‘It brings joy’: German church opens for overflow from socially distanced mosque

‘It was a strange feeling because of the musical instruments, the pictures,’ says congregation member

The Martha Lutheran church in the trendy area of Kreuzberg offered to host people who wanted to attend Friday prayers at the end of Ramadan but were blocked from going into the mosque due to coronavirus rules (Reuters)

A church in Berlin has opened its doors to Muslims in need of a place to pray who can longer squeeze into their mosque following the implementation of social distancing regulations.

Germany has started easing its coronavirus lockdown as deaths fall, with religious services being allowed to restart from 4 May, though worshippers must remain 1.5m away from each other.

The Martha Lutheran church in the trendy area of Kreuzberg offered to host people who wanted to attend Friday prayers at the end of Ramadan but were blocked from going into the mosque due to coronavirus rules.

The Dar Assalam mosque in Berlin’s Neukolln district can now accommodate only a small amount of its usual visitors.

“It is a great sign and it brings joy in Ramadan and joy amid this crisis. This pandemic has made us a community. Crises bring people together," the imam at the mosque told Reuters.

Samer Hamdoun, a congregation member, added: “It was a strange feeling because of the musical instruments, the pictures. But when you look, when you forget the small details, this is the house of God in the end.”

Officials said on Saturday that more than 40 visitors who attended a service at a church in Frankfurt after the Covid-19 lockdown was eased had caught the virus, despite adhering to social distancing rules.

Restaurants and cafes in Berlin were permitted to open their doors from 15 May but with strict social distancing guidelines which ask people to remain 1.5m away from each other, and force waiters to wear face masks.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, 8,216 people in Germany have died from coronavirus while there have been 177,850 cases.