# The Baha'i Faith in Europe

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Seena Fazel, The Baha'i Faith in Europe, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> The Baha’i Faith in Europe – November 2020 draft
> Seena Fazel1
> 
> Europe has a rich Baha’i history with a number of the oldest and most established
> Baha’i communities worldwide. The impact of two visits between 1911 and 1913 by
> ‘Abdu’l-Baha assisted in the strengthening of these early communities and the
> religion’s emergence to a wider public. Some northern European Baha’i communities
> experienced large growth from the 1950s, and, in the 1990s, new Baha’i groups
> were established in central and eastern Europe. In 2020, there are Baha’is resident
> in every European country apart from the Vatican City. Communities are thinly
> spread throughout the continent with the largest Baha’i communities in the UK and
> Germany. Important contributions have been made by European Baha’i communities
> in the areas of Baha’i studies and public relations.
> 
> Early interest in the Babi-Baha’i religions
> The early history of the Babi-Baha’i religions was documented in European
> newspapers, mentioned by some public figures, and came to the attention of a few
> diplomats and orientalists. In 1845, The Times of London reported on the
> persecution of the Babis, which is the first such report in any western-language
> newspaper (Momen 1981: 4). Some European diplomats and orientalists started
> writing about the Babis in the 1860s. Early examples include the French diplomat
> Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau in his 1865 book, Religion et philosophies dans
> l'Asie centrale, and the orientalist A.K. Kazembek, who taught at St Petersburg
> University and wrote a book on the Babis, also published in 1865 (Ioannesyan 2013:
> 30). Hungarian orientalist Arminius (Armin) Vambery published a volume in German
> in 1867, Meine Wanderungen und Erlebnisse in Persien. The first public mention and
> presentation of the Babi religion in Europe was probably made by Matthew Arnold, a
> poet and cultural critic (and author of poem Dover Beach), speaking in 1871 at the
> Birmingham and Midland Institute, in Birmingham, England. The first mention of the
> Baha’i Faith appears to have been by Professor Edward Granville Browne, an
> academic orientalist, who spoke at the Literary Society of Pembroke College,
> Cambridge, in 1889 and quoted Baha'u'lláh's words, ‘Ye are all the fruits of one tree
> 
> I am particularly grateful to Robert Stockman for editorial comments on a previous draft.
> 
> and the leaves of one branch’, in a lecture at the South Place Institute, London, in
> 1890. In other European countries, there are no recorded public presentations until
> Gabriel Sassi, who was commissioned by the Martinist Order, to give an address on
> theBaha’i religion at the Paris Exposition of 1900 (Smith 2007: 109).
> Browne had become interested in the religion after reading Gobineau and
> wrote monographs and academic articles about the Babi-Baha’i religions and a book,
> A Year Among the Persians (1893), about his experiences of travelling throughout
> Persia and meeting Babis and Baha’is. He continued to write some academic
> articles, although his interest waned after the Persian Constitutional Revolution of
> 1905–11 (Cole 2012: 485). Russian orientalists were involved in early translations.
> Baron Rosen, who was based at St Petersburg University, published a Russian
> translation of one of Baha’u’llah’s texts in 1893. He deposited many manuscripts and
> letters at the St Petersburg Institute of Oriental Manuscripts. One of his students,
> A.G. Tumansky, who met some notable early Baha’is in Ashkhabad from 1890, also
> published translations, including of Baha’u’llah’s Most Holy Book (Kitab-i-Aqdas) in
> 1899 (Ioannesyan 2013: 8). A.L.M. Nicolas, who had been first interpreter at the
> French legation at Tehran, published several early translations of Babi texts during
> 1902–1914.
> 
> Direct encounters between Europeans and the Central Figures
> There were some direct contacts with the religion’s central figures. Among the most
> notable was that of the court-appointed physician, Dr William Cormick, who was born
> in Iran from an Irish family, and assessed the Bab medically for the governor of
> Azerbaijan, Crown Prince Nasiru’d-dín Mírza in the summer of 1848 (Flannery 2004).
> Some years later, Cormick recalled that the Bab said that all Europeans would ‘come
> over to his religion’, and that the Bab was observed to be reading the Bible in prison
> (Amanat 1989: 391). Other important encounters are those of Browne with
> Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha in ‘Akká in 1890, and also with Mírzá Yahyá Subh-i-
> Azal in Cyprus while Browne was on his way to Palestine (Cole 2012: 485).
> Browne’s pen-portrait of Baha’u’llah has been widely published, partly as it included
> the quote, ‘Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory
> in this, that he loves his kind’. Browne’s scholarship on the religion was influential but
> became increasingly critical, partly due to Baha’i quietism during the Constitutional
> Revolution.
> Beginnings – first communities in Paris, London, and Stuttgart
> The first communities in Europe were formed at the start of the 20th century. One
> centre of activity was Paris. Phoebe Hearst, an early American Baha’i who was a
> wealthy heiress and philanthropist, travelled through Paris in 1898 on her way to visit
> ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Palestine, and encouraged May Bolles (later May Maxwell), who had
> moved to Paris in 1894, and Mary Thornburgh-Cropper, an American living in
> London, to join this trip. On her return to Paris, Bolles introduced the Baha’i
> teachings to notable early converts such as Agnes Alexander, who was the first
> Baha’i teacher in Hawaii, Japan, and Korea; Thomas Breakwell, an early English
> Baha’i (and who died in Paris in 1902); Hippolyte Dreyfus, the first French believer
> (who translated some Baha’i texts and wrote an introductory book); and to expatriate
> Americans as Laura Clifford Barney, Charles Mason Remey, Juliet Thompson,
> Marion Jack, and Sydney Sprague, who all became prominent Baha’i teachers. Lady
> Blomfield and her daughter heard of the Faith in 1907 in Paris from Bertha Herbert,
> who later married Horace Holley (Fazel and Hassall 1998: 36). Holley was another
> significant Baha’i who first heard of the Faith in Paris in 1909, and later became one
> of the most prominent American Baha’is and was appointed a Hand of the Cause in
> 1951.
