German state orders all government buildings to display cross to reflect ‘cultural identity’

The German state of Bavaria was plunged into controversy on Wednesday after the regional government ordered Christian crosses to be publicly displayed in all its official buildings. 

“The cross is a fundamental symbol of our Bavarian identity and way of life,” Markus Söder, the regional prime minister said in a statement. 

But opposition leaders denounced the move as unconstitutional and claimed Mr Söder was trying to politicise religion ahead of regional elections later this year.

The move was compared to the religious policies of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erodgan, and a leading Roman Catholic theologian accused Mr Söder of “using Christianity to exclude people of other faiths”.

It comes amid heated public debate over the role of religion in Germany society. Angela Merkel publicly rebuked her interior minister, Horst Seehofer, earlier this year after he claimed “Islam has no place in Germany”.

But Mr Seehofer, who comes from Bavaria and is leader of Mr Söder’s Christian Social Union party (CSU), has refused to back down over the issue.

The CSU is the Bavarian sister party to Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) - but they are deeply divided over the issue.

The German constitution guarantees official religious neutrality and religious symbols are rarely displayed in government buildings. But Mr Seehofer and other figures on the political right have argued that Germany has a “dominant culture” which is Christian.

Mr Söder hailed the decision to display crosses as a “clear commitment to our Bavarian identity and Christian values”.  The cross  “stands for elemental values ​​such as charity, human dignity and tolerance,” he said.

But he claimed the cross is “not a religious symbol” in an apparent attempt to circumvent constitutional restrictions on the display of religious symbols.

Crosses are already displayed in schools across Bavaria. But in a landmark 1995 judgement, Germany’s constitutional court ruled that they must be removed if a parent objects.

The order to display crosses in all government buildings comes ahead of regional elections due in October, and rival parties accused Mr Söder of playing politics with religion.

“Markus Söder and the CSU’s attempt to exploit   religion for party politics is reminiscent of Erdogan,” Christian Lindner, the leader of the pro-businesss Free Democrats (FDP) tweeted.

The move was welcomed by the Catholic Archbishop of Bamberg, Ludwig Schick, who said: “Hanging up the cross and making it a clear sign of unity, reconciliation, peace, brotherhood and solidarity is, of course, a good thing”.

But the head of the German evangelical church, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, warned against misuse of the cross. “It is very clear that no one should misuse a religious symbol like the cross for political purposes,” he said.

And Burkhard Hose, one of Germany’s leading Catholic theologians, denounced the move. “You are using Christianity to exclude people of other faiths,” he wrote in an open letter to Mr Söder. “The cross is not an extension of a policy of exclusion or nationalistic egoism... I urge you to stop using Christianity as a supposed bulwark against Islam.”

Josef Schuster, the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said he was not opposed to the public display of crosses on principle, but he questioned the motives behind the order.