Germany

Christians from around the world have been flocking to Germany's oldest city to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Pilgrimage of the Holy Robe, the seamless garment believed to be worn by Jesus shortly before his crucifixion.

The garment went on display for the first time in 16 years on April 13 in Trier, Germany as a part of the "Holy Robe Pilgrimage 2012," hosted by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier.

According to the Trier city website, 700,000 people made the Holy Robe pilgrimage in 1996, the last time the robe was shown. This year, 500,000 people are expected. more >>

An Islamic ultra-conservative party in Germany is handing out 25 million free copies of the Quran in what is seen by some as an attempt to recruit jihadist, or Muslim holy warriors.

Salafist Muslims have already given out 300,000 free copies of the Muslim holy book, the BBC reported, and plan to reach tens of millions of people in Germany.

One of the group's preachers, Ibrahim Abou Nagie, has apparently said that the initiative is an attempt to save non-Muslims from hell, but is being condemned by concerned German authorities. more >>

A 31-year-old German woman recently gave birth to identical quadruplets, an occurrence so rare doctors speculate the odds of this happening at 13 million to 1, and experts say there are only about 60 known sets in the entire world.

The four girls; Laura, Sophie, Jasmin and Kim, were not the product of artificial insemination, according to the German English language paper The Local.

They arrived 10 weeks early on Jan. 6. The babies, who weighed around two to two-and-a-half pounds, were doing fine along with their mother, according to the paper. more >>

Many people across the globe live on pennies a day. It’s involuntary – homelessness, poverty, hunger and all the deprivations that go with having no money. But what person would choose a life where you live on nothing at all – literally, not a cent – to your name?

Shine.com reports that Heidemarie Schwermer, a 69-year-old German woman, did exactly that – for 16 years. The grandmother of three is the subject of the documentary film, “Living Without Money,” by award-winning Norwegian filmmaker Line Halvorsen. The film, produced in 2010, is currently screening internationally and is also available on DVD (http://livingwithoutmoney.org/).

“I do this because I clearly feel it doesn’t work the way it is,” Schwermer says in the film’s trailer. more >>

A church built entirely from snow has opened in Germany this week – more than a century after villagers first built a snow church in protest.

In 1911, residents built the first snow church because they had to walk hours to the nearest church in the neighboring town of Mauth, and decided they wanted their own church within the community.

The new snow church in Mitterfirminansreut, the mountain village near the Czech border, is comprised of 49,000 cubic feet of snow as well as slabs of ice. The structure is 65 feet in length, including a tower, and was displayed Wednesday with blue lights shed upon it. more >>

Germany’s famous leaning church tower, now sliding dangerously close to collapse, could face partial demolition as early as next week if authorities fail to come up with a decision on Monday to acquire the deserted structure from a Christian federation.

The mayor of Bad Frankenhausen town, where Church of Our Dear Ladies on the Hill is situated, will seek a vote from 21 representatives Monday on purchasing the 730-year-old building for a single euro from the Evangelical Church in Central Germany (EKM) as the last resort, according to Spiegel.

“The vote could be difficult. But I hope for an easy majority for the acquisition,” news agency DPA quoted Mayor Matthias Strejc as saying. more >>