A Church Becomes A Mosque


The former Lutheran Capernaum Church (Kapernaumkirche) located in the Horn district in downtown Hamburg, Germany, is being converted by local Muslims into a mosque. The church, a cultural heritage site, was abandoned in 2002 for financial reasons due to declining attendance. The new owners, the Muslim Community of the Al-Nour Islamic Centre in Hamburg, in consideration of the views expressed by local residents have replaced the cross on the steeple with the Arabic word "Allah" (God) rather than with a crescent.