientology nationwide since 1997.
The organization considers itself a church. Outside experts and former members describe it as a dangerous cult that leads its members into psychological and financial dependence. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) estimated in its 2024 report that Scientology had around 3,600 members in Germany. The report stated that this number had stagnated since 2021.
The authority will decide on a case-by-case basis.
The 2024 report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution states that the organization aims to establish a global "Scientology" society according to its own vision. Hubbard's writings make it clear "that in a society based on Scientology principles, essential fundamental and human rights, such as human dignity and the right to free development of one's personality, are not guaranteed, nor is the right to equal treatment."
The agency intends to continue monitoring anti-constitutional activities by units or members of the organization. "Regardless, however, activities against the free democratic basic order emanating from this pool of individuals will continue to be investigated by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution," the BfV stated. The agency pointed out that the ideological classification of extremist activities serves "organizational purposes."
According to information from SWR and ARD-Hauptstadtstudio, the state authorities in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hamburg, which are particularly affected by Scientology activities, are also considering discontinuing the separate monitoring of Scientology or have already done so.
https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2026-05/scientology-verfassungsschutz-beobachtung-organisation-deutschland-gxe?hl=en-US
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