Overview
- The Berliner Forum der Religionen canceled a 15 December tour, citing threatening emails and risks to Muslim speakers that organizers said made safety impossible to guarantee.
- Governing Mayor Kai Wegner posted on X that he expects clarification from the culture administration, which supported the Friedenskirche Charlottenburg tour with public funds.
- Culture Senator Sarah Wedl-Wilson said claims about abolishing Christmas do not reflect the event’s content, called the title misleading, and noted the organizer removed the program.
- The Forum der Religionen said media coverage by WELT distorted the event and insisted the phrase about abolishing Christmas was never used, acknowledging the title may have been too provocative.
- The tours were framed as interreligious and racism-critical and were organized with the Initiativkreis Dialog der Religionen and lecturers from Humboldt University’s Institute for Islamic Theology, with funding reported as drawn from small remaining funds of an €80,000 program budget.