> The case I knew from my hometown was that the Church (as in country organization) payed one third. The congregation hat to pay one third as well and the secular municipality also had to pay one third.

The lack of institutional separation of church and state within Germany surprised me when I lived there. The populace isn't particularly religious on a personal level, but they tolerate a surprising amount of religious interference or intertwining with state institutions. IIRC there are church schools/daycares that are publicly funded as well, and of course the state cooperates with churches for religious taxation (yes, really -- if you're a member of one of those churches, you can't opt out short of leaving that church, they take the money directly out of your paycheck).