'Cologne' - tagged features

It’s Carnival season all around the world at the moment, and for a lot of people taking part it’s an excuse to get dressed up in decadent costumes and go a bit wild. The Carnival season leads up to Lent, the logic goes, enjoy yourself now and then give things up in the run up to Easter. Carnival has its roots in Roman Catholicism and in Germany, the people of Cologne are famous for celebrating Carnival with an almost religious fervour. That hasn’t always been true for the city’s immigrant community though who have found it difficult to get into the mood. Until now that is. 

Critics of mosque projects often bring up the spectre of minarets eclipsing church steeples. In Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel made a comment that mosque “cupolas” shouldn’t be built “demonstratively higher than church steeples”. Work on a mosque in Cologne, whose most famous landmark is its cathedral, is set to start this spring. The plans have made people question the role of Islam and the success of integration in Germany. Most of Germany’s Muslims are Turkish who came as “guest workers” starting in the 1960s. Many stayed and settled. Peter Phillips says the reason there is resistance to mosques in Germany is because Germans don’t know much about Islam and the Muslims who live among them. 

The headscarf issue is not only controversial in Turkey. In France, Germany and other parts of Europe the question of wearing a headscarf in school - be it as a student or teacher - often raises the question of whether Muslims are integrated here in Europe. But it's the construction of mosques that's stirring up more debate than any other integration issues. Major mosque projects from Marseille, to Amsterdam, Seville, London and Cologne have met with fierce opposition. Some fear these new mosques will serve as a breeding ground for extreme Islamic views and possibly terrorism. Cologne is famous for its religious architecture, including Germany's most spectacular Gothic cathedral. But this medieval cathedral may soon share the skyline with Germany's biggest mosque. Plans are well under way to construct a mosque featuring two minarets more than 50 meters high and these plans are highly controversial. 

Cologne is housing German-Lebanese refugees in temporary shelters. Despite the problems that now face her, one mother is thankful to have gotten her family to safety. Deutche Welle's Kirsten Rulf hears how this family of six escaped with just one suitcase.