SHAFAQNA- On the site of a church torn down by East Germany’s communist rulers, a new place of worship is set to rise that will incorporate a church, a Mosque and a synagogue linked to a central meeting space. The foundation stone of the House of One in Berlin will be laid at a ceremony on 27 May, marking the end of 10 years of planning and the beginning of an estimated four years of construction, and symbolising a new venture in interfaith cooperation and dialogue.
The €47m building, designed by Berlin architects Kuehn Malvezzi, has already been dubbed “churmosquagogue”. People of other faiths and denominations, and those of no faith, will be invited to events and discussions in the large hall.
“The idea is pretty simple,” said Roland Stolte, a Christian theologian who helped start the project. “We wanted to build a house of prayer and learning, where these three religions could co-exist while each retaining their own identity.” The House of One will be built on the site of St Peter’s church in Petriplatz, which was damaged during the second world war and demolished in 1964 by the GDR authorities.