Multi-faith "House of One" planned in Berlin- will explore new liturgical paths....

Berlin multi-faith house project progresses slowly-Builders remain optimistic

Actually, Jews, Christians and Muslims should have been praying under one roof in Berlin's "House of One" long ago. But many problems have slowed down the construction. So far, only a building pit has been completed. Nevertheless, the builders remain confident.

More than ten years of planning and still no walls rise up: where other builders would despair, the promoters of the Berlin project "House of One" are optimistic. "It is not a lost time, it is a given time," assures Protestant pastor, Gregor Hohberg despite the delays due to archaeological excavations and environmental protection requirements, for example. "This way we can get to know each other better and better and trust each other more and more," explains the clergyman of Sankt Petri-Sankt Marien.

A project that attracts worldwide attention

The initiative for this project, which has attracted worldwide attention, came from the Protestant inner-city congregation, the Jewish community in Berlin with the Abraham Geiger College rabbinical training centre and the Muslim association Forum Dialog. It is to become a prayer and teaching house for Jews, Christians and Muslims. They will be able to worship there in separate sacred rooms according to their traditions and meet in a central hall - also with non-religious visitors. The name "House of One" refers to the participating religions' belief in one God.

What the sacred building will look like has been clear for a decade. In an architectural competition, the Berlin firm Kuehn Malvezzi was awarded the contract. According to the plans, it will be built of light-coloured bricks in cubic shapes - with a 42-metre-high tower that towers about 20 metres above the surrounding buildings. In this, the "House of One" follows the tradition of the war-damaged Petri Church, on whose foundations it is being built.

Less conspicuous is the information container with viewing terrace, which Hohberg inaugurated together with Rabbi Andreas Nachama and Imam Kadir Sanci at the construction site on Wednesday with prayers of blessing from their religions - two years after the laying of the foundation stone for the project. In the coming years, the "House of One-Box" is to become a contact point where people can get information about the construction progress.

Programmes for religious tolerance

The House of One team also wants to offer part of its educational programme there, as Esther Hirsch, the theological officer of the sponsoring foundation, announced. Since 2014, the team has been promoting not only the building project in numerous events. With educational and prevention offers, it advocates for religious tolerance as well as against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in front of school classes or police officers, for example, and also in an interreligious podcast "331 - three women, three religions, one topic". The foundation is also interested in networking with similar projects in the Central African Republic, Georgia and Israel.

Stefanie Remlinger (Greens), district mayor of Berlin-Mitte, paid great tribute to this commitment. The coexistence of people from over 100 nations in Berlin with many different cultures and religions is not a matter of course because there is little knowledge about each other, the politician explained. She promised that the Mitte district would also contractually establish its cooperation with the "House of One".

Fundraising campaign continues

The project is more dependent on support than ever. At present, the sponsoring foundation estimates 69.5 million euros in construction costs, as its director Roland Stolte stated. That is more than 22 million euros more than three years ago. The reason he gave was the sharp rise in wage and material costs. So far, the federal government has provided 28.7 million euros and the state of Berlin 16.9 million euros. The foundation has received 4.85 million euros in private donations and 2.7 million euros in its own funds.

In the ongoing fundraising campaign, you can finance a brick for ten euros and thus contribute to the ambitious project yourself. Stolte also sees a positive side to the long road to the opening of the House of Prayer and Learning: "More and more people are getting involved, and the project is spreading further and further," he says confidently.

House of One

After ten years of planning, the foundation stone was laid at Petriplatz in the centre of Berlin at the end of May. The project's sponsors are the Protestant parish of Sankt Petri-Sankt Marien, the Jewish Community of Berlin, the Abraham Geiger Rabbinical Seminary and the Muslim association Forum Dialog.

Source

See similar project in Vienna

It states on their website:

EXPLORE TRADITIONS: FINDING NEW LITURGICAL PATHS

Jews, Christians and Muslims will pray in the House of One in their respective traditions. They will also invite each other. This raises questions:

How do I behave appropriately as a guest in another religious tradition? How can I bring my faith to the table? How can we worship together as guest and host or hostess? Does this change the way we pray?

With regard to the 4th room of the House of One, the room of encounter, further questions arise: How can new, jointly developed spiritual-religious formats look like? Marriages of mixed religious couples, blessings of children or funerals that do not mix traditions, but also do not simply add them up?

We are looking for answers to these central issues for the coexistence of religions in the House of One. Not alone, but together with the Liturgy Institute of the University of Leipzig. Pastor Christian Lehnert (University of Leipzig), Imam Osman Örs, Pastor Gregor Hohberg, Cantor Esther Hirsch and Theologian Roland Stolte (all House of One) are part of a working group founded in October. You will soon learn more on our website.