Cologne Central Mosque

Sunday, 26 March 2023 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  < 1 minute

© Raimond Spekking/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Raimond Spekking/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Cologne Central Mosque (German: DITIB-Zentralmoschee Köln, Turkish: Köln Merkez-Camii) is a building commissioned by German Muslims of the Organization DİTİB for a large, representative Zentralmoschee (central mosque) in Cologne, Germany. This mosque was inaugurated by Turkish President Erdogan. After controversy, the project won the approval of Cologne’s city council.

The mosque is designed in neo-Ottoman architectural style, with glass walls, two minarets and a dome. The mosque is proposed to have a bazaar as well as other secular areas intended for interfaith interactions. As the mosque is one of Europe’s biggest mosques, and the largest mosque in Germany, it has been criticized by some, particularly for the height of the minarets.

The 48,000-square-foot (4,500 m²) mosque cost £15–20 million to build, aiming to house 2,000 to 4,000 worshippers. The mosque is funded by Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği (DİTİB), a branch of the Turkish government’s religious affairs authority, bank loans, and donations from 884 Muslim associations. Cologne’s St. Theodore Catholic Church has also decided to fundraise for the mosque. The architects of the mosque are Gottfried Böhm and his son Paul Böhm, who specializes in building churches.

Cupola © Michael Kramer/cc-by-sa-3.0 © Raimond Spekking/cc-by-sa-4.0 Cupola © Moayad Abuawad/cc-by-sa-4.0 Allah calligraphy © Michael Kramer/cc-by-sa-3.0 Prayer niche © Michael Kramer/cc-by-sa-3.0 Prayer hall © Michael Kramer/cc-by-sa-3.0
<
>
Allah calligraphy © Michael Kramer/cc-by-sa-3.0
The mosque is in the Ottoman architecture style. It has a main hall of 36.5 meter, and two 55 meter high minarets. The mosque has the bazaar and entrance on the ground floor, lecture halls in the basement, the prayer area on the upper floor and include a Muslim library. A well is placed in the centre to connect the two levels and create a pleasant atmosphere. The mosque consists of flat-like wall screens which form a dome in the centre.

It also has glass walls, which according to DİTİB spokesman Alboga give visitors a feeling of openness. According to the architect, openness is further enhanced by an inviting staircase from the street. The developers have required that the secular areas of the mosque (e.g. the restaurant, event halls and stores) be open to people of all religions. A plan welcomed by then mayor of Cologne Fritz Schramma to build shorter minarets was dropped after the architects said the plan would leave the minarets out of proportion with the rest of the building and surrounding structures.

It was first used as a mosque in 2017. The inauguration of the mosque in September 2018 during the state visit to Germany by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was controversial as the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs neglected to provide a satisfying security concept for the event. Therefore Cologne only premitted a limited number of attendees of 500 invited guests to the inauguration. DİTİB also failed to allow the mayor of Cologne Henriette Reker to hold a speech at the inauguration, following which she declined to attend. Reker lamented the fact that the official inauguration took part in presence of Erdogan as the mosque was in use since quite some while also before. It was interpreted that DİTİB was more an extension to the Turkish Government and that it was not interested in a cooperation with german institutions. Armin Laschet, the Minister President of North Rhine Westphalia also declined to attend.

Read more on Wikipedia Cologne Central Mosque (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Fécamp in Normandy

Fécamp in Normandy

[caption id="attachment_235217" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Daniel*D/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Fécamp is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Fécamp is situa...

[ read more ]

Temple Church in London

Temple Church in London

[caption id="attachment_172105" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © geograph.org.uk - John Salmon/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Temple Church is a late 12th-century church in the City of London located between Fleet Stree...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Carinthia

Theme Week Carinthia

[caption id="attachment_153204" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Velden am Wörther See - Velden Palace © Johann Jaritz/cc-by-sa-3.0-at[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within t...

[ read more ]

Glendale in Arizona

Glendale in Arizona

[caption id="attachment_231433" align="alignnone" width="590"] Glendale Glitters around Christmas © Gage Skidmore/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Glendale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approxima...

[ read more ]

Lower Manhattan in New York

Lower Manhattan in New York

[caption id="attachment_232306" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © flickr.com - Daniele Pieroni/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part o...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Basilicata - Melfi

Theme Week Basilicata - Melfi

[caption id="attachment_238929" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Maria Belen Ramos/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Melfi (Lucano: Mèlfe) is a town and comune in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern I...

[ read more ]

Democracy sausage in Australia

Democracy sausage in Australia

[caption id="attachment_248373" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © flickr.com - Alpha/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Democracy sausages are sausages wrapped in a slice of bread, bought from a sausage sizzle operated as a fund...

[ read more ]

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

[caption id="attachment_168079" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © GazThomas402/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup will be the 10th FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's footb...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Afghanistan

Theme Week Afghanistan

[caption id="attachment_208741" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Landscapes of Afghanistan © PD-USGov-USAID - PD-USGov-Military-Army - PD-USGov-Military-Army-USACE[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republi...

[ read more ]

Inveraray in Scotland

Inveraray in Scotland

[caption id="attachment_248050" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Main street © Holger Uwe Schmitt/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Inveraray (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Aora, meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bu...

[ read more ]

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando

[caption id="attachment_240994" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Hogsmeade village © Elbert Hampton[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a themed area spanning three theme parks—Islands of Adventure, Uni...

[ read more ]

Książ or Fürstenstein Castle

Książ or Fürstenstein Castle

[caption id="attachment_223730" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Jar.ciurus/cc-by-sa-3.0-pl[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Książ (Polish: Zamek Książ, German: Fürstenstein) is the largest castle in the Silesia region, located in no...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top