Allah in Ehrenfeld
In Köln leben über 120.000 Muslime. Die rheinische Metropole hat damit prozentual mehr Einwohner islamischen Glaubens als jede andere deutsche Großstadt. Bisher war der berühmte gotische Kölner Dom das Wahrzeichen der Stadt. Nun soll ein zweites spektakuläres Gotteshaus die Skyline prägen: Im innenstadtnahen Viertel Ehrenfeld wird eine der größten und modernsten Moscheen Europas errichtet - von Paul Böhm, dem Architekten aus der renommierten Architekten-Dynastie, die für ihre christlichen Kirchenbauten berühmt ist. Doch schon der Entwurf für den weithin sichtbaren Kuppelbau mit den zwei Minaretten spaltet die Stadt in vehemente Gegner und Befürworter.
Das Video hier abspielen | Dienstag, 10. Juli 2012

German Far Right Emerges from Shadows to Join Cologne Campaign Against Mosque
THE OBSERVER: A populist party fighting the building of a Turkish cultural centre has found willing allies among Austrian extremists

Members of the right-wing organisation Pro Cologne protest against plans to build a new mosque in the Cologne in 2007. Photograph: The Observer
The buzz of drills and whine of cranes fill the air as scores of workers in yellow hard hats scuttle around the concrete shell of a building which, even in its unfinished state, dominates the working-class Cologne district of Ehrenfeld. For the thriving local Turkish community, the sprawling complex represents the chance for an entire infrastructure under one roof – from a mosque to a hairdresser's to a travel agency.

But for others in the city the new mosque and cultural centre has provoked fears that the multimillion-euro project will do little to encourage integration and give the Turks free rein to live in their own autonomous world. The right-wing populist Pro Cologne movement has campaigned against the mosque and moved a step closer to its goal last week after joining forces with Austria's far-right Freedom party (FPO [sic]).

"Every new movement needs a unique selling point," said Bernd Schöppe, of Pro Cologne. "Ours is the mosque. If ever you needed a sign of the real threat of Islamisation in Germany, it's that mosque, with its huge dome and 55m-high minarets." Pro Cologne, a small but growing movement which recently won seats on the city council, hopes to boost its profile by associating itself with the FPO [sic], which made its name a decade ago after sweeping to power under the leadership of the late extreme-right firebrand Jörg Haider.

This month the FPO [sic] was celebrating another feat, after securing 26% of the vote in the Vienna elections. One of its slogans urged Muslims to "go home", and among the election paraphernalia it dished out was a computer game where players score points for shooting at mosques and minarets. >>> Kate Connolly in Cologne | Sunday, October 31, 2010

European Dhimmi Alert! Go-Ahead for Germany’s Biggest Mosque
A computer-generated image of the soon-to-be biggest mosque in Germany at Ehrenfeld, Cologne
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: After much controversy, Cologne City Council finally voted in favor of building Germany's largest mosque in the city. The opposition of a local far-right group wasn't enough to stop plans that will change the city's historic skyline forever.

Cologne's skyline is not just any skyline. Silhouetted against the sky is the cathedral, the most famous gothic church in Germany. After a decision by Cologne's City Council, it will be joined by the country's largest mosque.

Thursday at Cologne's City Hall, a crowd of demonstrators faced off. To the right of the entrance stood some 30 odd anti-mosque protesters carrying signs depicting stylized mosques with big red lines struck through them. To the left about 100 people voiced their support for the mosque's construction. Neither need really have bothered: the outcome was almost certain.

All parties except the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the extreme right anti-mosque initiative Pro Cologne voted in favor of building the mosque, which will be Germany's largest. Cologne Mayor Schramma, who has gone back and forth on the issue, in the end voted against his own CDU party in favor of the mosque's construction Thursday.

The new mosque will now be built on a site in Ehrenfeld, an industrial section of Cologne where there is currently a working mosque operating out of an old factory. "They can start tearing down the old factory building tomorrow," Josef Wirges, the local council member for Ehrenfeld and member of the Social Democrats (SPD) told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

The structure will cost between €15 billion and €20 billion, financed by private donations from more than 800 groups in Germany. Construction will be completed in 2010 by the locally based Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), which has close ties to Ankara. Go-Ahead for Germany's Biggest Mosque >>> rbn -- with wire reports and reporting by Carolin Jenkner in Cologne | August 29, 2008

WELTONLINE:
Köln und die große Moschee im Schatten des Doms: Der Stadtrat hat dem umstrittenen Bau der ersten Zentralmoschee in Köln zugestimmt. Die Fehden um die "islamische Gefahr" werden dennoch weitergehen. Die Diskussion um den Bau gab der radikalen Protestpartei "Pro Köln/Pro NRW" solchen Auftrieb, dass sie ins Stadtparlament einzog. Nächstes Ziel: der Landtag >>> Von Till-R. Stoldt | 30. August 2008

WELTONLINE BILDERGALERIE:
Moscheen in Deutschland: Wo Muslime in Deutschland beten >>>

WELTONLINE BILDERGALERIE:
Kirchen und Moscheen: Gotteshäuser unterschieden sich >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe) >>>