Germany

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Previous reports: 2024 | 2023/24




Conscription currently imposed? No

Suspended 2011 under Act Amending the Law on Military Service (BT-Drs 17/2841)

Could be reinstated in time of war.
Conscientious objection first recognised 1949

Grundgesetz Article 4

Law on Military Service, 1956
CO release of professional soldiers Yes The Conscientious Objection Act applies equally to conscripts and professional soldiers. However in some circumstances release may bear a financial penalty.
Minimum recruitment age 17 For voluntary service
Military expenditure1
$ (% change from 2024) Per capita % of GDP
113,586m (+23.9%) $1,346 2.3%

EBCO concerns

  • Plans for reintroduction of conscription.

  • No full guarantee of international protection for conscientious objectors to military service who are at risk of persecution in their country of origin.

Based on reporting by EBCO’s German member, the Protestant Association for Conscientious Objection and Peace (EAK):2

Developments

In October 2025, the Parliament debated the reform of compulsory military service. A few days earlier, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul publicly questioned the voluntary nature of military service agreed in the coalition agreement, which led to noticeable controversy within the coalition.

On December 5, the Bundestag finally debated the issue and passed the following regulation, which came into force on January 1, 2026: The law provides for compulsory medical examinations for young men born in 2008 or later. Initial contact will be made via questionnaires, which will be sent out starting in January. Men must fill them out, while women may do so. The questionnaires will ask for personal details, health information, and willingness to perform military service. The nationwide medical examination will formally begin when the law comes into force on January 1, but it will be adapted to the actual capacities that are currently being established. The German federal government expects that the number of conscientious objectors will continue to rise once the Military Service Modernisation Act comes into force. Accordingly, the Federal Office for Family Affairs and Civil Society Functions (BAFzA), which is responsible for approving conscientious objection applications, was granted 72 additional staff positions during the latest consultations on the 2026 federal budget.3

As the specialist organization of the Evangelical Church (EKD) responsible for conscientious objection issues, EAK recorded a significant increase in inquiries in 2025.4

The new EKD peace memorandum of November 2025 once again emphasizes "the assurance, which is indispensable from a Protestant perspective, provided by Article 4 (3) of the Basic Law that it is possible to be exempted from compulsory service in the armed forces" as well as the task of "keeping the issue of conscientious objection to military service present in society." Among other things, the memorandum addresses the politically controversial question of how to deal with conscientious objectors from countries that have to defend themselves against a war of aggression that violates international law. It concludes: "If the attacked state does not allow participation in the legitimate defense of one's own country other than through military service, the granting of asylum is indispensable on ethical grounds."5

EBCO’s member organisation German Peace Society-United War Resisters (DFG-VK) also reported more than 850.000 visits in 2025 to its special website www.verweigern.info providing information and advice on how to be recognised as a conscientious objector.6 DFG-VK organised in June 2025 a national congress on conscientious objection.7

Conscientious objection provisions and procedures

Official data about applications of conscientious objectors:8

Voluntary recruitment

As of July 31, 2025, there are 11,334 volunteers serving in the German Armed Forces. In addition, there are approximately 58,000 professional soldiers and just under 114,000 temporary soldiers.9

Conscientious objection during and after military service

As shown above, the Armed Forces received applications for recognition of conscientious objection from 183 serving soldiers from January to November 2025.

Asylum for conscientious objectors

From early 2022 to April 2025, 6,374 Russian men between the ages of 18 and 45 applied for asylum in Germany. 349 of them were recognised as refugees or entitled to asylum, received subsidiary protection, or were subject to a ban on deportation. However, the majority of asylum applications were rejected or dismissed, according to the information provided.10

Since the summer of 2024, connection e.V., a registered charity, has been supporting six Russian deserters in their asylum process. Having stayed in Germany despite the Dublin criteria, which for two of them was only possible thanks to receiving church asylum in a church in Baden (south-western Germany), all of them have now had their second hearing. Two have been rejected, one of whom is severely traumatised and had a certificate from the hospital stating that even his return to Croatia was unreasonable.

Militarisation of the education system

In 2025, there were 5,527 visits by so-called youth officers from the German Armed Forces to German schools.11

In contrast, the work of the Peace Education Service Center of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg must be highlighted,12 which includes a DFG-VK representative appointed by the Ministry of Culture to its board, and offers numerous training courses and school events that focus on how peace can be achieved and safety ensured.

Another example of such nationwide initiatives is the Ulli Thiel Peace Prize in Baden-Württemberg,13 in which many school classes have been participating over the past years.

  1. Military expenditure figures are estimates published by SIPRI (The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) in April 2026.↩︎
  2. More info about the organisation at: https://www.eak-online.de/↩︎
  3. Rheinpfalz, November 26, 2025↩︎
  4. https://www.evangelische-friedensarbeit.de/epd-meldungen/theologin-diffuse-sorgen-bei-beratungen-zu-kriegsdienst-verweigerung, September 13, 2025 (in German)
    https://www.evangelische-friedensarbeit.de/epd-meldungen/wehrdienst-reform-beratungsstellen-verzeichnen-mehr-anfragen, October 18, 2025 (in German)↩︎
  5. Welt in Unordnung – Gerechter Friede im Blick. Protestant peace ethics in the face of new challenges. A memorandum from the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany. Published by the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), Leipzig 2025; quotations from paragraph 170, p. 135f. https://www.ekd.de/ekd_de/ds_doc/denkschrift-welt-in-unordnung-EVA-2025.pdf↩︎
  6. https://dfg-vk.de/neuer-hoechststand-steigende-kriegsdienstverweigerungen-zeigen-wachsende-ablehnung-von-zwangsdiensten/↩︎
  7. https://kdv-kongress.dfg-vk.de/archiv/↩︎
  8. https://www.bundeswehr.de/de/organisation/personal/faktencheck/kdv-antraege-5647366↩︎
  9. https://www.das-parlament.de/inland/verteidigung/die-bundeswehr-in-zahlen#:~:text=Im%20vergangenen%20Jahr%20begannen%2020.250,und%202023:%2018.740%20Personen↩︎
  10. Conscientious objection: "Shamefully low number" – Germany rejects the majority of asylum applications from young Russians - WELT, https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article256112618/Kriegsdienstverweigerung-Beschaemend-niedrige-Zahl-Deutschland-lehnt-Grossteil-der-Asylantraege-junger-Russen-ab.html↩︎
  11. https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/wehrdienst-bundeswehr-verdoppelt-ihre-besuche-an-schulen-in-kuerzester-zeit-a-ea5285d6-b8db-483a-a91a-7e6b8231124b↩︎
  12. https://www.friedensbildung-bw.de↩︎
  13. https://www.ulli-thiel-friedenspreis.de↩︎