...the largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth populated city in Germany....'s mayor said allowing the muezzin call to be heard was "a sign of respect." Under a new agreement, the city's mosques will be able to broadcast their call to prayer for two years, subject to renewal.
Cologne's Central Mosque stands in the shadow of the city's cathedral
The Central Mosque of Cologne will be permitted to broadcast its call to prayer over loudspeakers on Friday afternoons, officials said on Monday.
All 35 mosques in the western German city will now be able to play the call for up to five minutes on Fridays between noon and 3 p.m. local time.
The two-year initiative, which is subject to renewal, comes as part of an agreement between the city of Cologne and the Moslem community to ease restrictions.
Mosques seeking to broadcast the call will have to comply with limits on the volume of their loudspeakers and notify neighbors in advance, the city said.
Cologne's Central Mosque , the largest in Germany, has been a flashpoint for anti-Moslem sentiment from far-right parties.
Having been partly financed by donations from the
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important...even formally inaugurated the Mosque himself during a controversial visit to Germany in September 2018.
COLOGNE MAYOR DEFENDS DECISION
While the decision to allow the call to prayer was welcomed by the city's Moslem community, it drew criticism on social media. Over the weekend, the Mayor Henriette Reker defended the move.
"There has been much discussion over the project #Muezzin-Ruf (Moslem call). Cologne is the city of [religious] freedom and diversity," said Reker on Twitter.
"Those who arrive at the main train station are greeted by the cathedral and accompanied by church bells. Many Cologne residents are Moslems. Allowing the muezzin call is for me a sign of respect," she added.
Some 4.5 million Moslems live in Germany, making up the country's largest religious minority group.
Cologne, a western city of 1 million, has one of Germany’s biggest Muslim communities and about 35 mosques. Most Muslims initially came from Turkey as guest workers 60 years ago and then later brought their families.
Only few other Muslim houses of prayer across Germany, like in the western towns of Oer-Erkenschwick and Dueren, have been broadcasting the muezzin’s call for years, sometimes despite the protests of Christian neighbors.