Schwetzinger Garden Mosque
| Schwetzinger Garden Mosque | |
|---|---|
German: Moschee im Schwetzinger Schlossgarten | |
The mosque-like structure | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Islam (not intended for prayer) |
| Status | Not active for worship |
| Location | |
| Location | Schwetzingen, Baden-Württemberg |
| Country | Germany |
Shown within Germany | |
Interactive map of Schwetzinger Garden Mosque | |
| Coordinates | 49°23′01″N 8°33′57″E / 49.38361°N 8.56583°E |
| Architecture | |
| Architect | Nicolas de Pigage |
| Type | Mosque |
| Style | Mock Ottoman |
| Founder | Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria |
| Groundbreaking | 1779 |
| Completed | 1796 |
| Construction cost | 120,000 guilders |
| Specifications | |
| Dome | 1 |
| Minaret | 2 |
The Schwetzinger Garden Mosque (German: Moschee im Schwetzinger Schlossgarten), also known as the Red Mosque (German: Rote Moschee), is a mosque-like decorative building in the park of Schwetzingen Palace in the former Electoral Palatinate, now the northern tip of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Completed in 1796 CE, it is the oldest mosque-like building in Germany.
It was not intended as an actual place for Muslim prayer, and did not serve as one except for brief periods in the 1870s and 1980s. Instead, it signalled acknowledgement of the value of non-Christian religions and specifically Islam, underlined by a number of inscriptions inside and outside the building that are meant to embody ageless wisdom attributed to a semi-mythical Orient. As such, the Schwetzinger Garden Mosque can be viewed as an early monument to religious tolerance and an exemplar of the Age of Enlightenment.