Bavaria orders all government buildings to display crosses

Austin Davis | Special to USA TODAY

BERLIN — The German state of Bavaria ordered all government buildings to display a cross at their entrance, the latest move in the predominantly Catholic region against the recent influx of migrants.

"The cross is a fundamental symbol of our Bavarian identity and way of life," said Bavaria's new leader, Markus Söder, as he hung a cross in the lobby of the government's headquarters in Munich, directly after the rule was passed.

The action, which goes into effect June 1, comes as Germany grapples with integrating more than 1 million immigrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa. In 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the nation's borders to mostly Muslim refugees, setting off criticism — even in her own conservative Christian bloc — over the "Islamization" of the nation.

Hanging crosses in public buildings is "a visible commitment to the basic values of the legal and social order in Bavaria and Germany," the state government said in a statement.

"It stands for elemental values, such as charity, human dignity and tolerance," Söder added.

Visible crosses are already mandatory in Bavarian schools and courtrooms.

"The constitution has no denomination!" said Christian Lindner, leader of Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party, who opposes the new rule.

Bavaria has been on the front lines against the mass influx of refugees that began in 2015 and even threatened to sue the government as migrants streamed through the state from southeastern Europe to apply for asylum in Germany.

Since then, Bavaria has sought to implement policies to preserve Germany's Christian ideals, such as banning women from wearing burkas in public places.

"Islam doesn't belong to Germany," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told the German daily newspaper Bild last month. "The Muslims who live with us here are, of course, a part of Germany, but this doesn't mean that we have to falsely consider giving up our country-specific traditions and customs."

Seehofer's ministry now includes a "homeland" wing dedicated to protecting traditional German culture, a move condemned by many as placating right-wing, nationalist forces that have disrupted German politics since the refugee crisis.

In September, the anti-Islam party Alternative for Germany (AfD), founded in 2013, won enough votes to be part of Parliament for the first time, with 12.6% of the vote, making it the nation's third-largest political party.

"The AfD welcomes every measure to make it clear to all people that the basis of living together in Germany is a Christian-Western-inspired guiding culture," said Martin Sichert, an AfD member of the German parliament representing Bavaria, in an email. "Therefore, we also look forward to the (Christian Social Union's) approval to our application to hang a cross in the German Bundestag."

"But more important than such symbolic policies would be to actively live by these values, for example, by renouncing Islamic education," Sichert added.

Religious leaders question the new rule.

"In principle, I have nothing against crosses in official buildings, but one must ask themselves the question of what meaning they should actually have," Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told Bavarian public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Others pointed to a double standard.

"We Muslims have no problem with the cross, even with the appreciation of religion in social life. However, state neutrality should always be respected," said Aiman Mazyek, a chairwoman with the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, in an email. "What does not work is the double standard of accepting Christian symbols, but banishing Muslim, Jewish or others from the public sphere."

