No permit for mosque in Germersheim

High Administrative Court - No permit for mosque in Germersheim

The association Ditib Türkisch Islamische Gemeinde Germersheim e.V. is not entitled to a building permit for the construction of a planned mosque in a special residential area in Germersheim. This was decided by the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Koblenz, which thus confirmed a ruling by the Neustadt/Weinstraße Administrative Court.

The lower court had rightly determined that the admissibility of the project under construction planning law could not be conclusively examined, the OVG announced on Monday.

Even taking into account the submitted utilization concept and the sound engineering report, it was not possible to sufficiently determine whether the project, which is generally permitted under the German Land Use Ordinance, was compatible with the residential use in the special residential area in the specific case.

In June 2019, the applicant had submitted an application to build a mosque with a usable area of around 2,226 square meters, two domes and two minarets. The application was rejected by the district of Germersheim, against which the Ditib Türkisch Islamische Gemeinde e.V. filed an appeal in August 2022. The Neustadt/Weinstraße Administrative Court dismissed this in April 2023.

According to a court spokesperson, there is no right of appeal against the OVG decision to the Federal Administrative Court. This means that the ruling of the administrative court is final.

Announcement

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1. The appeal against the rejection of the building permit for the mosque in Germersheim was filed at the Neustadt/Weinstraße Administrative Court by the Ditib Türkisch Islamische Gemeinde Germersheim e.V., following the rejection by the district of Germersheim.
2. The Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Administrative Court in Koblenz upheld the decision of the Neustadt/Weinstraße Administrative Court, denying the Ditib Türkisch Islamische Gemeinde Germersheim e.V. authorization to construct the mosque in the special residential area of Germersheim.
3. Despite submitting a utilization concept and a sound engineering report, the OVG could not determine if the mosque construction, permitted under the German Land Use Ordinance in general, would be compatible with the residential use in the special residential area in Germersheim specifically.
4. The judgment of the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Administrative Court in Koblenz on the mosque construction case in Germersheim is final, as there is no right of appeal to the Federal Administrative Court.
5. The planned mosque's location is in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, where the mosque construction project has been a subject of various administrative court processes.

Source: www.stern.de