City council stops mosque building in Dresden-new plans for leisure areas!

City council stops mosque building in Dresden-new plans for leisure areas!

Dresden, Deutschland - The Dresden City Council recently made a decision that will have far -reaching effects on religious and social life in the city. On June 19, 2025, a change lock for the area around Marschnerstraße and Strasburger Platz was decided. This measure is directed against the plans of the Marwa-El-Sherbini center, which wanted to build a new mosque there. The decision fell without discussion and with a majority and contributes to the fact that some structural changes are excluded in the next two years.

The change lock includes the entire area on which the center plans to build a new mosque that is supposed to offer space for 400 believing Muslims. The municipality is currently using a provisional building that is urgently being replaced by a new building. However, the lock also affects the property Marschnerstraße 2, where the cultural and education center is located. This means that the Marwa-El-Sherbini center has to master a challenge: the previous designs of the Stuttgart architecture firm for the mosque building can be implemented for the time being. It remains unclear whether the mosque can be realized at this point or in another place, as t-online.de.

New concept for the area

Instead of a new mosque, the city now wants to create space for a modern leisure and educational offer. A traffic garden and a bicycle training area for children near Strasburger Platz are planned. The majority of this has been decided on the construction committee of the city council and is now waiting for the final approval of the entire city council. This project is also supported by the idea of ​​integrating additional play and leisure areas as well as a multifunctional hall with a practice field. The creation of bicycle parking spaces and training rooms is also under discussion, such as MDR.

The city council's decision met with mixed reactions in the city. Many citizens and members of the Muslim community react with incomprehension to the lock and the associated delay in the mosque plans. At a time when visibility and integration of Muslim communities are becoming increasingly important, the construction of mosques often leads to tensions in society. A visible presence and the desire for more integration -friendly construction projects are against reservations that come for fear of supposed Islamization. According to goethe.de it is not uncommon for such conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslim citizens to arise.

architectural challenges

In Germany there are a total of around 2,800 mosques, of which only 350 as such are recognizable externally. Many of these places of worship are hidden in backyards or commercial areas and differ significantly from the impressive mosques in Islamic countries. Architectural elements such as minarets and domes are often missing, as these elements can meet resistance in the neighborhood. There are now efforts to develop a kind of euro-Islam architecture that combines Islamic and European values. Examples of this are the central mosque in Cologne, which offers space for 1,200 visitors and is a modern interpretation of Islamic architecture, and the mosque in Penzberg with its innovative stainless steel minaret.

Developments around Marschnerstraße and Strasburger Platz are a reflection of the current social debates and challenges. It remains to be seen whether and when the Marwa-El-Sherbini center can finally start with the construction work. One thing is certain: The decision of the city council has mixed up the cards and will have a lasting impact on the discussion about the visibility of the Muslim community in Dresden.