Germany’s connected churches offer free wifi

Godspots are secure, free wifi connections available inside and outside churches in the Berlin-Brandenburg region.

Dubbed Godspots, the free wifi is available to anyone, inside and outside the churches. Initially available in 220 churches, the Protestant church plans to expand the network to all 3,000 of its buildings in the Berlin-Brandenburg region.

Germany has lagged behind other European countries in connectivity, something that Church leaders are hoping the Godspots will help change. The Church says the network is secure and will not have advertising. When first accessing a Godspot, users are greeted by a homepage of the church with local faith community information, details about the building itself and other faith-related material. If the goal of connecting all 3,000 Protestant churches is reached by May 2017, the project may be expanded nation-wide, including to Catholic churches.

Two of the first to offer the wifi are Berlin’s French Cathedral and Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. As making internet connection easier becomes a worldwide project, everything from smart trashcans to sidewalk pavement stones can be used as wifi hotspots. Could the next disruption be in finding ways and places to disconnect?