Indicator history

In general, according to Sec. 4 of the German constitution there are no legal restrictions with regard to exercising or manifesting ones religion or belief.
Yet, there are areas of life in which the exercise of religious beliefs is restricted. Against the background that schools are legally required to be a religiously and ideologically neutral area, several Federal States have enacted legislation to prohibit teachers in public schools from wearing visible items of religious clothing such as headscarfs and symbols. In Baden-Württemberg and Berlin similar legislation exists for kindergarden teachers in addition. In Hesse and Berlin the ban cover moreover, civil servants in the field of justice and law enforcement (including judges, prosecutors, police officers, and court and prison officials).

Source:

• Human Rights Watch (2009), Discrimination in the Name of Neutrality. Headscarf Bans for Teachers and Civil Servants in Germany, http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/germany0209_web.pdf
• German constitution, available on: http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/gg/gesamt.pdf
• Peucker, Mario (2009), Racism and Ethnic Discrimination in Germany Update Report 2009, http://www.efms.uni-bamberg.de/pdf/RAXEN-Jahresbericht_2009_DE.pdf (accessed on 20.02.2012).