The Need of the Establishment of a Federal German Sacral Building Authority for Islamic Faith Affairs – Roadmap and Capacity Building of an Institutional Framework for Religious Communities, State Bodies and Citizens in Europe

Abstract

Rising trends of migration to Europe and the combined efforts of the integration process by the German Government and a great variety of stake holders highlights new aspects of developments of the civil society within Germany. By the end of 2015 an estimated 4.5 million Muslims (5.8%) were living in Germany. The majority of German Muslims are of Turkish origin (63% / 2008) and migrant labourer who came as “Gastarbeiter” during the 1960 and 1970s. There are no exact studies of the numbers of strong religious practitioner in Islam in Germany. In the past decades Muslims who attends religious services had little options in worship in appropriate sacral facilities. Most religious services are held in so called backyard house of prayers. Those sacral infrastructures are allocated in the industrial centres in Germany. The numbers of suitable mosques and house of prayers is slightly rising. The aging population of migrant workers of the first generation, the renaissance of religions within a globalizing world and the influx of refugees from the Middle East is enhancing the demand of applicable places for religious worshipping and parochial orientated social services. The further expansion of parochial facilities is limited by the carefully tread of the current Muslim communities, the missing adequate dialogue within the council administrations and planning boards. Germany is a country of a rich European heritage of sacral building culture and tradition. By a century long tradition a fundament were led by the churches, religious foundations and rulers in construction of sacral buildings and social infrastructures. Today there is a well functional system of church owned building departments within the country. The two established German Church institutions are currently facing a declining number of worshippers, caused by ageing population and the ongoing trends of secessions from the churches. This paper is focused on the current request for sacral buildings and site religious social infrastructure for the Muslim minority within the framework of freedom of worship granted by the German constitutional law. In addition perspectives are given for a potential need of adequate properties and land resources for the next twenty years. It discuss the demand of an institutional body as an acting contact point for setting the standards of religious aspects within the framework of German and European building codes and planning basic principles. Further on alternative options were disputed for the common or separated use of social facilities of different religious faith in order to sustain the necessary precaution for the local populatio