“It does not trigger any malice, no hostility”, assures an elected CDU

The experimentation of the call to prayer of the muezzin in Cologne was authorized for the next two years. Cologne is not the first to grant this right to Muslims in Germany. The first time dates back to 1985 in Düren, 40 km away, and many other cities in the country already allow it. But because of its size, the Cologne short story that tries the experiment made the headlines.

It is in the Ehrenfeld district, where the central mosque and its 55-meter minaret are located, that we should soon hear the first public call to prayer. “This is very good news for tolerance, for integration and for freedom, rejoices a faithful. It is only once a week on Friday, because for us Muslims it is a day of celebration. But if the mayor of Cologne wants to allow it every day, that would be even better. “

The muezzin’s call to prayer must not last more than five minutes and of the five daily prayers, the call can only be public for the noon one. The 45 mosques in the city must make a request in advance and depending on the surroundings and neighbors, a decibel rate not to be exceeded is set for them. The mayor of the district, the ecologist Volker Spelthann receives us in his office.

“Mosques exist, they have always existed. Before the construction of the central mosque, there was another in its place. And since the 1980s, the call of the muezzin was already practiced, he recalls. We could not really hear it, nor with what is proposed there. It’s not like we’re going to hear the call to prayer all over Cologne. “

“We must respect the fundamental law which asks us to ensure that religious communities can practice their faith.”

Volker Spelthann, elected ecologist

to franceinfo

Left and right, this announcement is not debated. “We have been a multicultural melting pot since 2001 and we are proud of it, even if it is sometimes a difficult process, declares Martin erkelenz of the Christian Democratic Party, the CDU. Of course, that worries some, but it doesn’t trigger any malice, no hostility or anything like that. “. With its concept of religious freedom, Germany seems to have much calmer debates than some of its neighbors.