display
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - For the second time, the churches are celebrating Easter under Corona conditions.
In North Rhine-Westphalia there are both face-to-face church services in compliance with the Corona rules, as well as open air and online church services.
There are also offers such as a drive-in theater service in Neuss.
Last year there were no attendance services at Easter.
This time they are possible in principle; the decision is usually left to the local communities.
In general, significantly fewer people go to church at Easter than at Christmas.
"About a quarter to a fifth of Germans go to church at Christmas, and about one in ten at Easter," said the sociologist of religion Anna Neumaier from the Center for Applied Pastoral Research at the Ruhr University in Bochum of the German Press Agency.
"That is of course still significantly more than on normal Sundays, but at Easter we are in the middle between Christmas and normal Sundays in terms of demand."
display
At Easter, attendance at church services is not as naturally a focus for society as a whole as it is at Christmas.
Surveys show that most Germans feel that spending time with their families is most important at Easter.
In contrast, Easter is the highest public holiday for most Christians.
"That means there is a certain discrepancy here between the overall social perception and the theological meaning," said Neumaier.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210403-99-75145 / 2