Ramadan lighting in several German cities

Ramadan is publicly recognised not only by church representatives but also by politicians. This year, Ash Wednesday fell on the same day – and largely went unnoticed. Several German cities are now putting up Ramadan lights.

Ramadan-Beleuchtung über der Freßgass in Frankfurt. Foto: picture alliance via Getty Images

Ramadan lights above the Freßgass in Frankfurt. Photo: picture alliance via Getty Images

Frankfurt am Main. Once again this year, Frankfurt has installed festive lighting above the Freßgass to mark the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. The lights were switched on Tuesday ahead of the start of the fasting month. The display features crescent moons, stars and fanoos lanterns, as well as the words "Happy Ramadan". The city’s diversity officer, Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg of the Green Party, said in a statement issued by the City of Frankfurt: "The lights show once again that Muslim life is a natural part of our city." In times of anti-democratic tendencies and rising populism, the lights are a sign of hope and cohesion in our diverse urban society, according to Eskandari-Grünberg. Critics view the installation as a symbol of the Islamisation of the country. The costs amount to around €100,000 and are financed with taxpayers’ money.

Ramadan with light and greetings

It is striking that the City of Frankfurt did not mark Lent, which began on the same day as Ash Wednesday. Instead, Georg Bätzing, Bishop of Limburg, who is responsible for Frankfurt, sent a greeting to Muslims in Germany at the beginning of Ramadan in his capacity as Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference. The Catholic bishop conveyed his blessings for the coming weeks. According to Bätzing, those who fast are concerned with more than material renunciation and physical asceticism. “Rather,” Bätzing said, “both Christians and Muslims – each in their own way – know fasting as a way of prayer and contemplation.” The bishop said fasting can help to deepen our relationship with God, the merciful Creator, while at the same time fostering greater mindfulness towards our fellow creatures.

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It is striking that there is not a single word from the bishops about Ash Wednesday on the website of the German Bishops’ Conference, which hosts the conference secretariat. This is all the more surprising given that a trend can also be observed in Germany that is attracting particular attention in France: young people are increasingly attending Ash Wednesday services. As a result, Ash Wednesday is gaining in social significance.

A greeting for Ramadan also came from Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Merz ignores Ash Wednesday

Ramadan, Merz said in his greeting, is a time of inner reflection and at the same time of living in community. “It is exemplary that many Muslims invite people of other cultures and religions to break the fast”, writes the Chancellor. The message is also available on the Federal Government’s website in Turkish and Arabic. The Chancellor also ignores the Christian Ash Wednesday, even though he comes from a strongly Catholic region in Germany. While Federal President Steinmeier published a greeting for Ramadan last year, the Federal Presidential Office did not comment this year. To be honest, no one can expect the Federal President to mention Ash Wednesday.

Several cities in Germany now have Ramadan lighting. In Cologne, Ramadan lighting will be installed for the third time, following 2024 and 2025, on Venloer Straße in Cologne-Ehrenfeld. The campaign in Cologne is financed by donations from the private association “The Ramadan Project e. V.”. The aim is to make diversity visible. In Freiburg, too, there will be Ramadan lighting for the first time this year. It can be seen in the Seepark. “Many people of the Muslim faith live in Freiburg – they are an integral part of our city”, emphasises Mayor Martin Horn. The Ramadan lighting is described as a living symbol of Freiburg’s diversity. Unfortunately, even the diversity-minded mayor cannot bring himself to greet Christians on Ash Wednesday.

Greetings and vernissage in Freiburg

The costs amounted to around €19,000 and were financed from tax revenues. The city’s four Islamic communities each received an additional €2,000 in funding, earmarked for holding a prayer service at the end of Ramadan in the Freiburg exhibition halls. In his greeting for Ramadan, the Archbishop of Freiburg, Stephan Burger, emphasised that in 2026 the Christian pre-Easter fasting period and the Muslim Ramadan would begin on the same day. According to a press release from the archdiocese, Burger considered this to be more than a coincidence: he saw it as an invitation to both religious communities to “work together for peace in this world” and to overcome divisions. The Archbishop of Freiburg opened Lent on that day with a liturgical vernissage. It was therefore almost surprising that the Ash Cross was still distributed at the event.

Catholic Christians begin Lent, also known as the Easter penitential season, with the priest drawing a cross on their foreheads with ashes. Ashes placed on the head have been regarded as a sign of penance since ancient times. The priest traces the cross with the words: “Remember, man, you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Christians fast for 40 days in preparation for Easter. Sundays, on which Christ’s resurrection is celebrated, as well as the two high feasts of St Joseph on 19 March and the Annunciation of the Lord on 25 March, are excluded from Lent. On fasting days, Christians are required to eat one main meal and two smaller meals. On days of abstinence – Ash Wednesday, the Fridays during Lent and Good Friday – Catholics abstain from meat. Christian Lent ends with the Easter Triduum, during which Christians commemorate the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Concerns about ideological appropriation

In contrast, during Ramadan observant Muslims do not eat during the day from dawn until nightfall. After sunset, the fast is broken each day, often in the company of invited guests, and the occasion has a festive character. Ramadan ends with the festival of breaking the fast, also known as Eid al-Fitr, at the beginning of the following month. Employers and schools in particular report increased fatigue during Ramadan, as the days are marked by abstinence and the nights are long. Children also go to bed late and are overtired and unfocused the following day. Furthermore, liberal Muslims in particular are concerned about the ideological instrumentalisation of Ramadan.

Mouhanad Khorchide, director of the Centre for Islamic Theology at the University of Münster, described a development that can be observed particularly in schools as worrying. He told the Catholic News Agency (KNA): “Ramadan is used by some male youths as an opportunity to misunderstand masculinity as a demonstration of physical performance, stamina and supposed religious strength.” At times, pupils who do not fast or are unable to fast are also put under pressure. The Koran prescribes fasting only for adults from puberty onwards. The sick, the infirm, pregnant women, nursing mothers, menstruating women and similar groups are exempt from the obligation to fast.