Referendum on the introduction of the compulsory elective ethics / religion

April 2009 referendum
48.4%	51.4%	0.2%
Yes	No	invalid

Voting for and against the referendum

The referendum on the introduction of the compulsory elective area ethics / religion (also: Pro Reli for short ) was held on April 26, 2009 in Berlin due to the successful referendum on January 21, 2009. The aim of the referendum was to change Berlin's school law . Since 2006, this has provided the newly introduced subject of ethics as a regular subject for grades 7 to 10 , while religious and ideological classes from various denominations or ideological communities - as since 1948 - in Berlin can also be attended voluntarily from the first grade. In a referendum, this regulation should be replaced by an elective subject group “Ethics / Religion” from the first grade. The referendum was the second in the history of the State of Berlin after the people's legislation introduced in the Berlin Constitution in 2006 and at the same time the first to vote directly on the amendment of a law. The proposal put to the vote was rejected by a majority in the referendum.

prehistory

According to Article 7, Paragraphs 1 to 3 of the Basic Law School System, religious instruction is “a regular subject in public schools, with the exception of non-denominational schools”. Article 141 of the Basic Law, known as the Bremen Clause , excludes the application of Article 7 of the Basic Law for the federal states in which on January 1, 1949 a different state law regulation existed. Since Section 13 of the Schools Act for Greater Berlin of June 26, 1948, deviated from Article 7 (3) of the Basic Law, Article 141 of the Basic Law also applies in Berlin. Since 1948, religious instruction in Berlin has not been part of the courses offered by the state school, but an additional, voluntary subject under the responsibility of the respective religious or ideological community. The cost of religion and ideology lessons were nonetheless largely borne by the State of Berlin, school rooms were also made available free of charge and the hours were allocated to the timetable. Changes to this practice are not intended.

After the “ honor killing ” of Hatun Sürücü in February 2005 and the subsequent public debate, the demands for the introduction of mandatory values ​​education for all pupils became more emphatic. Before that, at the end of 2004, under School Senator Klaus Böger, a draft law was introduced that provided for ethics lessons with the option of deregistering in favor of religion and ideology lessons. On March 23, 2006, the Berlin House of Representatives adopted a bill by the governing coalition of the SPD and Linkspartei.PDS in a second reading with 85 votes to 41 with 4 abstentions, with which the subject of ethics is gradually being introduced for grades 7 to 10 without the option of deregistering has been. Religious instruction remained unaffected by the new regulation and was offered unchanged as a voluntary additional subject. The new subject was introduced in August 2006 at the beginning of the 2006/2007 school year in around 330 public schools in Berlin.

After two constitutional complaints , the Federal Constitutional Court confirmed on March 15, 2007 the constitutional conformity of an ethics subject, which is compulsory for all pupils .

The referendum

Chairman of the Pro Reli e. Association founded in March 2007 . V. is the lawyer and CDU politician Christoph Lehmann , who describes himself as a "staunch Catholic". Lehmanns Wilmersdorfer party friend Martin Schröder took over the management of the association . The former country manager and spokesman for the Berlin CDU, Matthias Wambach, was entrusted with the organization of the media campaign . The experienced PR manager was a member of the Berlin House of Representatives between 2001 and 2006 and had already led the media campaign for the referendum that failed in April 2008 for the preservation of Berlin-Tempelhof Airport .

In November 2007, with more than 37,000 signatures collected, the initiative clearly exceeded the quorum of 20,000 signatures required by the Berlin constitution to initiate a referendum.

On September 22, 2008, the collection of signatures for the referendum began. Pro Reli had to collect at least 170,000 signatures (7% of the eligible voters) within the next four months in order to pass the second hurdle to the referendum.

On October 1, 2008, the Berlin politicians Friedbert Pflüger (CDU) and Martin Lindner ( FDP ) received an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. , at which the head of the Roman Catholic Church expressed his approval of Pro Reli .

The majority of Berlin's population is non-denominational. Over 59% of Berliners are not tied to any religious organization. In the first two months of the referendum, 30,333 valid signatures could be collected according to the publication of the head of the state voting, which corresponds to around 1.2% of the eligible voters. Pro Reli countered this by stating that only the signatures collected in the first month had so far been submitted and that in truth there were over 70,000 signatures. By January 9, 2009, over 140,000 signatures had been collected.

