Religious Space-Sharing. Encounters and Negotiations Between the St. Georgis Eritrean Orthodox Church and the St. Paul’s Congregation in Berlin, Germany

This article explores the relationship between two congregations in Berlin: the St. Paul’s Congregation, founded in 1905 and part of the Protestant Church in Germany, and the St. Georgis Eritrean Orthodox church, founded by Eritrean refugees in 2015. Since 2018, the two congregations have conducted their activities in the same building, owned by the former. This paper takes a spatial approach and focuses on the tensions, resource mobilizations, and negotiations taking place within the two congregations and in the relationship between them. It taps into academic discussions on religious place-making, on encounters, and on hospitality, with a specific emphasis on post- and decolonial approaches that highlight the agency of both groups. These insights provide valuable contributions to debates regarding congregations and social transformation, with particular reference to migration in European urban contexts. The article draws on material collected between 2023 and 2025 through semistructured interviews and participant observation as part of my Ph.D. project.