House of Religions
The House of Religions - Dialogue of Cultures is a Swiss inter-religious institution in the city of Bern in Switzerland that houses worship rooms for eight faiths in one single building.
History
In the 2000s started the plans to establish a cultural institution of Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faith traditions, and on 25 April 2002 the association "Haus der Religionen – Dialog der Kulturen" was established. In March 2006 the "Stiftung Europaplatz" foundation was founded, which raised the necessary funds for the project, including sacred spaces, among others for Hindu and Buddhist communities, of the Alevis and the Council of Christian Churches in the canton of Bern. In the beginning, the Jewish community of Bern and the Baháʼí Faith community did not wish to set up own rooms, but ideally supported the project. The cantonal Islamic Umma association has withdrawn from the project after initial concessions, but the Muslim association Hochfeldstrasse, however, was interested to participate.Building
The building includes, besides the house of religions, 88 apartments, shops, catering services and offices on a floor area of approximately. The location Europaplatz is situated in Bern-Ausserholligen, and served by S-Bahn, Tram Bern West, bus lines and the motorway junction. The Bern main train station and the city centre are accessible in a few minutes.The city of Bern granted planning permission for the project in April 2007 with a cost of about 50 million Swiss Francs, of which about 15 million Swiss Francs were related to the Haus der Religionen. The construction was delayed several times; the ground-breaking ceremony took place on 27 June 2012. On 14 December 2014 the building was inaugurated and opened for the public use.
Inauguration
Christians, Alevis, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists in their church, Dargah, mosque, temples and centre now celebrate their cults. The religious communities celebrated the indentation in the newly built glass building on the Europaplatz square in the west of Bern on 14 December 2014 with thousands of visitors. While religious wars play anywhere in the world, we here get the opportunity to get to know other religions, a Sikh visitor told, and a Krishna monk tells in the Mosque, that Muslims pray daily five times, is discipline for my own religion. A young Albanian Muslim family is pleased with the open setting in the house: "I'm hip-hopper, my wife wears a headscarf. No reasons to condemn a people are both". And the non-denominational fellow hopes, "the House can help to break down stereotypes".Some of these religious communities lived so far in back yards or basements. The foundation provided funding to the five religious communities, and had to provide for the interior fittings and payments of the rental fees. Also the Bernese Jews, Baháʼí, and Sikhs are members of the association, which operates the house.
Aims
The House of religions is used by cultural and religious communities of the city and the canton of Bern that previously had no rooms adapted to their needs. They represent Alevi, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faiths. Partners in the dialogue are also the Jewish community, the Baháʼís and Sikhs. A dialogue of cultures, access to experience, knowledge and spirituality of other cultures and religions are taught, as they have been found in the Bern region their home. Haus der Religionen will provide a center of excellence for dialogue its services. Everyone involved in the project knows the inviolable dignity of the human being, the idea of tolerance and mutual respect obliged. We were dreamers, utopians, do-gooders far from any reality, said Guido Albisetti, president of the association. But now the Haus der Religionen is built, and past experience showed that the common dialog is possible and fruitful.According to the operators, the architecture of the building allows the various communities to engage with each other, but also to withdraw. The building's design enables that the sacred spaces on either side of a so-called dialog area are accessible to everyone, and therefore are arranged on two floors.
Common space
Immediately after the opening ceremony the versatile cultural program was launched, lasting until March 2015 opening events. The restaurant Vanakam is the central meeting place, where every day different delicacies are prepared, so also an Ayurveda vegetarian lunch. Of the eight religions, five have set up own prayer rooms, connected by dialog zones.The two largest facilities will be the mosque with about and the Hindu temple with about. Alevis, Christians and Buddhists claim space in the size of to. The public part with infrastructure, cafeteria, exhibition, course and event spaces comprise about.