Reunited Germany is increasingly characterized by new groups of immigrants, particularly since the recent arrival of refugees from Syria and various other places. Like many migrants before, they bring along religious imaginaries and practices, thereby contributing to the diversification of the religious landscape. Churches, mosques, shrines, temples and other places of worship function as new markers of place-making in the urban sacred. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among migrants in multi-ethnic bazaars in Berlin, this paper seeks to explore the performance of religious practices in superdiverse marketplaces, where Vietnamese and other ethnic groups ask spirits and gods for protection in localities increasingly characterised by economic insecurities. Simultaneously, traders from various countries respect and tolerate each other’s diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds, thereby enacting cosmopolitan sociability in the hustling and bustling Berlin Asiatowns.

Keywords: religious diversity, transnationalism, migration, Asiatown, bazaar, Berlin, Vietnam

Suggested bibliographic reference for this article:
Hüwelmeier, G. (2016). Enhancing Spiritual Security in Berlin’s Asian Bazaars. New Diversities, 18(1), 9-22. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://newdiversities.mmg.mpg.de/?page_id=2593