German court bans Muslim head scarves in schools

BAVARIA, Germany — Muslim teachers in southern Germany may not wear headscarves or any other symbol of their faith that could be construed to clash with Western or Christian values, according to a recent court ruling. The Jan. 15 decision by the Constitutional Court of Bavaria puts the German state — one of Germany’s largest, richest and most culturally Catholic — clearly against expressions of Muslim faith in school life.

The lawsuit had been filed by Islamic Religious Community of Berlin to protest a Bavarian ban on teachers wearing headscarves. Ali Kizilkaya, head of the Islamic Council, called the judgment "very regrettable," according to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. Church officials and members of Germany’s Christian Democratic party praised the decision.

Judge Karl Huber, president of the Bavarian Constitutional Court, told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that various rights in the Bavarian constitution threatened to collide with one another in this case. The constitution calls for religious freedom, but also calls for children in public schools to be raised by Christian standards.