Berlinʹs House of OneOffering a triune solution
Outside: the roar of the city. Petriplatz is situated on one of Berlin’s busiest major roads, six lanes of slow-moving traffic. Inside: the interior of a pavilion made of wood and plexiglass. The cold January wind blows through the cracks.
After a good twelve months or so, around 100 people have come to bid farewell to this information pavilion. Building work is about to start on Petriplatz, which is surrounded by 20-story East German tower blocks from pre-reunification days, new hotels and the shells of buildings under construction. The pavilion will be taken down in the next few days. And then the diggers will move in.
Church, synagogue, mosque
In a few years’ time, a globally unique project will stand here: the "House of One". A joint domicile for Christians, Jews and Muslims, comprising a church, a synagogue and a mosque. Three spaces connected to a central communal room. "This building," says Rabbi Andreas Nachama, "will send out a signal that the three religions can live together, work together."
It will soon be ten years since active representatives of the three monotheistic religions joined together to start an initiative for this communal building. The initiative became a foundation which is now well-respected in the city. And the idea became a design. For a long time, the plan seemed like an ambitious dream; the building – the model for which has already been exhibited internationally in Chicago and Paris – is special. Deep underground it preserves the archaeological remains of the city’s history and the various churches that were built, destroyed, rebuilt or bombed here. Above ground, it will rise some 32 metres into the sky, becoming a symbol of co-operation.
The planned cost of the build is around 43.5 million euros. But donations are pouring in from various countries. In autumn, the German Federal Government promised to contribute ten million euros, if the state of Berlin and individual donations could match that funding. Now the foundation stone is due to be laid on 14 April 2020.
The Ring Parable
This date was chosen very deliberately. 14 April 1783 saw the premiere of "Nathan the Wise" in Berlin. The great play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) is probably the most important work of classic German-language literature on co-operation between Jews, Christians and Muslims. Lessing uses a "Ring parable" to explain that God loves all three monotheistic religions – and they are therefore duty-bound to be tolerant.
"The Ring Parable is almost too perfect for the idea of the 'House of One'," says Ulrich Khuon, the artistic director of the Deutsches Theater Berlin, who attended the ceremony. He likes the connection. The respected director then moves on from the situation in the roaring city and among the towering buildings to talk about the three religions. The strength of the three religions in this place may, he says, "lies – like the strength of art – in their virtual powerlessness and weakness, not in the manifestation of strength and suppression and significance, of power."
