The cross with the cross: Since 2018, a crucifix has had to hang in every state building in Bavaria – and since then there has been a dispute about this regulation. Today the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig wants to announce its verdict on whether the so-called cross decree from Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) is legal.
The religiously critical Association for Freedom of Spirit (bfg) has filed a lawsuit against the regulation and is calling for the crosses to be removed. He argues that the state is obliged to be neutral when it comes to ideological issues. “What does a cross have to do with an official activity, with the issuing of a driving license (…)? Nothing!”, lawyer Hubert Heinhold said last week at the oral hearing in Leipzig.
Defeat in the lower court
Last summer, however, the federal government suffered a defeat at the Bavarian Administrative Court (VGH). The VGH classified the crosses as passive symbols “without proselytizing or indoctrinating effects.”
This does not violate the plaintiff’s fundamental rights to freedom of belief and belief or equal treatment. The Federal Administrative Court will now decide on the appeals against this judgment. (Ref.: BVerwG 10 C 3.22 and 10 C 5.22).
A cross only as an expression of “cultural influence”?
In April 2018, the Bavarian cabinet passed the cruise decree on the initiative of Söder, who had recently become Prime Minister at the time. Despite strong criticism – even from the churches, which accused Söder of misusing the Christian symbol for election campaign purposes – the decree came into force in June 2018.
Since then, paragraph 28 of the rules of procedure for the authorities of the Free State states: “A cross must be clearly visible in the entrance area of every office building as an expression of Bavaria’s historical and cultural character.”
Both the representatives of the Free State and the plaintiffs expressed confidence after the oral hearing. The 10th Senate of the Federal Administrative Court did not indicate any trend. In the event that he loses in Leipzig, the Association for Freedom of Thought has already announced that it will turn to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
