Press Release
Berlin, 7 October 2026 – Despite numerous challenges, such as growing pressure to prioritise economic considerations and increasing competition for public and private funding, civil society in Germany remains a resilient, dynamic and adaptable part of society.
This is the conclusion reached by the new report ‘Civil Society in Germany 2026: Data, Political Framework Conditions, Key Developments’ published by the Maecenata Foundation. Funded by the Mercator Foundation, the report systematically compiles the wealth of data and developments from the past three years, providing a comprehensive overview.
Widespread presence and social significance
The figures demonstrate the sector’s stability: according to the latest figures from 2026, there are 628,992 associations in Germany alone. According to the Volunteering Survey, just over a third of Germans (36.7 per cent) were involved in voluntary work as of 2024. This means that levels of voluntary engagement remain high. The sector also plays a role as an employer: the German Caritas Association alone employs around 770,000 full-time staff. The report also confirms that the sector has recovered rapidly following the Covid-19 pandemic and that organisations are increasingly turning to new cooperation and funding models – such as joint ventures, fiscal hosting or matching funds – to actively strengthen their resilience.
A test of resilience: delegitimisation and political pressure
This resilience is currently being put to the test. Since the CDU/CSU parliamentary group tabled its ‘Minor Question’ on ‘Political neutrality of state-funded organisations’ (so-called ‘551 questions’) in February 2025, an anti-NGO discourse has emerged in which civil society organisations are being widely defamed and attacked. The number of delegitimising minor parliamentary questions nearly doubled nationwide in 2025 and increased up to ninefold in some federal states.
Furthermore, the Civicus Monitor, a global research platform assessing the state of democratic freedoms, has once again downgraded its assessment of the space for civil society in Germany: it is now classified as ‘restricted’. Germany is thus the only one of the 198 countries and territories surveyed in which the rating has deteriorated by two categories within just three years.
Nevertheless, public support for civil society remains high overall – a finding which, according to the report, shows that trust and legitimacy amongst the population have not yet eroded to the same extent as in political discourse.
Resilience is not a guaranteed outcome
The report makes it clear that the fact civil society has remained resilient to date is not a given, but rather the result of diverse efforts, broad societal backing and new forms of cooperation. To ensure this remains the case, effective protection of civil society’s scope for action is now required.
The report, funded by the Mercator Foundation, complements the reports on the state of civil society in Germany already published in 2022 and 2024.
About the authors
Dr Siri Hummel holds a PhD in political science and has been Director of the Maecenata Institute for Philanthropy and Civil Society since 2023. Her research focuses on democracy and civil society, as well as gender equality in civil society and foundation research. She is a lecturer on the Non-profit Management and Public Governance programme at the Berlin School of Economics and Law.
Laura Pfirter is a social scientist and an external researcher and consultant for the Maecenata Institute for Philanthropy and Civil Society. She is currently involved in projects related to the ‘European Civic Space Observatory’, which examine aspects of contested space and the general framework conditions for civil society action.
Dr Sascha Nicke holds a PhD in History and works as Programme Manager for the Tocqueville Forum at the Maecenata Foundation. His work focuses, amongst other things, on investigating the societal framework conditions for civil society in Germany and Europe.
Janek Oellers works as a student assistant at the Maecenata Institute and holds a BA in Regional Management, with a particular focus on regions on Europe’s external borders and their contextual conditions.