The city of Frankfurt was dressed in festive lights on Sunday to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a first in Germany, AFP and Agerpres reported.

A large ‘Happy Ramadan!’

Frankfurt Deputy Mayor Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg, an Iranian-born politician and member of the Green Party, hailed the “wonderful” gesture that illustrates the “peaceful coexistence of all Frankfurt residents” and “strengthens the coexistence of our urban and diverse society.”

Instead, Robert Lambru, a regional deputy for the state of Hesse and a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, condemned the “gesture of subjugation to Islam.”

The city of Frankfurt, which is the financial center of Germany, has more than 750,000 inhabitants, of which about 100,000 are Muslims.

Municipal councilor Omar Shekhata, a member of the Social Democratic Party of Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, took the initiative to decorate it in honor of Ramadan. He says that he was inspired by the British capital London, which last year lit festive lights for the first time on the occasion of Ramadan.

“Many people in Frankfurt have united against the extreme right, anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim racism,” the Social Democratic municipal councilor also said, responding to criticism from representatives of the AfD party.

Street decorations for the occasion of Ramadan were also installed in the city of Cologne, also for the first time, but there they were financed by private donations and not public funds, as was done in Frankfurt.