Between Church and Mosque – Transformation of an (inter-)religious site in Hamburg: from the Kapernaum-Church to the Al-Nour Mosque

This project deals with the transformation of the Kapernaum-Church to the Al-Nour Mosque in Hamburg-Horn. However, why interreligious, if the building has been a church first and now is a mosque? In this project, we set up the hypothesis, that the building is an interreligious (inter lat.: between) site and thus stands between the two religious communities. The object of research of the project is the transformation process. This is not understood as two seperated conditions of the building, i. e. first that of the church and afterwards that of the mosque, but as an interreligious transformation process.

The basis of the project is the approach of the Critical Heritage Studies. In the frame of this project, the term Heritage shall be understood as a materialistic object with historic or cultural value, which is handed over or bequeathed by a community.[i] The method, which determines the action in this project, divides a Heritage in four categories: site, actors, narratives and events. The site is the material representation of the Heritages. Data relating to the site are gathered in field research and archive research in the form of photos. The actors are the engine of the Heritage. They produce the significance of the Heritage as such with the narratives. This happens becauses the actors present events in a specific manner in their narratives. Data with regard to actors, narratives and events are collected in interviews, literature und source research.[ii]

The objective of the project is to examine the possibility of interreligious perspectives on a shared Heritage by means of this approach and this method. From these perspectives, the building can then be considered as Heritage by two religious communities, even if it is currently exclusively used as a mosque. These perspectives may serve as starting points for the strengthening of interreligious interaction between Christians and Muslims in Hamburg. Below, we will present the background of the transformation and support the hypothesis argumentatively.

The former Kapernaum-Church has been built at the Sievekingsallee 191 in 1961.[iii] However, over the years the congregation of the church shrank, which then entailed that the church has been given away, undedicated in 2002 and sold to an investor in 2005.[iv] The building was empty for more than ten years, when the Islamic Center Al-Nour bought the building from the investor in 2012.[v] Remediation work started in 2013 and are almost finished by now. Today the building is used as a mosque by the Islamic Center Al-Nour.[vi]

The first argument is based on the interreligiousness in the narrative of the actors. This interreligiousness is made evident by the mutual acceptance of perspectives. The Hamburg Historic Preservation Office still considers the building as a church due to its architectural significance. Thus, it is still protected as a church by the Hamburg Historic Preservation Office. However, this classification is not a problem for the Islamic Center Al-Nour. The chairman of the Center Daniel Abdin says, that the church shall be preserved in accordance with the slogan „Church outside, Mosque inside “. They do not want to convey the feeling to „take away“ the church, but rather preserve its character.[vii] Pastor Susanne Juhl, who has conducted the last service in the Kapernaum-Church, agrees to this statement. She says that it has become clear during the conversion that many objects in the church have been restored respectfully and expensively.[viii]

The second argument is based on the interreligiousness at the site because some original elements have been removed, others remained unchanged or have been adapted. Apart from that new elements have been added. Therefore, it is difficult with regards to the appearance of the building to understand the Transformation as divided in two separated states.

On concise former element of the building are the Dalle glass walls (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2), which have been renovated in the context of the conversion. Daniel Abdin considers the window wall, which has been a central element of the church as part of the character of the building, which shall be preserved despite of the conversion.[ix] Another important element is the tower or minaret and the symbol on its top (Fig. 3 und Fig. 4). After the cross had been removed and presented to another church, no half-moon was installed at the top of the minaret, but the name of God in Arabic letters (الله, in transliteration: Allāh). This was a conscious decision of the Islamic Center Al-Nour to demonstrate the conviction that God unites Christians and Muslims.[x] The belief in God thus remains the same during the transformation of the building, only the path of faith is different.[xi] An element, which has been changed during the conversion is the gallery. As the prayer direction of Muslims is towards the southeast, the former gallery (Fig. 5) stood in the way. It has been adapted so that its orientation corresponded with the prayer direction. The inlay frieze, which used to decorate the balustrade of the gallery, has been presented to another congregation.[xii] instead, today calligraphic verses from the Quran decorate the gallery (Fig. 6). New elements are for example the Miḥrāb (arab.: prayer niche) (Fig. 7), which indicates the prayer direction. Apart from its function of pointing the way the Miḥrāb also has a ceremonial and ritual function[xiii], which makes it into an important characteristic of the mosque. Furthermore, there is a badge inside the mosque, which shows the translation of four verses from the Quran, in which Mary is mentioned (Abb. 8). Even though the character of Mary may lead to theological differences between Christianity and Islam, she is also a symbol of mediation between the two religions.[xiv] Susanne Juhl says, that the badge emphasizes the effort to find common ground.[xv]

