Hi all,

I have made a mistake at the Kreisburo, and they registered me as a Catholic, which I am not.
Could you please tell me how to obtain an attestation saying that I am not a Catholic?

They told me to ask for a letter from a church, but can I choose any church? Does the attestation have a proper name in German?

thanks

Isn't writing a letter stipulating that you don't have a specific religion, sufficient ?

Nope, they actually need a letter from a parish.
it's my fault anyway..

Kreisburo lady: which religion?
Me:None
KL: Have you been baptized? (not sure of the english word here)
Me: Yes
KL: ok, so you're a Catholic
Me:....

I know, stupid...

I bellieve you need to go to the catholic church in your gemeinde/Kreis and tell them you would like to leave the church. Then the priest writes a letter to confirm it is your intention.

Lisa

I don't think you were silly I think that person was an a tad rude and just went and made an assumption...the fact that you were baptised only means your parents were Christian that does not mean you are...silly woman really

So now I have to find my Kreis' church, I hope they will speak english or french, because my german is still unexistant.

It will be a quite awkward situation, to find a priest and tell him " Father I'm sorry, but could you write me a letter so that I won't have to pay you taxes???"

It's similar in UK;

"What religion are you?"

"I'm an atheist."

"OK, I'll put C of E."

Yes.... the catholic guilt thing :-) keeps the revenues up.

You are so right...(parents are Catholic grrrrrrrr)

I am not Catholic, but you're right there is this guilt thing!
My Grandma won't approve this

What you also could try is switching to another, tax-free, religion like bhuddism, islam, hindoism. But I am not sure if the Kreisbüro will accept it.

If you say "other" they still cross the "athiest" box... I guess it's a question of perspective.

Lisa

Sorry to hear about the bureaucratic nonsense you've tripped over. Plenty of that in all countries, I think.

My experience today, registering in Buchs, was as follows:

Man: Denomination?
Me: (knowing the deal and choosing to refer to my childhood rather than current circumstances, for the sake of simplicity) Methodist.

(Man turns to colleague, repeating what I've said - for which the German is the same as the English - asking for her opinion)

Woman: Hmm. "Ohne".

So either this was a pronunciation error on my part or "Methodist" is equivalent to "Atheist" in some parts. Both end with "-ist", I suppose ....

I left wondering what would have happened if I'd been adamant about registering a .... non-Christian religion, or ... other belief system ....

Bureaucratic standards and practices.....

As far as I know, anyone that is not either Catholic or Protestant Reformed (Zwingli as opposed to German Lutheran) will be classified "Other" - or "Ohne", as they will not be expected to pay the church taxes. Methodist would be viewed as one of the Protestant "free churches" (as opposed to the "state" i.e. Catholic or Protestant Reformed churches).

@ doudoudidon: It seems bizarre to me that you would be required to produce a letter from a church (who does not know you from... well, Eve) to the effect that you are not a member. Are you sure you understood correctly, and a signed statement stipulating that you do not have a specific religion is not sufficient? In combination with an explanation that you misunderstood and gave an incorrect answer?

in my case they made a similar error, i called the church told them i did not belong to any religious denomination, i asked them to take me out of their list (they were sending me a church newsletter, i told them they were wasting their money ) and then i contacted my gemeinde and asked them to correct the entry in their database, simple as that.

Hum, I think they've voluntarily complicated things to keep my money

It's funny that they make you pay for believing in a stupid God, If I was going to fork out money monthly I would demand unquestionable scientific proof of existence, the odd miracle, and bloody vengeance on my enemies raught by my God - at the very least

Oh I am so going to rip this and try it on a few people I know.

To be honest, I would have been far more eloquent if I was able to speak german...

Sounds like the Kreisburo lady has a sideline as an 'enforcer'. I don't remember in the Commandments Moses being ordered to pay x.xx% of his income to a local bell ringer.

As far as having to get a church to write a letter saying yes you do not go to that church... how weird - whole things sounds like a Monty Python sketch.