Klingebiel was happy to take up the suggestion of Councillor Ercan Vanli and the Chairman of the Lower Saxony Integration Council, Ercan Irkan, and invited guests to such a reception at the Diamant Center for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. Clemens Löcke hosted the colorful evening.

Mayor Klingebiel welcomed the more than 120 invited guests. He emphasized that participation in the traditional breaking of the fast was a sign of tolerance, respect and diversity and therefore also an important signal for the city of Salzgitter.

He continued: "It is a sign of mutual intercultural dialog, because our Muslim fellow citizens belong to Salzgitter as a matter of course. They are our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues at work, our friends in sports. Since its foundation, Salzgitter has been a city characterized by immigration, in which around 107,000 people from around 120 nations live together today. None of this can be taken for granted, but there are people, like those invited, who bring integration and participation to life. "Integration happens on the ground, where people come together". This event is also a way of saying "no" to all forms of intolerance, violence and vilification, he continued.

The spokesperson for the Muslim communities in Salzgitter, Mustafa Abacioglu, welcomed the reception and pointed out that Salzgitter is an open and multi-religious city. He recalled the severe earthquake in Turkey.

Jürgen Selke-Witzel, the pastoral officer for the episcopal deanery of Goslar-Salzgitter, conveyed the greetings of the Christian parishes in the city. This was the first time he had attended such an event and pointed out the importance of dialog between people and their religions.

Elif Medeni from the Kirchlich-pädagogische Hochschule in Vienna, who was born and raised in Salzgitter, skillfully and entertainingly bridged the gap between Islam and Christianity in her presentation and pointed out the many common links between the two religious communities. "We have much more in common than separates us," she emphasized. The Austro-German coffee tradition, for example, exists because the Turkish army left behind many sacks of coffee during the siege of Vienna when they retreated. And even linguistic terms that are commonly used today, such as "Simsalabim", can be traced back to intercultural exchange between Christianity and Islam.

At the end of her presentation, she quoted from works by Goethe, Lessing and Rilke, all of whom had dealt with many aspects of Islam in a very intensive and appreciative manner. Elif Medeni also emphasized the common roots when she pointed out at the end of her presentation that all three major religions were currently celebrating their major festivals with Passover, Ramadan and Easter.

After the sun had set at 8.18 p.m., the muezzin's call to prayer concluded the official part of the event.

This was followed by the joint "breaking of the fast" and the social part of the event, accompanied by the violin music of Erkan Rast.

Mayor Klingebiel was very pleased with how the event went and emphasized how important such joint celebrations are for the colourful community in Salzgitter.