Mosque Building Boom

Berlin's moderately sized Muslim community is set to benefit from a Mosque building-boom, which will create better conditions for worship and prayer for the city's 210,000 Muslims.

Currently, a space shortfall exists within the city's 76 mosques which account for an alarmingly small 15,000 square meters. This will become be a distant memory, particularly through the realisation of two ambitious projects in Kreuzberg, set to open by mid-2007.

Funded by the Berlin Islamic Federation and the Islamic Organisation for Charitable Deeds, the projects will encompass a modern take on mosque design with the a new building on Falckensteinstrasse catering for a range of uses, including a kids playing area, cafe, recreational area and facilities for family counselling. Only 20 percent of the building's space will be devoted for worshipping.

The planned developments will serve as a welcome relief to the Berlin Muslim community, which has in the past been known to resort to drastic measures in pursuit of prayer. Make shift mosques are known to have been established at the back of supermarkets, garages and offices. In addition to making worship more open and comfortable, the new buildings may also devote a space to facilitate interreligious dialogue.