Mr Luckner and others at Karlsruhe, Frankfurt and Passau universities are running an exchange for the World Cup called Stoccer.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

Holm Putzke, a law professor in Passau who wrote an essay on the topic in 2008, says there would be no controversy if parents waited for their sons to come of age (14 years in religious matters) so that the young men could decide for themselves whether to be circumcised.

ECONOMIST: Circumcision in Germany