As my husband said, Oh, those Krazy Krauts!
Having lived in Germany for sixteen-odd years...I can offer this observation. For the past hundred years....folks have basically stopped going to church in Germany. You have a full church on Easter and Christmas...otherwise, in a village of 3k residents...the one and only local church (of just about any denomination) will be lucky to have forty people to show up on a Sunday.
So the deal is simple...you sign up via the local city hall to note your religious preference, and a church tax is automatically deducted from your paycheck. If you note no church....then you get no church funeral or church marriage.
Years ago, the church funeral was a big deal. Now, local guys have buildings that are arranged for a funeral and rent them out. So I’d guess that half the folks in Germany have quit the church tax. As for the younger crowd? Well...if you have hopes of finding a decent guy or gal....and want a big nice ceremony...then you accept the church tax for a decade or so until you are married, then you dump the church tax.
The truth is that there is a fair amount of cost to keep these older buildings in operational order.