Frankfurt has become the first German city to install celebratory lighting to commemorate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
City contractors have been setting up the lighting since Monday morning, with cranes being used to erect the lettering, stars, crescent moons, and lanterns, ahead of the Muslim event which begins on March 10.
“By decorating during Ramadan, the city of Frankfurt is sending an important signal to Muslims and appreciates the people of Muslim faith in this city,” the governing German Green Party wrote in an application to the city council last year.
“They are lights of togetherness, against reservations, against discrimination, against anti-Muslim racism, and also against anti-Semitism,” said Frankfurt Mayor Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg, of the same party.
The move follows that of London, which installed its own Ramadan celebrations for the first time last year in Piccadilly Circus under Muslim Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan.
According to German newspaper Bild, the lights will be hung on five steel cables above the city’s pedestrianized zone and cost approximately €100,000.
It is estimated that around 150,000 Muslims now live in the German city – comprising almost 15 percent of its total population.
