Several (1 1 1)-oriented, Ga-doped germanium crystals were grown in pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) containers by the Bridgman and the detached Bridgman growth techniques. Growth experiments in closed-bottom pBN containers resulted in nearly completely detached-grown crystals, because the gas pressure below the melt can build up to a higher pressure than above the melt. With open-bottom tubes the gas pressure above and below the melt is balanced during the experiment, and thus no additional force supports the detachment. In this case the crystals grew attached to the wall. Etch pit density (EPD) measurements along the axial growth direction indicated a strong improvement of the crystal quality of the detached-grown samples compared to the attached samples. Starting in the seed with an EPD of 6–8×10 3 cm −2 it decreased in the detached-grown crystals continuously to about 200–500 cm −2. No significant radial difference between the EPD on the edge and the middle of these crystals exists. In the attached grown samples the EPD increases up to a value of about 2–4×10 4 cm −2 (near the edge) and up to 1×10 4 cm −2 in the middle of the sample. Thus the difference between the detached- and the attached-grown crystals with respect to the EPD is approximately two orders of magnitude.