> Other centres were in London and Stuttgart. When Mary Thornburgh-Cropper
> returned to the UK, she told her friend Ethel Rosenberg, a miniaturist painter, about
> the religion. Rosenberg became the first native British Baha’i in 1899, and organised
> some meetings mainly in London (Osborn 2014: 89). Two Germans, Dr Karl Edwin
> Fischer and Alma Knobloch, who became Baha’is in America, returned to Germany,
> in 1905 and 1907, respectively, and started Baha’i activities in Stuttgart (Stockman
> 1996: 35). Knobloch was an effective teacher and gave the first public address in
> Germany in 1907, and also travelled to Switzerland and Austria to speak about the
> Baha’i Faith. A short-lived committee was set up around this time to organise further
> events, the first such consultative body in Europe. In 1913, there were more Baha’is
> in Germany than in all other European countries, mostly centred on Stuttgart but with
> communities in neighbouring towns, and 63 individuals signed a letter to ‘Abdu’l-
> Baha (Stockman 1996: 38). One other country with recorded Baha’is was the
> 
> Netherlands, where George Enzlin considered himself a Baha’i around 1913, and
> who spoke to a theosophical society about the religion (De Vries 2012: 95).
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s travels
> A key event for these nascent communities was 'Abdu'l-Baha’s two journeys during
> 1911–1913 where he visited Switzerland, France, Germany, Hungary, Austria,
> England, and Scotland. In his first trip, from August to December 1911, 'Abdu'l-Baha
> visited France, Switzerland, and then travelled to England, where he stayed with
> Lady Blomfield in London. He visited Bristol, where he met the poet Ezra Pound. He
> also made a day trip to Oxford, where he spoke at the University at Manchester
> College as a guest of a biblical scholar, Professor Thomas Kelly Cheyne, who
> considered himself a follower of the Baha’i religion.
> In his second visit, from December 1912 to June 1913, 'Abdu'l-Baha visited
> England, Scotland, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. He visited Edinburgh and spoke
> at New College, followed by 8 days in Germany (Stuttgart, Esslingen, and Bad
> Mergentheim), and also Budapest, where he met a number of prominent persons
> and academics, including the orientalists Arminius Vambery and Ignaz Goldziher
> (Lederer 2004: 109–126). In these places, 'Abdu'l-Baha spoke with local people
> involved in progressive causes, including suffragettes, Esperantists, and those
> affiliated with new spiritual movements of the time, such as the Theosophists. The
> impact of ‘Abdu'l-Baha’s visits in Europe have been chronicled in some detail but not
> subject to academic investigation (Egea 2017, Egea 2018).
> These visits provided some impetus to the early Baha’i communities of
> England, Scotland, France, and Germany, and ‘Abdu’l-Baha meeting with early
> Baha’is confirmed their beliefs. In addition, it strengthened ties with progressive
> movements at the time, especially Theosophists, suffragettes, and Esperantists.
> Further, the media interest generated by his visit, including in national and regional
> newspapers such as The Manchester Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Scotsman, Oxford
> Times, and Nieuwe Rottadamsche Courant, was a small but important part of the
> emergence of the Baha’i Faith from obscurity (Egea 2018: 461). This continued with
> Baha’i presentations at large multi-faith conferences—in 1924, there were two (one
> of which was read by Mountford Mills and another by Ruhi Afnan) at a London
> ’Conference of Some Living Religions Within the British Empire’ (Hare 1924: 736;
> 
> Baha’i World 1928: 225). In 1936, George Townshend presented at the World
> Congress of Faiths (Baha’i World 1937: 614–19).
> 
> Development of Baha’i communities throughout Europe
> After the first world war (1914–18), there was increasing activity, especially in
> Germany, where many new Baha’i groups were established, and a magazine (Sonne
> der Wahrheit) was printed (Smith 1989: 449). In a survey of the Baha’i world in
> 1919–1920, John Esslemont noted interest among university students and
> professors in Switzerland, and that there was one Baha’i in Greece and one in
> Yugoslavia (Momen 2004: 102). The Baha’i communities in England and Germany
> continued to expand, and in 1923, national Spiritual Assemblies were formed for the
> British Isles and one for Germany and Austria.
> From 1925, more detailed information is provided in Baha’i yearbooks. There
> were Baha’is living in eight countries: Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy,
> Sweden, Switzerland, and European Russia. The first Baha’i Year Book (1925–26)
> identifies two Baha’i ‘centres’ in France, two in Austria, two in Switzerland, three in
> Italy, three in England, and 26 in Germany. The strength of the German Baha’i
> community was also apparent from its four magazines in 1926—‘the official
> magazine’, a quarterly one published by the Committee of Education of the NSA
> (National Spiritual Assembly) of Germany, a children’s magazine (Das
> Rosengaertlein), and Mitteilungen, the bulletin of the Baha’i assembly of Hamburg
> (Baha’i Year Book 1926: 103). Of the worldwide total of 11 magazines, four were in
> German. The number of countries increased from 8 in 1925 to 11 in 1928 with the
> addition of Denmark, Norway, and Yugoslavia (Smith 2015: 352–69). Individual
> Baha’is also started to reside in Sweden (1920), Denmark (1925), and Norway
> (1927). In 1926–28, a list of spiritual assemblies is provided with four in England
> (London, two in Manchester, Dorset), one in France (Paris), one in Switzerland
> (Lausanne) and five in Germany. Baha’i ‘groups’ were also present in Denmark
> (Copenhagen); Austria (Graz, Vienna); Italy (Portofino [‘in summer only’], Florence,
> Como, Torino, Genoa); Switzerland (Geneva, Yvorne [or Vand, where Forel lived],
> and Zurich; and Sweden (Boviken and Uddevalla) (Baha’i World 1928: 182–187;
> Baha’i World 1930: 218).