The official final result was announced by the regional coordinator on February 4, 2009. Accordingly, there were 265,823 valid declarations of consent, which corresponds to a share of 10.9%. The head of the regional vote stated that the referendum had thus come about.

According to Article 62, Paragraph 4 of the Berlin Constitution, a referendum must be followed by a referendum within four months. The second sentence of Article 62, Paragraph 4, however, allows the deadline to be extended to up to eight months "if this allows the referendum to be held together with elections or other referendums". On February 17, 2009, the regional returning officer announced that the vote, as proposed by the red-red Senate, would take place on April 26, 2009. "Pro Reli", CDU, FDP and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen, who had proposed voting at the same time as the 2009 European elections on June 7, 2009, criticized this decision as it caused considerable additional costs.

The Pro-Reli campaign was financed, among other things, with a good € 500,000 from the own resources of the Evangelical Church and the Evangelical Church in Germany.

The referendum was accompanied by a legal dispute about the extent to which and with what means the Berlin Senate could take sides. The Senate had advertised in press releases and newspaper advertisements to vote “no”. On April 23, 2009, the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court confirmed that the Senate was allowed to take a position on the issue, for example in the form of press releases. The placement of advertisements or the publication of other publications that are financed by tax money, however, was prohibited by the OVG decision. As the newspaper editions for the following day had already been printed at the time of the judgment, advertisements from the Senate still appeared on the following day despite the ban.

Another legal dispute ensued: The Pro Ethik initiative filed a complaint against an unknown person, since Pro Ethik posters were removed across the board in many areas of Berlin on the weekend of April 18 and 19, 2009 , and Pro Reli posters were now hanging in their place . Remnants of the destroyed posters and cable ties on the masts were still there.

Objectives of the referendum

The referendum's draft law stipulated that older students could choose between the compulsory elective subjects religion and ethics, with religious instruction being separated according to denomination. In the case of students who have not yet reached the age of 14, the legal guardians should be able to decide. The regulation should apply from the first grade and in all public schools. In the draft it was determined that there should be cooperation between the subjects ethics and religion. In addition, according to the draft, cooperation between the respective religious or ideological specialist teachers was desired. Some religious communities were given a say in the organization of religious instruction; it should be given “in accordance with the principles of the religious communities”.

Arguments from Pro Reli

Pro Reli argued that one subject, ethics, patronizes students in their choices. Furthermore, the association argued that religion was a regular subject in most of the other federal states and that the choice made by Pro Reli would take into account the cultural diversity of Berlin. Pro Reli also referred to studies according to which knowledge of one's own beliefs strengthens the students' respect for people with different ideas and beliefs. Pro Reli also saw an advantage in his proposal that the Berlin students would not only receive values ​​lessons as a compulsory subject in upper school.

In addition, it was stated that with a compulsory elective subject under state supervision, religious fundamentalism could be better counteracted and, in view of the fact that the lesson table in recent years has been greatly expanded to include ethics as a compulsory subject, many students would not (no longer) attend religious education because of the additional time required .

supporter

In the course of 2007/2008 a broad cross-religious and cross-denominational alliance was formed.

The following organizations and celebrities support Pro Reli (selection):

• Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
• Archdiocese of Berlin
• Jewish community in Berlin
• Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion
• Caritas Association for the Archdiocese of Berlin e. V.
• Evangelical Youth Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
• Diakonisches Werk Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
• Central Committee of German Catholics
• Evangelical Student Community Berlin
• Maltese relief service
• The johanniter
• CDU regional association Berlin
• FDP regional association Berlin
• Evangelical Church in Germany
• German Bishops' Conference
• Association of Catholic Entrepreneurs
• Catholic workers movement
• Arne Friedrich
• Tita von Hardenberg
• Eckart von Hirschhausen
• Günther Jauch
• Angela Merkel

In contrast to the Berlin regional association of the SPD, several prominent representatives of the federal party, including Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier , Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Thierse and Andrea Nahles , campaigned in favor of Pro Reli .

Countermovement to the referendum

Opponents of the popular initiative founded the “Pro Ethik” initiative on May 20, 2008, the patron of which is the President of the Berlin House of Representatives, Walter Momper (SPD). In December 2008 the “Christians Pro Ethics” campaign was founded.

