Şehitlik Mosque – Berlin Türk Şehitlik Camii

Şehitlik Mosque with Cemetery

As the weather today was almost obtrusively serene and sunny, I decided this was the right time to take a few more pics of Berlin's fairytale-like, most fabulous mosque: The Turkish Şehitlik Mosque.

I published a little article about it here on my blog in October 2009, but that day I had forgotten to charge my camera's battery, so I could only take a few precious photos. Now I took a whole load of pics and the weather was my friend.

 

The premises consist of a cultural center and a mosque. The upper floor of the cultural center features a big terrace and a building element half the size of the ground floor. 

The mosque itself is comprised of four stories: A multipurpose hall in the basement, a prayer room on the ground floor, the mosque on the third floor and a gallery where the women usually pray.

Main prayer language is Turkish, occasionally Arabic and on Fridays prayers are read in German, too.

A brazen plaque right beside the entrance gate explains the origin of the cemetery in Turkish and German. For a short explanation visit my October 2009 article.

Here is the Turkish text:

"Berlin'de ikinci Türk Mezarliği olarak 1866 yilinda Sultan Abdulaziz zamaninda kurulmuştur. 1798 yilinda tesis olunan ilk Türk Kabristanindaki mevtalar buraya taşinmişlardir.

Mezarlari nakledilen, Prusya'da Osmanli Sefiri iken, 29 Ekim 1798 de vefat eden devlet adami, şair ve tasavvuf eri Giritli Ali Aziz Efendi ile diğer dört merhum adina 1867 yilinda kurulan abide, 1988 de Berlin Senatosu tarafindan Diyanet İşleri Türk-İslam Birliği'nin işbirliği ile tamir edilmiştir.

1920-1921 yillarinda şehitliğin ihyasinda Osmanli Büyük Elçiliği eski imami, Hafiz Şükrü Efendi 'nin büyük emeği geçmiştir. Caminin iki minareli bugünkü şekli Türk işçilerinin katkilariyla gerçekleştirilmiştir."

Official Site of Şehitlik Mosque in German language

"In Rixdorf is Musike!" - There is Music in Rixdorf

 

Right in the center of the big market and pedestrian island on Hermannplatz in the district of Neukölln, we see – if we care to look up – the bronze sculpture of a dancing couple. People also call it "Rixdorfer Tanzpärchen" which means "Dancing couple from Rixdorf", "Rixdorf" being one of Neukölln's old names.

More than 100 years ago, Hermannplatz used to mark the borderline between Berlin and Rixdorf. Rixdorf with all its dancing halls and breweries was a playground for hedonists and the epitome of pleasure, amusement, and debauchery, a place for Berliners to booze up and have fun with easy girls – hence the popular melody "In Rixdorf is Musike".

In January 1912 the name was changed into "Neukölln", as the bad image of Rixdorf hovered all over the place and the local authorities wanted to finally get rid of it.The statue was sculptured by Joachim Schmettau in 1985 for the opening of a garden festival and used to rotate around its own axis twice an hour, but is now standing still.

Hermannplatz - Neukölln

Named after Herman the Cherusk (a.k.a. Gaius Julius Arminius) who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, this place, situated in North Neukölln, constitutes one of the borders between Kreuzberg and Neukölln. The Karstadt department store occupies the corner belonging to Kreuzberg, the remaining area being part of Neukölln.

In 1929 Karstadt opened a huge department store on Hermannplatz. At the time it was Europe's most modern department store with an Art Deco architecture reminiscent of New York's skyscrapers.

The impressive building towered above Hermannplatz and survived the bombings of World War II. Sadly it was destroyed in 1945 - presumably by the SS who wanted to prevent the Red Army from laying hands on all the yummy stuff stored in the building.

Today's Karstadt is not comparable to the former one. It still has a terrace on its roof top though, from where you have a nice view over the busy neighborhood. A model of the or Karstadt can be found on its highest floor (see pictures below).
Historical pictures of Hermannplatz

 

Holy Martha!

This very beautiful red brick house (built in 1912) in Kreuzberg, a stone's throw away from the border of northern Neukölln, holds a very special secret: It covers a backyard Church! Who would have guessed that?

Walk through the gateway and you will be standing right in front of St. Martha, the church of a protestant parish. Built in renaissance style in 1904, the church bears a striking resemblance to the U-Bahnhof "Schlesisches Tor" (one of the first Berlin subway stations). U-Bahnhof

In the seventies the church was split horizontally to make room for indispensable community work: If you enter the church through its main entrance you will find a large hall reserved for inter-cultural and inter-religious open youth work and a kindergarten. Use the stair to get to the room where religious service takes place.