> 
> A 1928 survey of Baha’i activities reported regular public meetings in London
> and Manchester, that the Parisian community ‘maintained Baha’i meeting-places
> conducted in both the French and English languages’ (Baha’i World 1928: 28), and
> increasing interest in Germany, partly through links with Esperantists. Despite this,
> the British and French groups remained quite small, with less than a hundred people
> until the 1930s, and the other communities remained even smaller (Smith 1989).
> There was also an ‘International Baha’i Bureau’ in Geneva that acted as a meeting
> place for ‘Baha’is coming to Geneva though their interest in the activities of the
> League of Nations and of other international bodies centred in Geneva’ (Baha’i
> World 1928: 30). It published a magazine in German, French, and English.
> New groups were established in the late 1920s, and by 1930, three new
> countries had a Baha’i presence (Holland, Hungary, and Poland). There were 14
> Baha’i ‘assemblies and groups’ in England and 38 in Germany. New groups were
> reported in Budapest, Ensqhede (Holland), Oslo, Warsaw, and Capraz (Yugoslavia),
> and ‘young people’s Baha’i groups’ in Uddavalla (Sweden) and five German cities. A
> number of German academics were reported to be studying the Baha’i Faith (Root
> 1928: 300–311). In 1932–34, there were local spiritual assemblies in Austria
> (Vienna), Bulgaria (Sofia), Germany (with 7) and England (London and Manchester).
> New Baha’i groups were reported in Tirana (Albania); Antwerp (Belgium); Plovdiv,
> Sofia, Turnovo, and Varna (Bulgaria); Brno, Prague, and Pressburg
> (Czechoslovakia); Gyor (Hungary); Radviliskis and Yoniskis (Lithuania); and
> Bucharest (Rumania). There is uncertainty about some of these countries, as later
> official Baha’i sources suggest that Albania and Lithuania were not opened to the
> religion during 1921-1953 (Baha’i World 1970: 460–461), and Lithuania was opened
> in 1977 (Baha’i World 1981: 105). Countries with Baha’i groups but no assemblies
> increased in 1932–34 (with 8 groups in Switzerland, four in Holland, three in Italy,
> three in Sweden, three in Austria, and two in Norway) (Baha’i World 1936: 426–432).
> Nordic countries followed a similar pattern. Their first Baha’is were individuals
> who had converted in the US. However, they were unable to attract more converts,
> and these communities did not grow until the 1940s and 1950s. For example, in
> Sweden, August Ruud and Edvark Olsson, who had become Baha’is in the US, and
> lived in Kenosha and Chicago, moved back to Sweden in 1920 and 1922,
> respectively (National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Norway 2020). However,
> the first local Spiritual Assembly (LSA) in Sweden, which was in Stockholm, was
> formed more than 25 years later, in 1948. A Norwegian, Johanna Schubarth, who
> became a Baha’i in Urbana, Illinois, moved back to Norway in 1927, but there were
> no other Baha’is in Norway until 1946 (when Solveig Corbit pioneered there) (Khan
> 2003: 191). The first LSA there was in Oslo, also in 1948. In 1925, Johanne
> Sorensen, a Dane, converted during a short stay in Honolulu and returned to
> Denmark (Warburg 2004: 233). However, the next converts occurred in the late
> 1940s, when two American women (Dagmar Dole and Eleanor Hollibaugh) moved to
> Denmark, which paved the way for 38 Danes to declare as Baha’is. The first LSA
> was formed in 1949 (Warburg 2004: 243).
> In 1939, there were Baha’is in 22 countries throughout the continent, with the
> addition of Finland, Irish Free State, and Iceland (Table). However, outside of Great
> Britain and Germany, the presence was very small. These two countries made up 40
> of the 91 localities in 1939, and 11 of the 14 local spiritual assemblies (Baha’i World
> 1942: 688–92). However, the Baha’i community in Germany was outlawed in 1937
> by the Nazis because of the religion’s ‘international and pacifist’ teachings (Smith
> 1989), and property was confiscated and some Baha’is were imprisoned. In Poland,
> a prominent Baha’i of Jewish origin, Lydia Zamenhof, was killed in the Treblinka
> concentration camp. The second world war brought a suspension to Baha’i activities
> in occupied European countries. In Britain, this was not the case, and the community
> was active and continued to grow.
> Intensive efforts were made to re-establish communities in Western Europe
> following the war, including Baha’is moving from North America. This led to local
> Baha’i communities being established in all northern and western European
> countries (Sprague 1949: 11). In 1949, these North American Baha’is (‘pioneers’)
> established communities in Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain; the German national
> Spiritual Assembly was reformed; and there were 142 localities and 41 LSAs (Baha’i
> World 1952: 520–74). There was also a scattering of Baha’is in central and eastern
> Europe but governments allowed no formal Baha’i activities in countries that were
> part of the Soviet sphere of influence. Thus, in 1949, Baha’is were thinly spread in
> most countries in mainland Europe, with no Baha’i presence in Greece, Austria,
> Albania, Romania, and a few small states (such as Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco,
> San Marino, and the Vatican City), and with a larger community in the British Isles
> (Smith 2015).
