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)
