Kapernaumkirche

The Kapernaumkirche stands in Hamburg’s Horn district as a former Lutheran church built between 1958 and 1961 to Otto Kindt’s design. Its oval nave and tall 44-metre tower combine diamond-shaped concrete panels with brickwork, while the roof folds like a copper star. The interior once glowed through coloured glass behind the altar, crafted by Claus Wallner, and the organ by Alfred Führer sat on the west gallery. A Kruzifix by Klaus-Jürgen Luckey hung above the nave, and Georg Engst’s intarsia adorned the gallery front. The church closed in 2002 after falling congregations forced mergers, and the organ moved to a nearby Methodist church. Empty for years, parts of the site were sold for housing and a care home, while the building itself served briefly as a shelter. In 2012 the Islamisches Zentrum Al-Nour e.V. bought it and converted nave and tower into a mosque. The tower’s cross gave way to a golden Arabic inscription lit at night, and the old bell chamber now shines green. Inside, a new gallery divides men’s and women’s prayer spaces for up to 300 worshippers, while seminar rooms and ablution areas occupy a linking block. The renovation cost more than expected and relied on donations and Kuwaiti funding, with Denkmalförderung supporting the nave’s preservation. Today the mosque’s interior reflects both its Christian past and its new role, its glass and concrete forms still guiding light toward the mihrab.