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The Berlin Administrative Court has upheld a school’s right to ban the demonstrative practice of religious rites within its premises. This decision, issued on October 16, 2026, by the 3rd Chamber of the Administrative Court Berlin (VG 3 K 710/25), states that a Berlin gymnasium may prohibit such practices in its school regulations to counter existing religious conflicts and ensure school peace.
The Case: GFF vs. Berlin Gymnasium
The lawsuit was brought by the Society for Civil Rights (Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte e.V. – GFF) against a regulation in a Berlin gymnasium’s school rules. This regulation prohibits the demonstrative exercise of religious rites in the interest of maintaining peace within the school. The GFF argued that this rule violates the State Anti-Discrimination Act, claiming it discriminates against Muslim students by effectively banning Islamic prayer within the school. They stated that students who consider this prayer obligatory are deprived of any opportunity to practice their religion on school grounds, leading them to pray in bushes, behind garbage containers, and in restrooms, fearing disciplinary action and negative impacts on their grades. The GFF also criticized the school for not providing a dedicated prayer room.
Court’s Decision: Justified Prohibition for School Peace
The 3rd Chamber dismissed the lawsuit. The court clarified that the school regulation does not differentiate based on religion but prohibits all demonstratively practiced religious rites within the school. However, it acknowledged that Muslim students are primarily affected by this ban because the obligatory Islamic prayer, due to its physical sequence, is inherently visible and must be performed five times a day at specific times, including during school hours. Thus, the school regulation disproportionately disadvantages Muslim students due to their religion.
Nevertheless, the court found the prohibition at the gymnasium to be justified. It deemed the ban necessary to maintain school peace, arguing that in this specific case, school peace outweighs the infringement on religious freedom associated with the unequal treatment. The court emphasized that the state’s educational mandate can only be fulfilled if an orderly teaching process is ensured, which requires a state of conflict-freedom and conflict resolution within the school.
Religious Conflicts at the Gymnasium
The court highlighted that the gymnasium has experienced serious religiously motivated conflicts for some time. School peace was concretely endangered by religiously motivated behavior, particularly from Muslim students. Examples cited included attempts to impose certain religious behaviors on fellow students, conversion attempts, and the verbal abuse of female students for not wearing headscarves. The court concluded that the performance of Islamic prayer further increases the existing risk of disturbing school peace due to religious conflicts.
No Milder Means Available
The court found no milder means equally suitable for maintaining school peace. Providing a prayer room was not considered a viable option in this specific case. The school sufficiently demonstrated that it lacked both the space and supervisory staff for such a facility. Furthermore, a prayer room could risk relocating existing religious conflicts within the school or even intensifying them.
Appeal Possibility
An appeal against this judgment can be filed with the Higher Administrative Court Berlin-Brandenburg for admission of appeal.
Source: Administrative Court Berlin, ra-online (pm/pt)
