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How nice to be able to just take a breath in the hustle and bustle.

One year after its opening, the Christian chapel and the Room of Silence at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) were ceremoniously inaugurated with an ecumenical prayer service. In addition to the Catholic Archbishop Heiner Koch and the Protestant Bishop Christian Stäblein, Cantor Esther Hirsch from the Jewish Sukkat Schalom congregation and the head of the Muslim pastoral care telephone, Imran Sagir, also took part.

Both 25-square-metre tent-like rooms made of dark bricks belong to the ecumenical airport chaplaincy and have already been accessible for a year. They are run by the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia and the Archdiocese of Berlin. Together with around 30 volunteers, the Jesuit Fr. Wolfgang Felber SJ and the Protestant pastor Sabine Röhm offer pastoral care to travellers and airport employees regardless of their religion or ideology. They cooperate with a social worker from the Catholic Welfare Work Association “In Via” for Girls and Women.

"A very successful room," says Kirsten Specht. She looks at the dark bricks that structure the wall in the chapel of the new Berlin-Brandenburg airport BER. "But it could have been more color," says the alternative practitioner from Braunschweig. Only a square opening on the ceiling of the five-metre-high, tent-like construction, light strips and a recess in the wall in the shape of a cross illuminate the semi-darkness.

Specht has taken a seat on one of the few chairs. "I totally enjoy the peace and quiet here," says the 53-year-old. She discovered the simple chapel with altar table, Bible and reading desk by chance, as well as the neighbouring "Room of Silence", an almost identical room also covering 25 Square Meters. On Friday, Berlin's Catholic Archbishop Heiner Koch and the Protestant Bishop Christian Stäblein, together with the cantor Esther Hirsch from the Jewish community and Imran Sagir, the head of the Muslim chaplaincy telephone, will ceremonially inaugurate both rooms.

"We are in the center of the airport," Sabine Röhm and Wolfgang Felber are pleased about the location of both rooms in Terminal 1. The Protestant pastor and the Catholic Jesuit priest are the main airport chaplains at BER. "From our point of view, it could have started earlier," they assure us. But the opening of the airport had been postponed several times since 2012. It wasn't until a year ago that the time had come. Until then, both were involved in the now closed Tegel and Schönefeld airports.

A team of 30 volunteer chaplains

Röhm and Felber also used the time to train a team of now 30 volunteer chaplains, among them teachers, judges, police officers and nurses. "They are indispensable for us," emphasizes the 53-year-old Röhm. With half a job, she is also responsible for the Berlin fire brigade. "Compared to other airports, we have a particularly large number of volunteer airport chaplains," says 60-year-old Felber. He also works part-time at BER and is otherwise a chaplain in a hospital.

Both are particularly attached to the service at the capital's airport. With their purple waistcoats, on their backs a white ribbon with the inscription "Flughafenseelsorge - airport chaplaincy", they stand out even among colorfully dressed tourists. After months of the Corona pandemic, their numbers have risen sharply again.

A watchful eye

As always, Sabine Röhm keeps a watchful eye on the people she passes on her tour of the wide halls. One of them has tears in his eyes. "Can I help you, may I help you?" the chaplain asks. Shaking of the head. So this time it remains open whether joy or sadness is the cause. "Anyone who wants to pour out their heart can trust in our duty of confidentiality," she explains.

Often it is small problems that the chaplains encounter, but sometimes not. Heinrich Becker, one of the volunteers, remembers an airport employee who could not get the open eyes of a traveler who had suddenly died out of his mind. "Only when he was able to talk about it with us did he feel better," says the 72-year-old, who used to manage a nursing home. Like his colleagues, he also has an open ear for the worries and needs of the airport staff. Even though operations are starting up again, some are on short-time work or even threatened with dismissal.

Prepared for extreme cases

The chaplains also have to be prepared for extreme cases like plane crashes. "Although they are rare, they have a long-lasting effect," explains Father Felber. For example, friends and relatives in Berlin-Schönefeld regularly remember the 189 people who died in a crash in the Dominican Republic in 1996.

Far more common, however, are practical difficulties that travelers turn to the chaplains with. They can then call in Friedemann Müller, with whom they share a common counter not far from the chapel. On behalf of the Catholic In-Via Association, the 45-year-old becomes active when a social worker is needed. "If someone misses a flight and has no money for another one, I see what can be done," Müller explains.

Open to visitors of all religions

Kirsten Specht has finished her little sabbatical at the chapel. "How nice to be able to just take a breath in the hustle and bustle," she says before heading off to a seminar on the Greek island of Corfu. Meanwhile, in the "Room of Silence" next door, some of the airport's Muslim service staff have rolled out their rugs to pray. A metal plate embedded in the floor points out the cardinal directions and helps them face Mecca. "We are open to visitors of all religions and world views," emphasizes Father Felber.

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