> 
> Table: Countries where Baha’i communities existed in 1926 and subsequent
> years of establishment
> 1926            1928         1930        1932            1939     1949
> 
> Austria         Denmark      Holland     Albania         Finland Luxembourg
> France          Norway       Hungary     Belgium         Iceland Portugal
> Germany         Yugoslavia Poland        Bulgaria        Irish    Spain
> Free
> State
> Great                                    Czecho-
> Britain                                  slovakia
> Italy                                    Lithuania (?)
> Sweden                                   Romania
> Switzerland
> European
> Russia
> 
> One other aspect of early European Baha’i history is its role in diplomatic
> work, particularly on behalf of the persecuted Iranian Baha’is. This started with
> European diplomats who lobbied for persecuted Babis. The British were instrumental
> in safeguarding 'Abdu'l-Baha's life during the first world war. By the 1920s, this work
> continued in the ‘International Baha’i Bureau’ headed by Jean Stannard in Geneva
> (Baha’i World 1928: 30).
> Another important event was the passing of Shoghi Effendi in London in 1957.
> His resting place at New Southgate cemetery remains an important place for Baha’is
> to visit. The first Baha’i World Congress was held in London in 1963 at the Royal
> Albert Hall. Around 6,000 Baha’is attended and the first Universal House of Justice
> was announced and presented at the congress. The only Baha’i House of Worship in
> Europe is Langenheim village on the outskirts of Frankfurt. In 1953, the first
> 
> application was made to purchase land for such a building but the process was
> complicated by opposition by local Protestant and Catholic churches, and planning
> refusals and appeals. Work started in 1960 and it was opened in 1964 (Baha’i World
> 1970: 733–741) with a distinctive concrete and glass modernist design.
> 
> Institutional developments and growth since the Second World War in Europe
> With increasing numbers of new Baha’is in Europe, developing Baha’i institutions
> and communities became important. Four periods of institutional development can
> be outlined. The first was the establishment of local and national Baha’i bodies from
> 1920s onwards, as described above.
> The second was a major international plan (the Ten Year Crusade) to
> increase the number of localities, 1953–1963. In the first year, Baha’is moved to
> Andorra, the Canary Islands, Greece, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Malta, and San Marino
> (Baha’i World 1970). This continued throughout these years, with Baha’is coming
> particularly from North America and Iran. In some European countries, this changed
> communities significantly. For example, 17 Iranians arrived in Denmark in 1961 to
> add to a community of 59 people (Warburg 2004: 246).
> The third was a steady increase in the population of Baha’is in the 1970s as
> local people joined the Faith (rather than having moved to such areas). Much of the
> increase in the early 1970s came from young, single people who were part of a wider
> countercultural movement. An example is Denmark, where the community doubled
> in size when 80 people converted from 1971–1974 (Warburg 2015). Iranian
> immigration remained important—32 Baha’is moved to Denmark between 1975 and
> 1990 (Warburg 1995: 189).
> Finally and fourth, following the collapse of communism, there was a new
> period of institution building in central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s coordinated
> by the Baha’i World Centre, who encouraged Baha’i in neighbouring countries to
> move there to assist in this process. Romania had early successes; the first local
> Spiritual Assembly in eastern Europe since the second world war was elected on 21
> March 1990 in Cluj.
> In terms of national bodies, after the first two NSAs were formed the British
> Isles and Germany/Austria in 1923, there were no other new NSAs until a joint one
> for Italy and Switzerland was elected in 1953. By the end of the Ten Year Crusade in
> 1963, another 14 were established (France in 1958; Austria in 1959; Belgium,
> Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
> Sweden, and Switzerland in 1962). No further national Baha’i institutions were
> formed until the NSAs of Iceland and Ireland were established in 1972, followed by
> Greece in 1977, Cyprus in 1978, and the Canary Islands in 1984. In central and
> Eastern Europe, national bodies were established for Romania (1991);
> Czechoslovakia (1991); Russia, Georgia, and Armenia (1992); Albania (1992); the
> Baltic States (1992); Bulgaria (1992); Hungary (1992); Poland (1992); Ukraine,
> Belarus and Moldova (1992); and Slovenia and Croatia (1994). Armenia, Georgia,
> and Belarus all elected separate NSAs in 1995, Sicily in 1995, Moldova in 1996, and
> separate NSAs for the Czech and Slovak Republics were formed in 1998. Estonia,
> Latvia, and Lithuania elected separate NSAs in 1999.
> The number of local Spiritual Assemblies (LSAs) provide a clearer perspective
> on the growth of the Baha’i community in the second half of the twentieth century. In
> absolute numbers, this has changed considerably over short time periods, partly as a
> consequence of meeting the deadlines of international plans set by the Universal
> House of Justice, which was often accompanied by Baha’is moving into new areas
> so that there were nine adult Baha’is available to elect an LSA. In 1945, there were 6
> LSAs in Europe (Smith 2004: 20). In 1963, there were 172 LSAs and the largest
> numbers were 48 in the British Isles (excl. British Guyana), 30 in Germany, 12 in
> Italy, and 12 in Switzerland. This had increased to 180 LSAs by 1968 (with 8 in
> Austria, 6 in Belgium, 54 in the British Isles, 1 in Eire, 3 in Denmark, 4 in Finland, 6 in
> France, 29 in Germany, 15 in Italy, 3 in Luxembourg, 9 in the Netherlands, 4 in
> Norway, 7 in Portugal, 15 in Spain, 4 in Sweden, and 8 in Switzerland) (Universal
> House of Justice 1968). Over the next decade, this increased more than three-fold.
