There’s room for all at Berlin’s House of One
Jews, Muslims and Christians under one roof
We’ll now take Berlin from being the city of wounds to being the city of miracles.
BERLIN — After officials in the German capital offered his parish a prime site to build a new house of worship, the Rev. Gregor Hohberg had a kumbaya moment. Why not transform a city stained by the Nazi era into a place of spiritual healing by building a church, a mosque and a synagogue all under one roof?
During a time of global religious strife, a unifying project involving Christians, Muslims and Jews, the Protestant pastor reasoned, would reverberate beyond Berlin’s borders. They would call it the House of One.
“You can live your faith, but also tear down walls,” said Hohberg, 46, who took inspiration for the idea from the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr.
What once seemed like a pipe dream is gathering steam. After a sign- off from the city, a design was selected following a major architectural competition. Counting on a newly launched fundraising campaign, organizers hope to break ground within two years. The plan is part of a nascent movement to build innovative religious bridges, including the Tri-Faith Initiative in Omaha, Neb., that’s seeking to put a church and a mosque on the same site as a recently built synagogue.
But even as prospects advance for Berlin’s House of One, the pioneering project has become an example of the still formidable hurdles facing those trying to promote religious unity.
Among all faiths, the project has garnered substantial moral support. But it also has its detractors. Some in Berlin’s largely Turkish Muslim population, for instance, have angrily charged the progressive imam now involved in the project with violating the Qur’an by joining hands with other faiths. Other Muslims in the city, meanwhile, remain skeptical of the Islamic association he belongs to — the Forum for Intercultural Dialogue — because its honorary chairman is Fethullah Gulen, a contentious Turkish religious leader living in the United States.
There are reservations within Berlin’s Christian and resurgent Jewish populations as well, including from some who claim the chosen design makes the structure look too much like a mosque. Yet perhaps the single biggest challenge is overcoming apathy in a highly secular city that has become Europe’s hub of underground youth culture, and where the majority of residents these days have no religion at all.
“I think there is some support for this project, but if you look at the present situation, many people don’t care about religion anymore,” said Manfred Gailus, a professor of modern history at the Technical University of Berlin. “You might get some people who say, ‘ Oh yes, it’s a good idea,’ and ‘ I sympathize,’ but many others will say, ‘ Is it really necessary?’ and ‘ How much will it cost?’”
That uphill battle has been reflected in efforts to raise the $ 55 million US needed t o construct what would be a monolith of blond bricks illumined on the inside by beams of diffused sunlight. Though planners hope to raise the $ 12.7 million required to start construction within two years, the project organizers have only managed to take in about $ 102,000 since their drive started in July. At that rate, it would take more than two decades before enough money comes in to lay the first bricks.
But the House of One’s advocates say it’s far more notable that the project has managed to come this far at all. It has a secured a historic site and the backing of the city. It has factions on board from all three faiths. And particularly as they begin to cast a wider net for funds — including an effort
RABBI TOVIA BEN- CHORIN
to tap the wallets of Jewish families whose relatives fled Germany to the United States during Adolf Hitler’s reign of terror — advocates say they have faith the project will overcome all hurdles, financial and spiritual.
The project is now pivoting around three clerics from each major monotheistic faith: A Christian reverend who lived through the repression of East Germany and saw the power of unity after the fall of the Berlin Wall; a young, starry- eyed imam born in Frankfurt and eager to build cultural bridges between Muslims and non-Muslims; and, a rabbi of German Jewish stock who fought for Israel in three wars and is now bent on healing old wounds.
“This is the city where the annihilation of the Jews was planned,” said Rabbi Tovia Ben- Chorin, 78, who is spearheading the synagogue portion of the House of One. “But we will now take Berlin from being the city of wounds to being the city of miracles. The city where we begin to change people’s minds.”
The House of One is designed so that each faith will worship in separate chambers, although all will enter through a dramatic main hall fitted with a viewing platform boasting dramatic city views. The organization’s bylaws state that no faith can proselytize within its walls, and each must openly welcome all denominations.
The three clerics — Hohberg, Ben- Chorin and Kadir Sanci, an imam — say that, thus far, the strongest skepticism has come from Berlin’s Muslims. The House of One received several rejections before finding an imam willing to participate. And once Sanci was on board, he received a series of negative comments via Twitter and Facebook.