Martha-Gemeinde
Picture of Martha Church in 1904

Café Dritter Raum - Parlor with WLAN

Today I visited "Café Dritter Raum", Hertzbergstraße 14 in Neukölln. In addition to the friendly sofa-ish atmosphere and inspiring conversation possibilities, they offer extensive, very reasonably priced breakfast and unlimited WLAN.

Lots of books and newspapers are available for the common and uncommon reader. Visit their website and register for the newsletter to get updated on the weekly program.

I greatly enjoyed my stay and will be back for sure!

Website Dritter Raum

Heroes of the Air - German Aeronauts

"Den deutschen Luftschiffern 1914 - 1918" Monument for the German aeronauts

Today I am addressing the subject of the extinct guild of aeronauts, thanks to my friend Ayla who pointed me to the topic by pointing her finger at the moss-grown monument right in front of the St. Johannis basilica in Neukölln. As a result I took two quick photos - and on this page they are!

What a venturous fellow, what a bold heroic face struck in stone ... 

Now, what sinister story is there, hidden amongst the almost impermeable thicket behind the monument?

On July 4, 1900, the gentle reader may have caught an article published in the New York Times announcing the halfway successful airship trial by Count von Zeppelin, which had taken place on the evening of July 2 (see article).

Fifteen years later another article was published in the same paper, this time reporting about "the spectacular Zeppelin raid on London on Sept. 8".

Not so funny: Zeppelin's airships were used to drop bombs in World War I (read full original article from NY Times). The article is truly worth a read as it involves many eyewitness accounts!

Being extremely easy targets and susceptible to gusts of wind, Zeppelins turned out not to be very useful as bombers after all.

Beautiful Neukölln - Maybach riverside

What are you up to on a balmy Sunday afternoon in autumn? Leave your digs and take an extensive walk alongside the Landwehrkanal which seperates northern Neukölln from Kreuzberg. On the Maybach riverside - Neukölln - you will find lots of little pubs and restaurants where you can sit outside and watch cheeky little sparrows, frolicing kids, and tourist boats on the slow flowing canal.

Or you cross over to the "nobler" side - Kreuzberg - and walk down the Paul-Lincke-Ufer with its thoroughly restored town houses. You can also sit down and watch boules players or take part in their game.

Yesterday, on my way home, I encountered this most peculiar vehicle packed with eager Neukölln sightseers:

Multicultural northern Neukölln

According to a European Council report (2008), northern Neukölln with its population of 160 000 has a share of migrants of over 50% with residence permit and another share of estimated 10% of illegal residents.

40% of the migrants originate from Turkey, 12% from Arabic countries, 11% from Poland, 10% from former Yugoslavia, an estimated 8% originate from Russia, and a considerable proportion of migrants are stateless (mainly Palestinians). In elementary schools 95% of the pupils have a native language other than German.

Source

Day of the open Mosque - Şehitlik-Mosque

Today is the "Day of the open Mosque" where over 20 mosques in Berlin are opening their doors to visitors.

I chose to visit the Şehitlik Mosque in Neukölln as well as Germany's oldest Muslim cemetery (over 200 years old) which is located on the same piece of land. Turkish members of the Prussian army received the land from King Frederick William III.

The Şehitlik Mosque was built in 1983 on the Turkish cemetery from which it borrowed the name Şehit ( = maryr).

The building itself is an example of Classic 16th and 17th Turkish-Ottoman architecture while the interior decoration seems unusual for the classic period: Ceramic and marble elements complement each other to form a real gem.

Şehitlik-Mosque

Berlin Sketches: Rütli School Neukölln

Starting today, I will roam the city of Berlin in search of interesting topics like colorful surroundings, animated street life, striking little moments, and all sorts of facts or observations worthwhile to report on.

An intriguing kick-off might be the nationwide famous Rütli School about which legends abound. The photos below show the school as well as its rather idyllic surroundings.

An open letter from the school's faculty complaining about increasing violence among pupils and against faculty members caused an uproar amongst the German media  in 2006 (article in Spiegel international).

Over 80% of the pupils are from a non-German background. Most of them have Turkish or Arabic roots, and most of them are "good" kids, no matter what a fuss the media make of it.

By no means is Neukölln a dangerous neighborhood. To describe it as colorful would be a lot more accurate: This district of Berlin is inhabited by people from 160 different nations living quite peacefully together.

Hilarious video for those who understand German