> In 1979, there was a large increase to 637 LSAs. This further grew to 687 LSAs by
> 1986, and again in 1992 to 845 (Universal House of Justice 1993), a rise mostly
> explained by new Baha’i communities of central and eastern Europe (which had 112
> LSAs in 1992 or 13% of the total) (Baha’i World 1998: 222-223). This gradual
> increase was sustained in the 1990s with 832 LSAs in 1993, 1,041 in 1996
> (Universal House of Justice 1997) and 958 in 1998 (Baha’i World 1999). The last
> update from annual Baha’i yearbooks was 2003–2004 when 860 LSAs were
> reported in Europe, with an inflection point around 1997–98, when LSA numbers
> started to decline (Figure). Although European-wide LSA numbers has not been
> published in official sources since this time, they have continued to decline. Based
> on available national community reports, there are around 600 LSAs in 2020. This
> decline is partly explained by the emphasis in Baha’i communities shifting towards
> other institutions, such as devotional meetings and group study events (known as
> ‘study circles’). These latter are not proxies for Baha’i membership, but include
> people interested in the community, teachings, and activities, most of whom do not
> formally enrol as Baha’is. There are few numbers on these activities—one official
> source reported 570 study circles in 2001, which increased to 1,663 in 2006
> (Universal House of Justice 2007). The most recent summary of the Baha’i World
> Centre provides no statistics on this or any other comparable metric, rather it outlines
> selected information by community and country about certain initiatives.
> 
> Figure: Number of Local Spiritual Assemblies in Europe based on official
> sources
> 
> European LSAs numbers
> 1200
> 
> 1000
> 
> 1926   1932   1939   1945   1949   1963   1968    1973   1979   1983   1986   1992   1996   1998   2004
> 
> In terms of numbers of individual Baha’is, Peter Smith has produced
> estimates based on information from the Baha’i World Centre. In 1963, there were
> 4,900 Baha’is in Europe, which increased to 8,900 in 1968. In 1973, this rose to
> 17,200, and 19,800 in 1978. In 1983, it was 20,700, and 24,500 in 1988 (Smith
> 2004: 33). The highest proportionate growth was between 1963 and 1973. Warburg
> estimated that there 40,000 European Baha’is in 2001, which increased to 50,000 in
> 2015 (Warburg 2015). Other sources, such as the World Christian Encyclopedia,
> provide alternative estimates of Baha’i numbers, which are overestimates as they
> 
> focus on a looser definition of adherence but provide an overview of the number of
> countries where there is an active Baha’i presence. In 2020, this source, now known
> as the World Christian Database, estimated 166,000 Baha’is in Europe (including
> Russia) (Johnson and Zurlo 2020). However, based on examining individual
> countries with more validated sources of information (such as annual reports of
> national Baha’i communities), this is around 3–6 times too high for membership
> numbers. For example, the UK NSA reports around 8,000 Baha’i members in 2020,
> whereas the World Christian Database estimates it at 45,000 adherents, more than
> 5-fold higher.
> 
> Individual countries
> Turning now to individual countries, the most recent overview was from 1998 when
> Iceland had the highest number of LSAs per million population (34) followed by
> Luxembourg (27), Cyprus (8), and Ireland (6) (Fazel and Hassall 1998: 38; Smith
> 2004: 36). The countries with the smallest Baha’i presences, excluding the countries
> of the former Eastern Bloc, were Italy (1.1 LSAs per million), France (0.6), and
> Greece (0.6). In 2019–20, using national Baha’i community annual reports, there
> were 5 LSAs in Iceland (14 LSAs per million population), 11 in Luxembourg
> (18/million), 16 in Norway (3.0), 9 in the Republic of Ireland (1.8), 47 in Italy
> (excluding Sicily) (0.8), 6 in Greece (0.6), and approximately 30 in France (0.4). This
> suggests clear reductions in LSAs per million population for Iceland, Ireland, Italy,
> and possibly France.
> In absolute numbers, in 1998, the two largest European Baha’i communities
> were reportedly Albania (13,000 Baha’is) and Romania (7,000). Countries with the
> most Baha’is per million population were Albania (4,029), Iceland (1,345),
> Luxembourg (983), Portugal (605), Cyprus (529), Romania (308), Ireland (175) and
> Norway (173). This contrasts with considerably smaller communities in France (24),
> Italy (32), and Spain (44) (Warburg 1995: 184–85). In 1992, Albania reported 3,000–
> 4,000 Baha’is (or 940–1250/million), and Romania 1,000 (or 44/million) (Baha’i
> World 1998). In 2014, Margit Warburg outlined Baha’i populations per million for
> Iceland (1,118 per million), Norway (238), Finland (142), Sweden (113), and
> Denmark (67) (Warburg 2015). In 2019–20, the rates were similar: Norway (207),
> Finland (138), Sweden (106) and Denmark (69).
> 
> By comparison, Baha’i numbers in 2019–20 show declines in some Eastern
> European countries over the last decade. In Albania, it is currently estimated that
> there are hundreds of Baha’is (at around 100–200 Baha’is per million) and in
> Romania around 4,000 (or 200 per million). The number with known addresses is
> even less; in the hundreds. Iceland has around 350 Baha’is or 950 Baha’is per
> million population (NSA of the Baha’is of Iceland 2020) and Ireland around 550–600
> Baha’is (or 120 per million). Reliable numbers are available in some national annual
> reports, some of which provide information on net growth. These numbers are
> complicated by whether one only counts Baha’is with known addresses and whether
> one includes very recent Iranian immigration, because some are claiming they are
> Baha’is to improve their chances of securing refugee status.