Finally, it can be said that the building has experienced a profound change. These changes are understandable on the background of the conversion by another religious community. However, it becomes clear that perspectives of a shared Heritage are possible.

Student research group

Rangga Eka Saputra
Leon Woltermann

Mentor

Prof. Dr. Jan van der Putten

Figure 1: The interior space of the Kapernaum Church, ca. 1960 (© Archive of the Geschichtswerkstatt Horn)

Figure 2: The interior space of the Al-Nour Mosque with integrated gallery, 2021. (© Leon Woltermann)

Figure 3: The church tower of the Kapernaum Church during the vacancy, no date. (© State Archive Hamburg - photo: Nicolai Wieckmann 720-1/343-1/D0001875)

Figure 5: The former gallery with intarsia frieze on the balustrade in the vacant building of the Kapernaum Church, no date. (© State Archive Hamburg - photo: Nicolai Wieckmann-720-1/343-1/D0001867)

Figure 6: The converted gallery of the Al-Nour Mosque with calligraphy of verses from the Quran, 2021. (© Leon Woltermann)

Figure 7: Miḥrāb or prayer niche of the Al-Nour Mosque, which indicates the prayer direction towards Mecca, 2021. (© Leon Woltermann)

References
[i] Harrison, Rodney. 2010. Understanding the Politics of Heritage. Manchester: Manchester University Press in Zusammenarbeit mit der Open University. S. 10.
[ii] Björkdahl, Annika, Susanne Buckley-Zistel, Stefanie Kappler, Johanna Mannergren Selimovic, und Timothy Williams. 2017. „Memory Politics, Cultural Heritage and Peace: Introducing an Analytical Framework to Study Mnemonic Formations”. SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 3206571. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. S. 6-10.
[iii] Von Rauch, Andreas. 2001. Gutachten Kapernaumkirche in Horn, Sievekingsallee 191, K432. Aktualisiert 2012 von Stefan Kleineschulte. Hamburger Denkmalschutzamt.
[iv] Körs, Anna. 2015. Kirchenumnutzungen aus soziologischer Sicht: Wenn eine Kirche zur Moschee wird und weshalb dies ein gesellschaftlicher Gewinn sein kann. In: Kunst und Kirche. 04/2015. Wien: Medecco Holding GmbH. S. 56.
[v] Ackermann, Michael. 2016. „Eine Kirche wird Moschee“. Hamburg: Landesinstitut für Lehrerbildung und Schulentwicklung. S. 6.
[vi] Abdin, Daniel. 27.01.2021. Interview über Zoom.
[vii] Abdin, Daniel. 27.01.2021. Interview über Zoom.
[viii] Juhl, Susanne. 10.03.2021. Interview über Zoom.
[ix] Abdin, Daniel. 27.01.2021. Interview über Zoom.
[x] Abdin, Daniel. 27.01.2021. Interview über Zoom.
[xi] Juhl, Susanne. 10.03.2021. Interview über Zoom.
[xii] Abdin, Daniel. 27.01.2021. Interview über Zoom.
[xiii] Petersen, Andrew. 1999. Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. Reprint Edition. London: Routledge. S. 187.
[xiv] Pelikan, Jaroslav. 1996. Mary through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture. New Haven: Yale University Press. S. 77,78.
[xv] Juhl, Susanne. 10.03.2021. Interview über Zoom.