As a reaction to the referendum that came about, the non-partisan “Alliance Pro Ethics plus Religion” was formed on March 4, 2009, which ensures the retention of the existing legal situation, i.e. ethics as a compulsory subject for grades 7 to 10 and additionally from the first grade religious or Aiming at teaching worldview as an elective.

Arguments of the opponents of the popular initiative

The main argument of the ethics advocates was that in the multicultural city of Berlin, in which people with different religious and ideological views live, teaching values ​​based on religion or ideology would promote the division of society. The common ethics classes, on the other hand, offer a platform to exchange ideas and contribute to tolerance and integration. Within a compulsory elective area of ​​ethics / religion, ethics lessons would lose their meaning because the common dialogue would disappear.

Furthermore, it was stated that religious education would not be restricted under the existing regulation, but could be attended voluntarily from the 1st to the 13th grade, just as it was before the introduction of ethics, and was largely financed by the state.

Pro Reli's arguments were countered by the fact that the proposed change does not create greater freedom, but rather a "compulsion to choose" between religion and ethics. Ethics is a subject of general education and is independent of religious instruction. If the students had to choose one of the two subjects, this undermines the separation of church and state. It is also doubtful whether the formation of one's own firm basic conviction is a necessary prerequisite for tolerance towards other worldviews - there are numerous counterexamples in history.

supporter

The supporters of the Pro Ethics Alliance included:

• SPD - Berlin regional association
• Die Linke - Landesverband Berlin
• Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen - Landesverband Berlin (with the exception of their "Working Group Christians")
• State School Student Committee Berlin and State School Student Representation Berlin
• Action Christians Pro Ethics
• Humanist Union
• Humanistic Association of Germany
• Alevi community in Berlin
• German Buddhist Union
• German Freethinkers Association
• Education and Science Union (GEW)
• Lesbian and Gay Association Berlin-Brandenburg (LSVD)
• Turkish Federation Berlin-Brandenburg (TBB)
• Turkish Parents Association Berlin-Brandenburg

On March 5, 2009, the Berlin House of Representatives spoke out with the votes of the parliamentary groups of the SPD, Left and Greens with a motion for a resolution against the Pro Reli bill and asked those entitled to vote to vote “No”.

Voting result

Results of the referendum Pro Reli by district:

---

over 60% yes-votes of the participants and over 25% of the eligible voters

over 60% yes-votes of the participants and under 25% of the eligible voters

over 50% no votes of the participants and under 25% yes votes of the eligible voters

over 70% no votes of the participants and under 25% yes votes of the eligible voters

Results of the referendum by voting area:

---

over 50% yes-votes of the participants

over 50% no votes of the participants

Forest and green spaces

On April 26, 2009, the referendum on the bill took place. 713,288 (29.2 percent) of the 2.4 million eligible voters cast their votes. Of the voting participants, 51.4 percent voted against the change in the law and 48.4 percent were in favor. The bill was thus rejected. Furthermore, with 14.1 percent of those entitled to vote in favor, the approval quorum of 25% of those entitled to vote required for a successful referendum was not achieved.

Distribution of the results

Looking at the results by district shows that Berlin is divided between east and west. While in the western part of the city the supporters predominated (over 60 percent approval), the eastern part voted against the bill with a clear majority (over 70 percent). The participation in the west was mostly above the average for the whole of Berlin (29.2 percent), while it was generally lower in the east. In the two "mixed" districts that cross the historical east - west border, the result after approval and participation in Mitte was similar to the overall result in Berlin and in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg to that of the "East" districts. However, the result is also associated with other characteristics, such as party preferences or the spatial distribution of Protestant and Catholic church taxpayers who are entitled to vote . Furthermore, it can be seen that in most inner-city areas Pro Reli was rejected by the majority, including in the more urban parts of Neukölln or in Schöneberg.

