Christoph Strack 55 minutes ago

The eastern German state of Thuringia has long been considered a hotbed of far-right extremism. There, a magnificent mosque for the Ahmadiyya Muslim minority now stands. But its history is steeped in hate.

“Love for All, Hatred for None,” reads the mosque’s facade. Beside it stands a small, eight-meter-high minaret. These words are the fundamental tenets of the Ahmadiyya community, which inaugurated their mosque on Saturday, February 14, in the bitter cold of winter.

This building was the first mosque built in the state of Thuringia—and the first in the former East Germany outside Berlin. Its construction history, in its own way, is also one of hatred. For more than ten years, the congregation planned a house of worship complete with a prayer hall, a minaret, and a small apartment for the imam. However, repeated opposition and protests against the project, which was located in an industrial area, resulted in several construction companies from the surrounding area repeatedly canceling agreed-upon projects, often at short notice.

Inauguration under police guard

On the eve of the inauguration, across from the Ahmadiyah compound, a lone demonstrator stood near two police cars. He held a poster warning of an Islamist “campaign to conquer” Europe . Late into the night, police patrols passed through the surrounding streets almost every minute.

Bundestag Deputy Speaker Bodo Ramelow—who as prime minister of Thuringia consistently supported the project and lives nearby—recalled the protests and incidents in his remarks. He mentioned the pig’s head thrown at the construction site and the protest crosses erected. “Those are not Christian crosses,” said the Left Party politician, who is also a member of a Protestant church. “Those are crosses belonging to the identity movement.” 

Opposition to mosque construction is often fueled by populist and far-right groups. In the 2024 state parliamentary elections, the local branch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, led by Björn Höcke, won nearly a third of the vote . The domestic intelligence service plans to classify the AfD branch in Thuringia as a “proven far-right” organization. The AfD is now challenging this decision in court.

The political and public presence at the inauguration ceremony was starkly contrasting. In addition to Ramelow, Erfurt Mayor Andreas Horn (CDU) and his two predecessors since 1990—from the CDU and the SPD, respectively—were also present.

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“This is also your homeland”

Religious figures were also present: the head of the Jewish community of Thuringia, Reinhard Schramm, and bishops from the Protestant and Catholic churches. Ramelow’s successor as Prime Minister, Mario Voigt (CDU), delivered a video message. “Thuringia is also your homeland,” he said to the Ahmadiyya community.

Both Ramelow, Protestant Bishop Friederike Spengler, and Mayor Horn emphasized the importance of interfaith coexistence in Erfurt and the importance of religious freedom for society. About 70 percent of the city’s 220,000 residents are unaffiliated with any religious community. Yet the city—where the young monk Martin Luther studied since 1501—remains marked by rows of churches.

Ramelow recalled that Erfurt was the only city where a newly built Jewish synagogue existed during the East German era. Reinhard Schramm (81), on the sidelines of the event, called Erfurt a “small model for Germany.” He said that the city’s interfaith relations and government involvement should be an example—both for the relatively small Ahmadiyya community and for the Yazidi group. “In this respect, Thuringia is much better than its reputation,” he said.

The Ahmadiyya community itself is a minority group within Islam. This movement emerged as a reform movement nearly 140 years ago in what is now Pakistan. The majority of Muslims view the Ahmadiyya community critically. In Pakistan, they face persecution: attacks, mosque vandalism, and even murder.

The head of the Ahmadiyya community in Germany, Abdullah Wagishauser, alluded to the history of persecution while praising the reception in Germany and Erfurt. Germany, he said, has a constitution and “trustworthy police.” In Pakistan, “everything is done with bribes.” Representatives of the Erfurt police were also present in the event hall.

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In his speech, Wagishauser also expressed disappointment with statements marginalizing Muslims in Germany. He recalled that the Muslim taxi driver who, in March 2025, stopped the perpetrator of a fatal collision in Mannheim—which killed two people and injured eleven others—was an Ahmadi German citizen.

Daily prayers, weekly protests

According to Wagishauser, around 60,000 Ahmadis live in Germany, with more than 80 mosques. In Thuringia, this small community numbers just over 100 members. The local imam, Kamal Ahmad (37), said that sometimes 30 people come to pray, sometimes only 10. He also said that every Monday there are still demonstrators standing in front of the complex.

Ahmad followed a path common among German Ahmadis. At the age of nine, he and his family fled Pakistan due to persecution. He completed school and was among the first to attend the community’s internal imam training in Darmstadt, in German.

Ahmad now occupies a small apartment in the new complex. According to the community, the total construction cost was approximately 1.4 million euros, a lengthy process that lasted from 2018 to 2025. The prayer hall is 120 square meters, with an eight-meter-high minaret. Even the large billboard of the nearby hardware store—a “temple of consumption,” Ramelow jokes—towers much higher.

This article was first published in German
adapted by Rizki Nugraha
Editor: Yuniman Farid

source https://www.dw.com/id/masjid-baru-di-erfurt-ujian-toleransi-bagi-th%C3%BCringen/a-75993325