As a "sign of respect", Cologne has started a pilot project for mosques.
In Munich, Mayor Dieter Reiter is now also showing interest in the controversial idea of calls to prayer.
Munich - After a pilot project in Cologne, the city of Munich is now also dealing with Muslim calls to prayer.
Munich's Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) does not rule out that calls to prayer by the muezzin will also be allowed in the Bavarian capital in the future.
The city will deal with the issue as soon as the pilot project in Cologne has ended, the mayor told
tz
.
"On the basis of the Cologne experience, it will then be checked whether the city council should be considered with a corresponding proposal."
Munich: After the Cologne pilot project, Mayor Reiter wants to decide whether muezzin calls are also conceivable on the Isar
In a two-year model project, the city of Cologne has allowed Muslim communities to call out the muezzin to Friday prayer.
The mayor of Cologne Henriette Reker (independent) said Cologne was a city of "religious freedom and diversity".
There are many Muslims among Cologne residents - Reker spoke of a “sign of respect”.
The city's decision sparked controversial debates.
Representatives of Islam praise the project - according to the Central Council of Muslims, Cologne is sending a "symbol of tolerance and diversity into the world".
NRW State Secretary for Integration Serap Güler (CDU), on the other hand, does not see the muezzin call as mandatory for her personal religious freedom - the debate is not helpful for social interaction, she said.
Muezzin calls soon in Munich too?
Interior Ministry reacts cautiously
Parts of the CSU also reject the muezzin calls.
"In Bavaria we do not want such attempts at any rate," said Vice Secretary General Florian Hahn of the
picture
.
Bavaria's Interior Ministry reacts cautiously.
Whether muezzin calls are conceivable in Bavaria are initially "building and immission law issues," said a spokeswoman for
tz
.
One has to weigh up on site whether a muezzin call is “legally permissible” or whether there is noise pollution.
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