DEGGENDORF, Germany — When the order came to hang a cross in the entrance of every state building in Bavaria, the mayor of Deggendorf was not particularly bothered by the religious symbolism.

Crosses are already ubiquitous in Deggendorf, a picture-perfect town on the Danube. There is one in his office and another in the room where town officials perform civil marriages. The fire station has a cross on the wall, as does nearly every classroom in every public school.

“This is about culture, not religion,” said the mayor, Christian Moser, adding that the separation of church and state was “a given.”