Cologne’s non affiliated mayor, Henriette Reker, made headlines across Germany in October 2021 for granting Muslim congregations permission to call for the midday Friday prayer. The initiative is currently limited to two years. This is not the first agreement of this kind: In the Fatih Mosque in Düren, also in North Rhine-Westphalia, the muezzin has been calling to…
Berlin has a long standing experience of sheltering in one location, different ideological or cultural groups. From post-War occupation to decades of representing a microcosm of the Cold War itself ,to being the hub of both government institutions and a vibrant hard left artist scene in more recent years. In the first post-war decade, Berlin…
“The European Commission funds several associations that are considered Islamist by the German government or the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz). Although officials [of these associations] have garnered attention because of their anti-Semitic statements, EU funds continue to flow” (source). That was the opening claim of Welt journalist, Frederik Schindler, in a…
The opening of a self-styled ‘liberal’ mosque in Berlin – marked by the mixing of genders, the absence of headscarves, and the openness to pluralistic understandings of Islam – by lawyer and activist Seyran Ateş has sparked a media frenzy both in Germany and abroad. Liberal and conservative media outlets have celebrated the mosque. Liberals…
July 8, 2014 The ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Germany, Hüseyin Avni Karslioglu, expressed that he would like to see an official Ramadan gala hosted by the Federal Government. Recognizing the many events taking place within Germany’s constituent federal states, Hüseyin Avni Karslioglu referred particularly to the USA and the Obama administration as…
