I thought this deserved it's own post. This building I identified as a Mosque when we first arrived in Dresden is not a mosque but a building that was controversial from the beginning. It was built as a cigarette factory! Architect was relative of Hitler. Because of it's reliance on "Egyptian" elements of architecture, the architect was thrown out of the Architectural society. Chimneys were not allowed a certain distance form the city so he disguised them at minarets. It became known as the tobacco mosque which apparently got no criticism at the tie because Dresden had no Muslim community.
That remains almost true even today. I have just read that there is a strong anti Muslim organization here. Read more at http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/12/europe/germany-anti-islam-marches/
BUT in contrast:
It is noteworthy that Dresden has only 2% immigrants. You will note I have not had the usual wonderful pictures of diversity I have had in much of our travels. That is because there is little diversity here. This was Eastern Germany and it seems to have retained some of the character of those times.
On the demographics of Germany I found:
German citizens of no migrant background: 64.7 million (80% of total population)
Even before it was completed in 1909, the 'Tabakmoschee' or 'Tobacco Mosque', as the new Yenidze factory became known, was the subject of much debate. Indeed Hammitzsch's highly unusual design was not to everybody's taste and shortly after the Yenidze opened, he was expelled from the German Architects' Guild. Later in life, he described the Yenidze as "a folly of youth".
Hammitzsch joined the Nazi party in 1935 and from 1938 was appointed to several important positions in the regional government of Saxony. Two years before that, he had married as his second wife Angela Hitler, the elder half-sister of Adolf Hitler. Hammitzsch committed suicide in May 1945.
That remains almost true even today. I have just read that there is a strong anti Muslim organization here. Read more at http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/12/europe/germany-anti-islam-marches/
BUT in contrast:
Thousands Protest Anti-Muslim Rallies In Germany's Dresden
BERLIN (AP) — Tens of thousands of people are protesting in the eastern
German city of Dresden against racism and for an open society.
It is noteworthy that Dresden has only 2% immigrants. You will note I have not had the usual wonderful pictures of diversity I have had in much of our travels. That is because there is little diversity here. This was Eastern Germany and it seems to have retained some of the character of those times.
On the demographics of Germany I found:
Interestingly the largest number of immigrant population are from Turkey which is a predominantly Muslim country.
Even before it was completed in 1909, the 'Tabakmoschee' or 'Tobacco Mosque', as the new Yenidze factory became known, was the subject of much debate. Indeed Hammitzsch's highly unusual design was not to everybody's taste and shortly after the Yenidze opened, he was expelled from the German Architects' Guild. Later in life, he described the Yenidze as "a folly of youth".
Hammitzsch joined the Nazi party in 1935 and from 1938 was appointed to several important positions in the regional government of Saxony. Two years before that, he had married as his second wife Angela Hitler, the elder half-sister of Adolf Hitler. Hammitzsch committed suicide in May 1945.
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