Official final result according to the information provided by the head of state voting in Berlin in relative sizes

No.	district	Participation (voting area)	Yes (voting area)	Yes (participant)	No (participant)	Invalid (participant)
1	center	24.3%	10.9%	44.8%	55.0%	0.2%
2	Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg	26.2%	06.7%	25.8%	74.0%	0.2%
3	Pankow	27.9%	08.0%	28.7%	71.2%	0.2%
4th	Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf	34.3%	20.7%	60.3%	39.6%	0.1%
5	Spandau	28.1%	19.4%	69.2%	30.7%	0.2%
6th	Steglitz-Zehlendorf	41.4%	27.4%	66.3%	33.5%	0.2%
7th	Tempelhof-Schöneberg	33.6%	20.5%	60.9%	38.9%	0.2%
8th	Neukölln	26.5%	16.4%	61.8%	37.9%	0.3%
9	Treptow-Koepenick	27.7%	07.2%	26.1%	73.7%	0.2%
10	Marzahn-Hellersdorf	21.6%	04.9%	22.8%	77.0%	0.2%
11	Lichtenberg	23.2%	05.0%	21.3%	78.5%	0.2%
12	Reinickendorf	33.2%	22.9%	69.1%	30.7%	0.2%
	Berlin (overall)	29.2%	14.1%	48.4%	51.4%	0.2%
Colors of the district numbers: formerly west , formerly east , west / east fusion district

Official final result according to the information provided by the head of state voting in Berlin in absolute terms

No.	district	Population (December 31, 2008)	Voter	Request signatories	Yes	No	Ung.	ChoiceBet
1	center	329,592	193,529	10,956	21,059	25,866	117	47,042
2	Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg	270,572	168,825	5,569	11,386	32,724	92	44.202
3	Pankow	366,899	279,669	4,794	22,383	55,594	131	78.108
4th	Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf	318.208	216,524	28,730	44,782	29,381	107	74,270
5	Spandau	223.813	161.008	18,650	31,297	13,885	69	45.251
6th	Steglitz-Zehlendorf	291,871	214,859	37,668	58,969	29,806	159	88,934
7th	Tempelhof-Schöneberg	333.110	230.507	40,622	47,146	30.097	124	77,367
8th	Neukölln	309,892	195.143	24,079	31,928	19,609	136	51,673
9	Treptow-Koepenick	239,405	198.357	6,341	14,334	40,512	114	54,960
10	Marzahn-Hellersdorf	248.150	202.373	2,394	9,960	33,712	95	43,767
11	Lichtenberg	258,869	202.966	3.123	10,052	37.004	87	47.143
12	Reinickendorf	241.294	181.939	21,981	41,708	18,531	139	60,378
	Berlin (overall)	3,431,675	2,445,699	265,823	345.004	366.721	1,370	713.095
Colors of the district numbers: formerly west , formerly east , west / east fusion district

Reactions after the vote

“We have moved the city quite a bit. We have all seen Berlin speak about God and the world - a city that has always been called the capital of atheists. "

- Christoph Lehmann : at the Pro Reli election party

"This is a clear vote for the previous regulation and confirms the common values ​​teaching in ethics."

- Klaus Wowereit

The Senate is still committed to promoting voluntary religious education. The President of the House of Representatives and patron of Pro Ethik, Walter Momper (SPD), said:

"As a Protestant Christian, I find that the churches have been damaged."

The church has already lost by spreading "half-truths and untruths" and "tricking" ( Walter Momper ).

See also

• Ethics initiative , cantonal referendum in the canton of Graubünden to abolish religious education
• Ethics class in Germany
• People's legislation in Berlin , legal environment under which Pro Reli took place.

