A Mosque Dispute in Cologne, Germany

The city of Cologne, Germany, has voted to allow the construction of one of the largest mosques in Germany, a project which has prompted a rash of disputes among Cologne city leaders and inhabitants. With Cologne’s history as a capital of Christendom during the Holy Roman Empire, extreme right-winged parties, xenophobes and individuals have attempted to ardently express their unease with this decision. Just this past weekend, 1,500 right-wing activists planned a rally in Cologne to protest against what they called the “Islamization” of Europe. “But an estimated 40,000 protesters turned up in Cologne’s downtown Heumarkt area, many wearing clown suits, to disrupt the rally. They blocked urban trains to keep delegates away and raided a tourist boat shaped like a whale — called the ‘Moby Dick’ — where the far-right gathering had been hoping to hold a press conference. A Pro Cologne spokesman said, ‘Stones, bricks and paint bombs were thrown and the panoramic windows of the Moby Dick were shattered,’” according to the German Magazine, Der Spiegel. Sardi Arslan, the leader of the Ditib Turkish-Islamic umbrella group, expressed hope that the planned mosque would facilitate communication between Muslims and non-Muslims and that the mosque would be a “crowning moment for religious tolerance.” Cologne’s conservative mayor, Fritz Schramma, has championed the project, arguing that it was necessary for the city’s approximately 120,000 Muslims to have a proper house of worship. “It will take some time, but someday the mosque will be integrated into Cologne’s cultural heritage,” he said in a statement. The construction of the mosque, complete with 55-meter-tall minarets, is underway and is scheduled to be completed in 2010. For the article in Der Spiegel about this past weekend’s protest, visit http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,579661,00.html.
For more information, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7627047.stm.