Bern city says no to Islamic cultural centre

The zone in the foreground, in front of the Wankdorf stadium, will be set aside for a clinic wankdorf.info

A project to build one of the largest Islamic cultural centres in Europe in the Swiss capital, Bern, will not be realised, it was announced on Friday.

The Bern authorities said they had other plans for the zone, a former abattoir area in Wankdorf, in the northern part of the city.

The 23,000 square metre centre, the concept of which had been proposed by Umma, a Bern-based Islamic coordination centre, would have comprised a museum on Islam, a mosque, a convention centre, offices and a four-star hotel.

The plan was revealed in a Swiss newspaper in April. Supporters had said that central to the project was “the prospect for a differentiated dialogue with Islam”.

Announcing their decision, Bern city officials said the land, part of the development project called “Wankdorf City”, had been set aside for a regional medical centre.

City official Barbara Hayoz said that for the moment Bern did not have any other land available on which to house the Islamic centre.

But she stressed that the city wanted to encourage intercultural dialogue, as seen by its support of the House of Religions. Work on that building is set to begin in early 2008.

Noted with regret

Umma said in a statement on Friday that it had noted the decision with regret and that it was the city’s right to decide on such projects.

But it added that it would have preferred a closer examination of the proposal and an exchange of views before the decision was made.

The centre would have cost an estimated SFr60-80 million ($72-96 million) and would have been named the Avicenna Centre after a Persian philosopher and scientist who lived 1,000 years ago.

Organisers had hoped the centre would attract a similar level of interest and acclaim as the Paul Klee Centre, a museum dedicated to Swiss painter Paul Klee, which is also located in Bern.

There are around 310,000 Muslims in Switzerland, mainly from the Balkans and Turkey, representing up to five per cent of the Swiss population.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

There are an estimated 1.3 billion Muslims around the world.
According to the 2000 census, 311,000 Muslims live in Switzerland. Most of then come from the Balkans or Turkey.
Numbers have risen in recent years, rising from 2.2% of the population in 1990 to 4.3% in 2000.
Much of the increase was due to an influx of refugees as a result of the war in the former Yugoslavia.

Minaret debate

Switzerland is currently having a debate on minarets, the distinctive architectural features of mosques. Moves to block the construction of minarets are underway in various regions.

A committee that includes parliamentarians from the rightwing Swiss People’s Party has also announced an initiative aimed at blocking the construction of minarets.

Currently only two mosques in Zurich and Geneva have a minaret.