> The two largest European Baha’i communities, the UK and Germany,
> illustrate the difficulties in examining trends over time. The problem of whether and
> how to count unknown addresses is demonstrated in the UK—the number increased
> from 574 in 2014 to 1,914 in 2018 (with no change in the numbers with known
> addresses). In 2020, in the UK, there were an estimated 6,149 Baha’is with known
> addresses and another 1,818 without such addresses; around 120 Baha’is/million
> population. Trends in UK numbers demonstrate minimal annual net growth of 0.5%
> (including births and immigration) over the last few years with new conversions
> having decreased from around 100 to around 50–70 per year, and small annual
> increases partly due to net immigration.
> In Germany, there were around 5,835 Baha’is in 2020 or around 69 per million
> population. German Baha’i numbers have increased from 4,404 in 2000 to 5,835 in
> 2017, around 4% annual growth, but around two-thirds of all new enrolments were
> recent Iranian migrants. Without these recent Iranian migrants, over 2012–2017,
> there were around 59 new enrolments per year and 28 withdrawals (i.e. net of an
> additional 31 Baha’is per year). There were 106 LSAs in 2005 in Germany (1.3
> LSAs/million) (Baha’i World News Service 2005), which decreased to 90 in 2020 (1.1
> LSAs/million).
> Some observations can be made on Baha’i trends over time. First, three
> countries with large populations—France, Germany, and the UK—had their Baha’i
> communities start at similar times and were bolstered by the visit of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
> Before the second world war, Germany seemed to have advanced considerably
> faster than the UK and France in terms of the growth of local assemblies and groups,
> and in the range of their Baha’i activities (e.g. having a children’s magazine and two
> other national periodicals). Since 1945, though, the UK has become the leading
> Western European Baha’i country numerically, and it continues to have more LSAs
> and Baha’is in absolute terms and per head of population. Despite Paris’s early
> status as the leading centre in Europe, France took 35 years longer than the British
> Isles and Germany/Austria to form its first national assembly, which it did in 1958,
> and continues to have less LSAs per million population than other countries
> (including half that of Italy).
> Second, smaller countries, particularly islands, have relatively large Baha’i
> communities. This is partly a reflection of international Baha’i plans which prioritized
> establishing a presence in every country, which led to Baha’is moving to many
> smaller countries to establish communities there. Other possible explanations
> include a particular country’s openness to religious diversity and alternative forms of
> religious expression. Across the Nordic countries, this might be part of the
> explanation of the 10-fold difference between Iceland and Denmark or Sweden.
> Third, there appears to be no straightforward north/south or
> Protestant/Catholic explanation for differences in Baha’i numbers between European
> countries. One example of this is a comparison between Portugal with a Baha’i
> population at 605 Baha’is/million and 2.4 LSAs/million and Greece with around 10–
> 20 Baha’is/million and 0.6 LSAs/million—both of which are southern European
> countries. Another is that of Ireland, a Catholic country, with many more Baha’is and
> LSAs per head of population, compared to Italy. Peter Smith has argued that smaller
> countries may be more liable to ‘endogenous’ factors such as pioneers (Baha’is
> immigrating from other more established communities), and local initiatives while
> larger countries will be influenced to secular trends (Smith 1984: 90).
> Fourth, many of the early Baha’i communities in Western Europe were
> established by American or Western European women who had become Baha’is in
> the US. Fifth, a large impetus to the development of these communities came from
> many Iranian Baha’is moving to mainland Europe as part of the Ten Year Crusade.
> This continued with economic migration of Iranians in the 1960s and 1970s, and then
> after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 when the arrival of refugees bolstered Baha’i
> communities in many countries. This means that many of these communities have
> large proportions of Iranian expatriates and their children; in many countries around
> half. Finally, growth in these communities since the 1970s has been small, and in
> many countries, there has been virtually no growth for the last few decades. There
> have been very few examples of large numbers of conversions anywhere in Europe
> which have been sustained, with the possible exception of the early 1970s in the UK
> and Ireland.
> 
> Notable European Baha’is
> Among the better-known Baha’is include the British potter Bernard Leach, the
> environmentalist Richard St Barbe-Baker, suffragette Alice Buckton (Osborn 2014)
> and athlete Nelson Elvora, the 2008 gold-winning Olympic triple jumper. Queen
> Marie of Romania, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, came to hear about the
> religion through Martha Root, an American Baha’i teacher, when she visited
> Romania in 1923. She wrote letters expressing her acceptance of Baha’i beliefs
> towards the end of her life, although her biographies make little to no mention of her
> Baha’i affiliation. August-Henri Forel, a Swiss etymologist and neuroanatomist, and
> whose image was on a Swiss banknote from 1968 to 2000, became a Baha’i in 1920
> when he was in his early 70s.
> 
> Themes in European Baha’i community life
> Europe has a large diversity of religious and cultural traditions, and this is reflected in
> wide variations in many aspects of Baha’i community life. One notable feature of the
> Baha’i community in Europe has been its contribution to Baha’i literature and
> scholarship. In the UK, Hasan Balyuzi wrote a series of biographies of the central
> figures of the Baha’i Faith that remain important sources on its early history (Momen
> 1995: xi–xx). John Ferraby, who with Balyuzi and Townshend was appointed a Hand
> of the Cause in the British Isles, wrote a scholarly introductory book in 1957, All
> Things Made New. George Townshend, who was based in Dublin, Ireland, assisted
> Shoghi Effendi with translations of Baha’i texts and wrote introductory books and
> works on the Baha’i religion’s relationship with Christianity and Islam. From the
> 1970s, a small number of British Baha’is drew on academic methods, convened
> regular conferences (Smith 1979, 1980) and seminars,1 and published a series of
> books, monographs, and journal papers. Two periodicals, Baha’i Studies Bulletin
> (1982–2000) and Baha’i Studies Review (1998–current) were regular outlets for
> presentations from these seminars (Fazel 2018). In Germany, scholarship was
> centred around the work of Udo Schaefer, who wrote introductory works and
> systematic surveys of Baha’i ethics. A comprehensive and scholarly apologetic work,
> Desinformation Als Methode (published in English as Making the Crooked Straight)
> co-authored by Schaefer, is the only book to have been highlighted in the annual
> message to the Baha’i world from the Universal House of Justice, describing it as a
> ‘signal victory for the German Baha’i community’ (Universal House of Justice 2000).
