1915:Germany built Mosque for POWs

[Guest guest]

Just before the junction of Berliner Straße and Hohenzollerndamm, one

becomes aware of the mosque's whitewashed minarets, parapet and dome

gleaming through the dense layer of trees. The Ahmadiyya Mosque is

now the oldest building of its kind in Germany.

 

Modelled on the burial mosques of the Mogul princes of India, it was

constructed between 1924 and 1928 and designed by the Berlin

architect K.A. Hermann. An earlier mosque was built in Wünsdorf in

1915, financed by the German government. This was intended for Muslim

prisoners of war and was demolished again in 1930.

 

The Wilmersdorf mosque was commissioned by the Amadiyya Anjuman, - a

religious community from Lahore who also raised the money to finance

the building. It was only possible to construct the 32 meter high

minarets after the women of the community had sold their jewelry and

donated the profits.

 

The mosque was badly damaged in the Second World War. German marksmen

directed machine guns from the minarets onto Russian soldiers who

were entrenched in a neighbouring cemetery. The minarets were reduced

to stumps, a few metres high. Both Indian and British military

authorities were involved with the reconstruction of the mosque and

it was not until 1993 that the building was put under a preservation

order.

 

At the end of the 1990's, the adjacent house was redeveloped and one

of the minarets rebuilt. The completed spire for the second minaret

is sitting in the garden, as though to encourage the sponsors in

their efforts to support further work: rebuilding the tower,

overhauling the dome, the new layout of the garden. ...

 

According to the imam who has been in Berlin for 15 years, what began

as an Islamic mission has become a place of contact and peace. The

softening of European prejudice against Islam could really become its

most important task. The pleasant place of prayer serves only a very

small community and sees itself to also be an Islamic information

centre. The mosque is regularly open for Friday prayers. Visits

outside these times can be arranged by telephone.

 

Address: Brienner Str. 7-8 10713 Berlin

 

Tel: +49 30 873 57 03 Fax: +49 30 873 07 83

 

Bus, Tube, Tram: U 1, U 7 Fehrbelliner Platz

 

Hours of Prayer: Fri 13.00 (in winter); 13.30 (in summer)

 

E-Mail: DieMoschee