Deutsche Buddhistische Union ("German Buddhist Union", abbreviation: DBU) is a German national umbrella organisation for Buddhist associations registered in Germany. DBU has estimated that there are 250 000 Buddhists in Europe and the religion is growing.[1] As of June 2021 DBU has 62 member organizations.[2]
DBU was founded in 1955 by Buddhists from Berlin, Munich and Hamburg. At first the union was called "German Buddhist Society" (German: Deutsche Buddhistische Gesellschaft). The name was changed in 1958. As of 1981 DBU has been recognized as a non-profit organization.[3]
In an article published in the Buddhist magazin Ursache\Wirkung (No. 115, 2020) it has been worked out that the claim of DBU to represent the whole of Buddhism in Germany was highly pretentious.The author argues that the total number of Buddhists in Germany counts 270,000 (whereof 140,000 are of Asian origin). Compared with these figures, the DBU has only 15,000 members, i.e. less than 5% of all the Buddhists in the country.[6] He relies on statistics of the Religious Studies Media and Information Service. (REMID) Actually these figure are based on information provided by DBU and accepted by REMID only.[7] The author also criticizes the predominant role of Tibetan-buddhist communities in the DBU.[8] Further points of critism raised by other authors concern the inadeqaute dealings with cases of sexual abuse in membership communities of the DBU and the ambivalent role of a contact person for victims of sexual abuse. (October 4,2024)[9] as well as the critique of financial intransparencies, made public in an Open Letter submitted by five members and functionaries of the this institution on January 24, 2025.[10]
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