Photo Gallery Islamophobia in Germany
Anti-Muslim sentiment has become increasingly prominent in Germany in recent years. Over the last two years, there have been arson attacks against Muslim prayer houses in Berlin, Hanau and Hannover. Politically Incorrect, the most prominent German-speaking anti-Islam website has up to 120,000 visitors per day. Here, a sign protesting the new Central Mosque in the Ehrenfeld district in Cologne.
In this 2011 photo, former Die Freiheit ("The Freedom") Party Chairman Rene Stadtkewitz stands alongside Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders and Oskar Freysinger of the Swiss People's Party at a rally for Die Freiheit. The party is part of the German anti-Islam movement.
Islam has become more visible in Germany in recent years. Muslims now have higher positions in politics and the economy. Mosques are no longer just being built in the industrial areas on the edge of cities, but in city centers. Here, the Sehitlik Mosque in Berlin.
In mid-November, the Leipzig fire department were called to respond to a burning garbage can outside a mosque and found five severed pig heads. The police suspects radical right-wingers were responsible.
The NPD has recognized that peoples prejudices against Islam can be turned into political capital. In their party newspaper, Deutsche Stimme ("German Voice") an article described how anti-Muslim campaigns can be used to "open doors for much broader anti-immigration sentiments." Here, an NPD rally against a new home for asylum seekers in the Hellersdorf-Marzahn district in Berlin.
The NSU murders, in which three neo-Nazis went on a multi-year killing spree around Germany, stoked fears in the German immigrant community. Here, two men lay a wreath on the memorial for Mehmet Turgut, who was murdered by the NSU in the German city of Rostock.
