Applications exceeded the full-year 2025 total by more than three times. The increase comes as a new service law takes effect and the military surveys 18-year-old men.
German authorities received 12,102 applications to refuse military service in the Bundeswehr on conscientious grounds between January and the end of August 2026. That is more than three times the 3,879 applications filed during all of 2025, Berliner Morgenpost reported, citing government figures.
Officials received 5,862 applications in the first half of the year. More than 6,200 therefore arrived in July and August alone, over twice the January–June total. The newspaper projects that the number of objections could reach 20,000 by year-end.
The paper cited the military service law that took effect on January 1 as one factor behind the increase. It keeps enlistment voluntary but restores military registration for 18-year-old men. The Bundeswehr has sent out about 450,000 questionnaires to assess their willingness and fitness for service.
The law also allows compulsory service, suspended in 2011, to be reinstated if there are too few volunteers or the security situation deteriorates. In that case, the Bundestag could introduce a so-called needs-based draft, with a lottery among the proposed methods for selecting recruits.