Why Did It Take German School Choir 1000 Years To Admit Girls?

Regensburger Domspatzen was founded in 975. Its name also translates as cathedral sparrows, one of the world's most popular and oldest choirs for boys. The school that was founded alongside the choir delivers great quality German education, however, their primary focus lies around music and a strict one-hour choir practice per day. Girls admitted will have a separate choir for themselves parallel to the boys' choir that has been actively singing at the cathedral. 

"For many centuries, women weren't allowed to sing in the church. The whole of church music history gave women no voice."

The girls' choristers gave their first performance at the cathedral after weeks of practice and their happiness knew no bounds. Happy to have found a voice, rather than make their voices heard, some girls shared their stories with local news agencies.

Elisabeth Wühl, 15, grew up taking piano lessons since she was six years old, and for as long as she can remember, she always sang with her twin brother Serafin. While the duo joined the same choir as kids, they decided to further their music careers. Serafin gained a spot at Domspatzen but Elisabeth was denied admission because of her gender. Elisabeth, who gained a spot at a girl's Catholic music college nearby, says she does not intend to take admitted at Domspatzen after it changed its policy, but she is glad the choir is open to girls now.

"It always annoyed me that the boys were favoured. That's why I think it's really great that there are girls here too now."

Munich-based Dorothea Krakowsky always dreamed of studying music at the choir at Domspatzen choir but realised the dynamics of the institution while growing up. Now that the choir opened its doors for girls, Dorothea's brilliance and dedication earned her a pot at the choir. Dorothea, who took admitted to the choir school in September alongside her twin brother, Johannes, told NPR that her excitement is twofold now that she is performing for the first time in front of hundreds of people. "It's the first time we have done this and have sung at the cathedral makes me excited. It's something I longed for."

The institution has earlier drawn attention owing to sexual abuse scandals as well. An investigative report in 2017 revealed how between 1945 to 2015, over 500 boys were subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of church priests and teachers at the institute. The report surfaced accounts of several boys who also faced physical assault by teachers in their boarding school. The church compensated survivors with amounts between $20,000 and $30,000. The flak that the church associated drew cost them not just their dignity but also millions of dollars which, in a way, was not enough to do right by years of abuse the young faced as most perpetrators had died by the time the investigation report was out.

The choir is now making revolutionary changes within its system and, although there's a lot they need to implement in order to do right by its children, this step of admitting girls feels like the right step in the direction. A step, hundreds of girls have waited for so they could sing and find their voice. Although the corridors of Domspatzen break into astounding sounds every year with high holiday spirits, this year's sounds are more musical in more ways than one. The video of young girls beaming with joy because they're getting to sing after a thousand years at a place, that was primarily reserved only for boys, is overwhelming in a thousand different ways.