Web links

• Pro Reli e website. V. ( Memento from July 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b Initial} situation from the perspective of Pro Reli (accessed on April 27, 2009)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Pro Reli? Pro ethics? Humanist Union
3. ↑ ^{a b} Data and facts on religious education. ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. SPD Berlin 
4. ↑ Plenary minutes 15/83 (PDF; 907 kB) parlament-berlin.de.
5. ↑ BVerfG, decision of July 14, 2006 , Az. 1 BvR 1017/06, full text and BVerfG, press release No. 67/2006 of July 20, 2006.
6. ↑ BVerfG, decision of March 15, 2007 , Az. 1 BvR 2780/06, full text and BVerfG, press release No. 48/2007 of April 19, 2007.
7. ↑ Imprint of pro-reli.de
8. ↑ ^{a b} Religious instruction is ^{a matter of} faith . ( Memento of December 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) In: taz , September 26, 2008
9. ↑ Constitution of Berlin Article 63 ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. berlin.de 
10. ↑ “Pro Reli” endangers ethics teaching . Humanistic Press Service, November 29, 2007
11. ↑ Pope supports the Berlin referendum Pro Reli . In: Berliner Morgenpost , October 1, 2008.
12. ↑ Less than half of all Berliners are religiously bound ( memento of the original from January 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , State Statistical Office, access date June 17, 2007. 
13. ↑ Press release of the head of the regional voting in Berlin from November 25, 2008
14. ↑ Christmas is the last chance for Pro Reli . In: Berliner Morgenpost , November 29, 2008
15. ↑ Press release from the head of the Berlin regional vote on January 9, 2009
16. ↑ Press release from the head of the regional voting in Berlin on February 4, 2009 .
17. ↑ Constitution of Berlin Article 62 ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. berlin.de 
18. ↑ Press release from the head of the regional voting in Berlin on February 17, 2009
19. ↑ Church spent 650,000 euros on “Pro Reli” . In: Der Tagesspiegel , November 14, 2009, p. 10.
20. ↑ Lars von Törne: Judges could have the vote repeated . In: Der Tagesspiegel , April 25, 2009
21. ^ Statement of the Berlin Senate on the judgment of the OVG Berlin-Brandenburg. berlin.de
22. ↑ Ethical handling of our posters . ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Pro ethics 
23. ↑ Pro Reli loses its nerve . Press release Die Linke.Berlin
24. ↑ ^{a b} Wording of the popular initiative (PDF; 105 kB)
25. ↑ ^{a b} 7 Arguments Pro Reli. pro-reli.de, accessed on April 17, 2009
26. ↑ Organizations and persons supporting the application
27. ↑ Merkel supports the Pro Reli initiative . Welt Online , April 24, 2009; Retrieved July 5, 2010.
28. ↑ Oliver Trenkamp, ​​Esther Wiemann: Religionsstreit in Berlin: Election campaign in the name of faith . Spiegel Online , April 21, 2009; Retrieved November 2, 2013.
29. ↑ Pro Ethics: Initiative to support joint ethics classes in Berlin (PDF; 96 kB)
30. ↑ ^{a b} Christians pro ethics ( memento of the original dated November 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
31. ↑ Homepage of “Bündnis Pro Ethik” ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
32. ↑ Arguments from “Pro Reli” put to the test (PDF; 73 kB), Humanist Union
33. ↑ Criticism of the arguments of Pro Reli ( memento of the original from April 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Alliance for Ethics 
34. ↑ Arguments for ethics classes SPD-Berlin October 2008 (PDF; 99 kB)
35. ↑ Green Christians support “Pro Reli” . In: Der Tagesspiegel , March 27, 2009.
36. ↑ PM: against ProReli ( memento of the original from April 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
37. ↑ For a tolerant, cosmopolitan Berlin! - Humanist Union
38. ↑ For a joint ethics lesson at the Berlin schools. ( Memento of the original from October 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. HVD Berlin, September 13, 2008 
39. ↑ No to compulsory voting! The decision of the House of Representatives ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
40. ↑ Detailed report by the head of state voting (PDF)
41. ↑ Churches could not mobilize their members / The East-West contrast and the Berlin party preferences had an impact on the result - analysis of the results in the Berliner Tagesspiegel
42. ^ Office for Statistics Berlin-Brandenburg: Regional distribution of the voting participation in the referendum on the introduction of the compulsory elective area ethics / religion on April 26th, 2009 in Berlin  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.2 MB)  
43. ↑ The West votes yes - the East votes no - analysis of the results in the Berliner Morgenpost
44. ↑ Figure 10 | Cartographic comparison with the Pro-Reli results map (PDF; 2.5 MB)
45. ↑ Official final result of the head of the state voting in Berlin under "At a glance in percent"
46. ↑ Final result of the referendum “Pro Reli” according to districts with the regional election officer of Berlin
47. ↑ Official final result of the head of the Berlin state voting on Pro Reli under "Absolute overview"
48. ↑ Statistical report: Population of Berlin 2008 (PDF; 189 kB) Office for Statistics Berlin-Brandenburg
49. ↑ The devil has broken loose in Berlin. In: taz
50. ↑ Incredible setback for God . In: taz
51. ↑ Schulspiegel Spiegel Online , April 27, 2009