BERLIN: Religious leaders and politicians in Berlin laid the foundation stone on Thursday for a new multi-faith ‘place of worship’ which aims to bring Christians, Jews and Muslims together under one roof.
“The idea is bigger than the building,” project director Roland Stolte said at a ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction work on the ‘House of One.’ Conceived a decade ago, the ambitious project is scheduled to open by 2025 on Museum Island in central Berlin.
Built on the site of a former church which was demolished under the former East German communist regime, the building will contain three separate places of worship for Christians, Jews and Muslims. Yet the mosque, the synagogue and the protestant church will be connected by a large communal hall designed to host communal events and festivals.
“It’s a very symbolic step forward for us,” said Kadir Sanci, who will be the imam of the future mosque. In these times of polarisation which cast a huge shadow on the world, the ‘House of One’ embodies the constructive spirit of faith and spirituality, he added.
The multi-faith building would be a place of peace and security at a time when tensions between Berlin’s Jewish and Muslim communities have flared in the wake of the recent conflict in the Middle East. In recent weeks, there was outrage after Israeli flags were burned and ‘anti-Semitic’ slogans chanted at some pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Germany.
Speaking at the ceremony, Berlin mayor Michael Mueller said hatred, violence, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism and incitement to racial hatred have no place in this society. The imam, pastor and rabbi all said short prayers before symbolic objects from all three religions were cast into the concrete.
The project is estimated to cost around 47 million euros ($57 million), and is financed in part by the German state and the city of Berlin.