After a long legal and political power struggle, the so-called Blue Mosque in Hamburg, Germany, has now been closed for over six months. When standing in front of the building, it still appears as if the mosque were active—only metal police barriers at the fence and four security camera masts from a private security company in the garden disturb the scene. The premises are under surveillance, and no one is allowed to enter.
However, the building remains the center of controversy beyond its former role as a house of worship—it has become the subject of an international conflict. Political, religious, and other interest groups are disputing its future. Members of the Iranian diaspora in Hamburg claim the building as their “lost homeland.” Shia clerics from Iraq are attempting to exert influence. The Muslim umbrella organization Schura Hamburg wants to be involved without taking direct responsibility. Meanwhile, the former congregation has reorganized under a new Iranian ayatollah to gain access to the mosque. Even groups with little ideological common ground—from Iranian monarchists to communist exiles—are making plans for the building. Proposals range from reopening the mosque to establishing a cultural center.
Hamburg’s Interior Senator Andy Grote has already outlined some criteria: The mosque should continue to function as a religious and cultural center—but entirely independent of Tehran. “The state must never again relinquish control of the building,” he stated in late August last year. The Imam Ali Mosque was originally built by religious Iranian merchants. After the Iranian Revolution of 1978, it fell under the regime’s control. Since 1993, Hamburg’s domestic intelligence agency had been monitoring the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH), increasingly seeing it as an extension of Iran’s theocratic rule. The Shia association faced criticism for calling on followers to participate in antisemitic events such as Al-Quds Day.
For years, banning the IZH, as demanded by Hamburg’s opposition parties, seemed unthinkable. However, after the violent death of Kurdish Iranian Jina Mahsa Amini in September 2022—which triggered mass protests in Iran and worldwide—pressure on the German government and the Hamburg Senate increased to take action against Iranian influence in Germany.
In 2023, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser launched an investigation into the IZH. On November 16, 2023, 800 police officers raided 55 properties nationwide. Investigators seized hundreds of terabytes of data, including documents, photos, and videos. After months of analysis, the ministry concluded that the IZH supported the terrorist group Hezbollah, propagated aggressive antisemitism, and sought to export the so-called Islamic Revolution to Europe in the Iranian regime’s image. The ban order also identified the IZH as the head of a nationwide network, linking mosques and associations in Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich. All these institutions, including Hamburg’s Blue Mosque, were subsequently shut down.
The IZH has filed a lawsuit against the ban. Until the Federal Administrative Court reaches a decision, the building remains unused, and the federal government is obliged to maintain it. The duration of the legal process is uncertain. However, initial expedited proceedings concerning facilities in Frankfurt and Berlin are scheduled for the first quarter of 2025, according to a court spokesperson.
Hamburg has a potential partner: Schura, the city’s Muslim umbrella organization, which has been a contractual partner of Hamburg for years. Under a state treaty, Schura is committed to integration efforts and upholding democratic principles. The organization is currently preparing to gain legal status as a public corporation in the coming years. However, Schura does not intend to take over the building. Its chairman, Fatih Yildiz, supports a different approach: “The city’s Shia community must organize itself,” he says. Schura would offer advisory support to their “brothers and sisters.”
Currently, parts of the former congregation are working to establish a new association. If this group is not controlled by foreign influences, it could potentially be incorporated into Schura. Experts estimate that the legal proceedings before the Federal Administrative Court could take up to two years. Only then could the new Shia association move into the Blue Mosque.
However, according to investigations by the German weekly Die Zeit, the group appears to consist of believers rallying around Ayatollah Abbas Hosseini Ghaemmaghami. Ghaemmaghami was the head of the IZH between 2004 and 2009 and is said to frequently travel between Hamburg and Iran. Until his resignation, Hamburg’s domestic intelligence agency regarded him as an appointee of the Iranian leadership, tasked with promoting the global expansion of Iran’s Islamic system. Nevertheless, Ghaemmaghami was considered relatively moderate. His 2010 book on Islam in Europe argues against fundamentalism and, in places, reads like a counterproposal to the Iranian state. Experts claim that this work even earned him enemies in Iran. Today, he runs an institute in Hamburg that publishes his interpretations of religious matters.
A representative from the office of Ali al-Sistani, a powerful Iraqi cleric, has also expressed interest in taking over the Blue Mosque. Al-Sistani would likely guarantee the necessary independence from Iran and have the financial resources to maintain the building. However, he is considered conservative: In 2005, he issued a fatwa calling for the killing of homosexuals, though he later retracted it. Cologne-based professor and Iran expert Katajun Amirpur dismisses the idea of once again handing power over to a religious leader based abroad. She argues that Schura must be prepared to take responsibility for the building if necessary, noting that Shia mosques are already part of the organization. Amirpur believes that Schura alone could transform the mosque into a place of worship open to multiple Islamic traditions. Her vision resembles the concept of a central mosque for Hamburg.
It remains uncertain whether Hamburg will have a say in deciding who will ultimately take over the Blue Mosque if the ban is upheld. A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry stated after the closure that the issue would be resolved “in agreement” with the city of Hamburg. However, in two weeks, Germany will hold a new parliamentary election. Whether the SPD will continue to lead the ministry remains uncertain.
