German court upholds headscarves ban
A court today upheld a German state’s ban on civil servants and school teachers wearing headscarves at work, the country’s widest-reaching legislation on the issue.
The conservative government in Hesse, a western state that includes Frankfurt, Germany’s financial centre, introduced the ban in 2004.
Hesse went further than the bans on headscarves in the classroom introduced by several other German states. It banned all civil servants from wearing garments that would constitute a religious or political symbol – although Christian symbols were exempted.
A lawyer took the ban to court, arguing that it conflicted with the constitutional rights to freedom of religion and gender equality. However, the state’s top court threw out the complaint.
