Shia Centers in Germany

Shia centers in Germany are located in this country in north-central Europe which includes 16 constituent states and covers an area of 357,021 square kilometers. Its capital and largest city is Berlin. With estimated 81 million of inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state in the European Union.

First appearance of Muslims in German-speaking countries goes back to Ottomans’ prisoners of war after they conquered Balkan. Population of Muslims in Germany was not significant until 1960s. In 1958, refugees from USSR and Yugoslavia formed a religious office for Muslims’ refugees in Federal Republic of Germany in Berlin while their number was increasing regularly. Having been the third major religious group in Germany after Protestants and Catholics, Muslims are followed then by less number of Buddhism and Jewish followers.

Ottomans prisoners of war and Turkish and Iranian immigrants have made Islam a noticeable religion in Germany. Currently Shia centers in Germany serve forty thousand Shi’a Muslims living in this country. Turkish, Iraqi, Lebanese, Iranian, Afghan and Indian immigrants in Germany have been actively working in religious groups. Also a number of Sunni Muslims gradually converted to Shi’ism who are called Mustabrisun.

Shia Muslims have established Shia centers in Germany. Many cities such as Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Bochum and Frankfurt are hosts to such centers. Mourning ceremonies of Imam al-Husayn (a) are admirably held by Shia Muslims in Germany. Shi’a Muslims of Germany, Belgium and Netherlands mostly gathers in a border region of three countries with their families and hold mourning ceremonies in Ashura.

The following list, taken from our Shia Directory, shows some of the most important and active Shia centers in Germany:

• Islamic Community of Shia communities in Germany
• Al-Mujtaba (A.S) Center
• Islamic Center in Hamburg
• Islamic Center in Frankfurt
• Imam al-Hadi (A.S) Hosseinieh
• Pakistani Shia in Germany