> Aspects of it were discussed in a special issue of World Order magazine, the Baha’i
> periodical (World Order 2004). In Italy, Alessandro Bausani, was a prominent
> academic orientalist, made contributions to Baha’i scholarship. Periodicals were
> published in Italy (Opinione Baha’i)2 from 1977 and France (Pensee Baha’ie) from
> the 1970s.
> 
> A second feature of the European Baha’i community has been in its public
> relations work. This has raised awareness of the persecution of Iran’s Baha’is, which
> remains the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran, and lobbied governments and
> international organizations to call for the Iranian government to cease this
> persecution. The Baha’i International Community Office in Geneva continues to raise
> awareness of the plight of Iran’s Baha’is, and national communities have brought the
> matter to the attention of their respective governments and European institutions.
> The persecution of other Baha’i communities, including those in Egypt and Yemen,
> have been a focus of recent efforts.
> 
> In summary, I have summarised the early interest in the Babi-Baha’i religions
> in Europe, and outlined its early beginnings in Paris, London and Stuttgart. ‘Abdu’l-
> Baha’s two trips to western and central Europe during 1911-13 provided a major
> impetus to these early communities and generated considerable media interest.
> Over the next few decades, detailed information on Baha’i communities is provided
> in official Baha’i yearbooks and related publications, which show that the number of
> local and national groups steadily grew throughout western Europe. A major
> increase in the number of countries opened to the Baha’i Faith occurred during 1953
> to 1963 as part of an international plan, and large numbers of individuals converted
> in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Local Spiritual Assembly numbers, which provide
> a consistent and reliable metric to examine Baha’i growth, increased from the 1940s
> until the late 1990s, but have declined since then. Despite this, many individual
> Baha’i countries have continued to grow numerically, partly due to immigration,
> particularly from Iran. In addition, a closer look at Baha’i statistics demonstrate the
> relative strength of some island nations, including Iceland. New communities formed
> in central and eastern Europe from the 1990s, which remain thinly spread. Notable
> European Baha’is have come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including the arts,
> sciences and sport. Two themes stand out in terms of the wider European Baha’i
> contribution to the international Baha’i community: Baha’i literature and scholarship,
> and public relations work, particularly in relation to the persecution of Iran’s Baha’is.
> 
> References
> 
> Amanat, A. (1989) Resurrection and Renewal: The Making of the Babi Movement in
> Iran, 1844–1850, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
> 
> Baha’i World Centre (2006) The Five Year Plan 2001–2006: Summary of
> Achievements and Learning, Haifa: Baha’i World Centre.
> 
> Baha’i World News Service (2005) ‘Senior Government Minister praises Baha’i
> contributions,’ viewed 23/10/20, https://news.Baha’i.org/story/374/.
> 
> Cole, J. (2012) ‘Edward Granville Browne. ii. Browne on Babism and Bahaism,’
> Encyclopaedia Iranica, 4:5: 483–488, https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/browne-
> edward-granville#pt2.
> 
> De Vries, J. (2002) The Babi Question You Mentioned…. The Origins of the Baha’i
> community of the Netherlands, 1844–1962, Herent: Peeters.
> 
> Egea, A. (2017) The Apostle of Peace: A Survey of References to ‘Abdu’l-Baha in
> the Western Press 1871–1921. Volume One: 1871–1912, Kidlington: George
> Ronald.
> 
> Egea, A. (2018) The Apostle of Peace A Survey of References to ‘Abdu’l-Baha in the
> Western Press 1871–1921. Volume Two: 1912–1921, Kidlington: George Ronald.
> 
> Fazel, S. (2018) ‘Baha’i Studies at the Crossroads: Key Papers and Developments in
> the Baha’i Studies Review 1990-2002,’ viewed 16 November 2020 https://bahai-
> library.com/fazel_bahai_studies_crossroads
> 
> Fazel, S. and Hassall, G. (1998) ‘100 years of the Baha’i Faith in Europe,’ Baha’i
> Studies Review, 8: 35–44.
> 
> Flannery, V. (2004) ‘Adventures in biographical research: John and William
> Cormick,’ Solas, 4, https://connectionsbmc.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/dr-william-
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> 
> Hare, W. L. (1924) ‘A Parliament of Living Religions,’ viewed 23 October 2020
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> psredir=1&article=3779&context=ocj.
> 
> Ioannesyan, Y. (2013) The Development of the Babi/Baha’i Communities: Exploring
> Baron Rosen’s Archives, London: Routledge.
> 
> Johnson, T. and Zurlo, G. (eds.) (2020) World Christian Database, Leiden: Brill.
> 
> Khan, J. and Khan, P. (2003) Advancement of Women: ABaha’i Perspective,
> Wilmette: Baha’i Publishing.
> 
> Lederer, G. (2004) ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Budapest,’ in P. Smith, ed., Baha’is in the West
> (Studies in the Babi and Baha’i Religions, vol. 14), Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 109–
> 128.
> 
> Momen, M. (1981) The Babi and Baha’i Religions 1844–1944: Some Contemporary
> Western Accounts, Oxford: George Ronald.
