Prominent mosque in Germany sounds 1st public call to prayer

By MARTIN MEISSNER and GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — The Islamic call to prayer has been sounded in public for the first time from one of Germany’s biggest mosques in Cologne, but at limited volume. It is part of a project agreed with authorities in the city that has one of the country’s biggest Muslim communities. Authorities in Germany’s fourth-biggest city last year cleared the way for mosques to apply for permission for the muezzin to call for a maximum five minutes between noon and 3 p.m. on Fridays, with a noise limit being set for each mosque according to its location. Friday’s call to prayer isn’t a first for Germany but does bring it to a particularly prominent mosque.