The city council of the town of Leinfelden-Echterdingen near Stuttgart in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg ordered the demolition of a nearly completed mosque.

The council, in a majority vote, said the Cologne-based Islamic association that built the mosque must tear it down by the end of the year at its own expense.   

The Association of Islamic Culture Centers (VIKZ) was granted the right to build the Leinfeld-Echterdingen mosque in 2014.

However, the association was told that the building had to be completed within four years, an obligation it failed to fulfill.

When VIKZ exceeded the contractual limit, authorities in Leinfelden-Echterdingen took legal steps to revoke its building permit. 

Council vows to help find new site for mosque

A legal battle ensued, with Germany's Federal Constitutional Court intervening in January 2024 to rule in favor of municipal authorities.

When further talks to resolve the situation remained unsuccessful, the council ordered the building be torn down.

Although the council also voted to help the Islamic association find an alternative site for a new mosque, VIKZ has said it will not tear down the Leinfelden-Echterdingen building.

"We, the Association of Islamic Culture Centers (VIKZ), in accord with our local association in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, cannot consider the demolition of the mosque. We cannot and will not carry out such a demand," a VIKZ spokesman told the local Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper.

Mayor Otto Ruppaner told the paper that the city was simply enforcing the terms of the original contract and that he was "prepared to take the case to court" if necessary.

Edited by Sean Sinico