> 
> Momen, M. (1995) ‘Hasan M. Balyuzi (1908–1980). A Bio-bibliographical Sketch,’ in
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> and the Baha’i Religions, vol. 5), Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, xi–xx.
> 
> Momen, M. (2004) ‘Esslemont’s survey of the Baha’i World, 1919–1920,’ in P. Smith,
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> 
> National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Norway. (2020) ‘SkandinaviskBaha’i-
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> collection/skandinavisk-Baha’i-historie.
> 
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> viewed 23/10/20, https://www.Baha’i.is/node/51?language=en.
> 
> National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States and Canada (1926)
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> 
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> 
> National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States and Canada (1936)
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> 
> Osborn, L. (2014) Religion and Relevance: the British Baha’is 1899–1930, Los
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> 
> Osborn, L. (2014) ‘Alice Buckton: Baha’i Mystic,’ viewed 23 October 2020,
> https://Baha’i-library.com/osborn_alice_buckton.
> 
> Root, M. (1928) ‘The Baha’i Movement in German Universities’, in The Baha’i World
> (1926–1928), 2, New York: Baha’i Publishing Committee.
> 
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> Smith, D. (2007) Honore Jaxon: Prairie Visionary, Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
> 
> Smith, P. (1984) ‘The Pattern of Baha’i Expansion and Distribution in Europe,’ Baha’i
> Studies Bulletin 3.1: 90,
> https://hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/sites/hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/files/page/documents/b
> orwick_1984.pdf.
> 
> Smith, P. (1979) ‘Baha’i Studies, University of Lancaster, 7–8 April 1979,’ British
> Society for Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, 6.2: 119–123.
> 
> Smith, P (1980) ‘Baha’i Studies Seminars at the University of Lancaster,’ Baha’i
> Studies Bulletin 1.4: 92–3; 98-110.
> 
> Smith, P. (1989) ‘Bahaism. IV. Bahai Communities,’ Encyclopaedia Iranica, 3.5:
> 449–454, https://iranicaonline.org/articles/Baha’ism-iv.
> 
> Smith, P. (2004) ‘The Baha’i Faith in the West: a survey,’ in P. Smith, ed., Baha’is in
> the West (Studies in the Babi and Baha’i Religions, vol. 14), Los Angeles: Kalimat
> Press, 3–62.
> 
> Smith, P. (2015) ‘The Baha’i Faith: Distribution Statistics, 1925–1949,’ Journal of
> Religious History, 39.3: 352–369.
> 
> Sprague, M. K. (1949) ‘The First Baha’i European Conference,’ World Order, 14:11.
> 
> Stockman, R. (1996) ‘The Baha’i Faith in England and Germany, 1900–1913,’ World
> Order, 27.2: 31–42.
> 
> Universal House of Justice (1968) The Baha’i Faith (Statistical Information) 1844–
> 1968, Haifa: Universal House of Justice.
> 
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> World Centre.
> 
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> World Centre.
> 
> Universal House of Justice (1998) Baha’i World (1986–1992), vol. 20, Haifa: Baha’i
> World Centre.
> 
> Universal House of Justice (1993) The Six Year Plan 1986–1992, Haifa: Universal
> House of Justice.
> 
> Universal House of Justice (1997) The Three Year Plan 1993–1996, Haifa: Universal
> House of Justice.
> 
> Universal House of Justice (1999) The Baha’i World 1997–98, Haifa: World Centre
> Publications.
> 
> Universal House of Justice (2005) The Baha’i World 2003–2004, Haifa: Baha’i World
> Centre.
> 
> Universal House of Justice. (2000) Ridvan 2000 message to the Baha’is of the
> World, accessed 23 October 2020, https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-
> texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20000421_001/1#361534303
> 
> Warburg, M. (1995) ‘Growth Patterns of New religions: The Case of Baha’i,’ in R.
> Towler, ed., New Religions and the New Europe, Aarhus: Aarhus Univ. Press, 177–
> 193.
> 
> Warburg, M. (2004) ‘The Circle, the Brotherhood, and the Ecclesiastical Body: The
> Baha’i Faith in Denmark, 1925–1987,’ in P. Smith, ed., Baha’is in the West (Studies
> in the Babi and Baha’i Religions, vol. 14), Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 229–264.
> 
> Warburg, M. (2015) ‘Baha’is of the North’ in L.R. Lewis and I.B. Tøllefsen, eds.,
> Handbook of Nordic New Religions, Leiden: Brill, 77–92.
> 
> World Order (2004) Special issue on Making the Crooked Straight, 35:3.
> 
> An outline is provided by Stephen Lambden on https://hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/node/499 (accessed 23
> October 2020). There were academic seminars at the University of Cambridge 1978–1979, University of
> Lancaster 1980, Universities of Warwick and Newcastle 1983, and from 1985, the seminar moved to Newcastle
> where it was held biannually until 2008 (mostly at the Baha’i centre), when it became an annual meeting. In
> 2016, the seminar moved to University of Oxford (as the Newcastle Baha’i centre was disposed of by the UK
> NSA).
> Apart from Bausani, notable papers include those by Hossein Avaregan in Apr-Jun/Jul-Sept/Oct-Dec 1981
> ‘Profezie con valore scientifico I–III’ [Scientifically-sound prophecies]; Apr-Jun 1987 ‘Sul valore scientifico delle
> profezie; considerazioni di uno studioso’ [The scientific character of prophecies: personal scholarly reflections];
> and Jan-Mar 1990 ‘Punti razionali comuni fra Corano e Vangelo’ [Common rational themes between the Quran
> and the Gospel].
>
> — *The Baha'i Faith in Europe (Used by permission of the curator)*