Bavaria passes draft law to ban full-face veil in schools and universities
Bavaria is set to roll out a ban of the full-face veil in a number of public places, including schools.
The southern German state will also prohibit the wearing of the Islamic veil in universities, government workplaces and polling stations.
A decision to issue the ban comes just seven months before federal elections, with immigration set to be a dominating issue.
Bavarian conservatives, the sister party to Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, currently govern the region, and hope to stave votes off the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party.
After a draft law was published, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said: "Communication happens not only via language but also via looks, facial expressions and gestures.
"It's the foundation of our interactions with each other and it's the basis of our free and democratic order.
"Concealing your face is at odds with this culture of communication."
In December, Mrs Merkel called for a ban on full-face Muslim veils "wherever legally possible".
Over the past two years alone, more than a million, mainly Muslim, migrants have arrived in Germany.
France and Belgium have already banned the burqa, while the region of Lombardy in northern Italy has outlawed it in hospitals and public offices belonging to the regional government.