
South of
Munich, where the Alps rise beyond Lake Starnberg, one is in deepest Bavaria, a
region known for its conservative Catholicism. Here of all places, a small
Muslim community has built itself a forum with a prayer room in a contemporary
architectural style – a courageous undertaking based on the wish for
integration. The aim is to overstretch neither the neighboring residents nor
the members of the community in their willingness to tolerate and approach one
another. Admittedly, the building is not right next to the church in the center
of the village, but it is within walking distance on the well-groomed
periphery, a residential area on one side of the street, a DIY store on the other.
With its
distinctive but in no way provocative or confrontational appearance, the
building and its delicate tower fit into the surroundings, where the
traditional village structure has already been broken with in the form of
different rooflines and ornaments between rusticity and post-war monotony. The
architects from Augsburg arranged the prayer room, the communal and
administrative rooms, and an apartment under a single roof on an L-shaped
ground plan. But the facades, that are clad in pale stone, clearly indicate the
different functions of the rooms – to the east above all the slightly recessed
full-length blue glass ornamented window.
The
entrance features two concrete slabs that swing out of the wall like open
gates, inviting visitors into the house in German and Arabic script; the actual
door, made of stainless steel, is open to all. Inside, one is greeted by a
classical open-plan staircase with a great deal of daylight. To the right, the
view opens up into the beautiful prayer room. Shoes must be removed, but anyone
is allowed in. From the side, daylight enters between curved concrete slabs, on
the front wall the light enters through the blue glass without dazzling. The
atmosphere in this space is friendly. The way the light falls draws attention to
the ceiling and wall panels, where ornaments are applied to the unclad concrete
that can be read as expressions of divine boundlessness. The abstracted star
motifs contain The 99 Names of God – such as “The Most Merciful” and “The
Utterly Just” – in calligraphy. This design was developed jointly by the
artists Lutzenberger + Lutzenberger from Bad Wörishofen and Mohammed Mandi from
Abu Dhabi.
The
forum’s other rooms can be compared with a parish community center: they offer
German lessons, discussion and prayer meetings, the usual. The architect is
familiar with the religion, culture, customs and mentality of Islam, and such a
knowledge is essential in the development of modern religious architecture.
Here in Penzberg, contemporary architecture is contributing with wise restraint
to the gradual integration of different beliefs into village structures. Where
places of worship cautiously distance themselves from traditional, dogmatic
structures and offer comparatively free spatial interpretations of the spiritual,
they genuinely promote mutual understanding between believers.
Transparency
and modernity
On a
first approach, the large glass facade of the new mosque reflects the cars
driving past on the main road. If one walks up closer to the glass, one can see
the backs of some dozen men who are prostrating themselves towards the
south-east, towards Mecca. Here, at the edge of the town, from which one can
see the distant Alps, Muslims from Penzberg and the surrounding region have
their meeting place. The community has some 600 members.
Not a
typical mosque
The
young deputy director of the Islam Forum, Gönül Yerli, a woman, guides the
guests on to the blue carpet in the hall. They are members of a local Munich
branch of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister-party of the national
Christian Democrats. Almost every day, GĂĽnĂĽl Yerli guides groups of visitors
through the Islam Forum. Understanding between the religions is an explicit aim
of her community. “It’s particularly important for us that this
mosque,” she says, “should be modern in design. And transparency is
part of that modernity. That means that certain prejudices and many fears among
the people should be laid to rest by the architecture itself. That’s why it was
a major issue for us that, for example, sixty percent of the building is
covered in glass.”
The
mosque as a place for learning about Germany
One
floor below, there’s an integration course for women taking place, provided by
a state adult education institute together with the Islam Forum. The children
of the mostly young women are being looked after in a neighboring room. Social
worker Nermina Idriz finds it important that the two provisions are linked.
“It’s above all a good preparation for kindergarten,” she says,
“since the children have already become used to quite a lot of things,
like the rules, like the most important terms which are used, and so on. We
said at the start that this provision for children is important, otherwise the
mothers won’t come. And if the children are here, we might as well use the
opportunity to improve their language skills.” In the afternoons there is
regular remedial teaching for children, and at the weekends, Gönül Yerli
teaches Muslim religion in German, Turkish and Bosnian.
Opening
up to non-Muslims
The
Islam Forum, which has members from several countries, including Turkey, Bosnia
and Albania, places particular emphasis on a European Islam. The imam, Benjamin
Idriz, says this means separating themselves from the Islam as they knew it in
their home countries, and opening themselves up to non-Muslims.
But the young
imam is aware that this policy is not always welcomed among his own members.
“What we are doing in Penzberg is new, at least for Bavaria,” he
says, “and so some of the communities and individual Muslims are sceptical
about it. But we know that this is the only way for Europe. As time goes on, I
am beginning to hear positive opinions from Muslims. What we are doing here is
important and right, and it’s the only alternative. In future, most Muslims
will go in this direction.” The town’s head of cultural activities, Thomas
Sendl, confirms that the Muslim community’s efforts at integration have been
effective. “From the point of view of the town, we view what the Muslim
community is doing very positively,” he says. “The dialogue with the
catholic and protestant churches has led to the acceptance of the Muslim
community, and it is now seen as well anchored in the local social
structures.” Already, around a third of the 16,000 residents of Penzberg
are said to have visited the Penzberg mosque at least once. But why does the
relationship between the religions work so well here? Social worker Nermina
Idriz thinks it is because the members of the community see Germany as their
home.
In addition, the fact that the members come from different countries has
led them to adopt German as their common language, and that has made it much
easier for the community to open itself to the wider world.
Resources
https://archnet.org/sites/6737/publications/2243
https://en.qantara.de/content/mosque-construction-and-dialogue-even-the-minaret-is-admired
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