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create their own ‘private religions’as a bricolage. Following a Durkheimian definition, religion can be understood as solidary system of beliefs and practices
related to a distinct transcendent sphere that is institutionalised into a moral community (e.g. a church) (Durkheim, 1981, p. 75). Taking the perspective
of 'private religion”into consideration one would expect more individualised forms of religious beliefs and practices that are shaped, both from religious in‑
stitutions and traditions and from various forms of mediated imaginations of transcendency.The presentation will further this conceptual sketch. Following
these elaborations, results from an exploratory qualitative study on 'private religion”will be presented. In depth interviews with people living in Germany
between 18–35 years are conducted (N=9). The interviewees are either socialised within a religious community (the Catholic or the Lutheran Church, or
Muslim communities) or they have no traditional confessional background. The results reveal the process of appropriation of individual imaginations and
beliefs regarding transcendency and according religious practices. Especially the tension between mass media portrayals of institutionalised religion and
alternative depictions of transcendency in mass media (serials, novels) is reconstructed. The presentation will close with a critical discussion and a frame‑
work for further research.