An Imam, Rabbi And Pastor Break Bread In Berlin To Build Interfaith Bridges
BERLIN — An imam, a rabbi and a pastor sit side by side on a stage.
It’s nearly sundown just outside Berlin, with more than 100 people gathered for an interfaith iftar — the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims during Ramadan.
Each religious leader speaks about the power of fasting in their tradition, their words framed by the clatter of Turkish food being prepared in the kitchen.
Pastor Marion Gardei highlighted Lent as a time to break with the routine of everyday life and discover what is important. Rabbi Andreas Nachama spoke of spontaneous fasts in protest of war, referencing Ukraine and the Middle East. Finally, Imam Kadir Sanci reflected on the community found in breaking fast together after the sometimes lonely days of Ramadan.
“For me, the shared breaking of the fast is the bridge between the religions,” he said. “Eating together means sharing. The more we share together, the more there will be peace.”
As the sun set, the imam, the rabbi and the pastor offered a final prayer for peace in Israel, Gaza and Ukraine. After the last call to prayer and the sun’s setting, guests literally broke bread between faiths.
The event was hosted by the House of One, an interfaith project in Berlin whose goal is to promote dialogue and partnership across faith traditions — at least the three major Abrahamic ones. Eventually, a single building — nicknamed a “churmosqagogue” — will house a church, mosque and synagogue under one roof. For now, the House of One hosts workshops, interfaith prayers and events like this iftar gathering.
Interfaith peace remains difficult as religious tensions rise following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Berlin, in particular, continues to struggle with religious conflict. In 2024, Germany saw a 320% increase in antisemitic incidents compared with the same period the year before, according to Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism.
At the same time, Islamophobia has also surged, especially alongside the rise of far-right political parties such as Alternative for Germany, which has openly claimed that Islam does not belong in Germany.
“In the face of this increased polarization and conflict, the work has not changed,” Sanci said, “and cooperation have become more intense. The need has increased.”
The House of One is an expensive project. Its total cost is estimated at 69 million euros ($78 million). An estimated 17 million euros ($19 million) comes from the state of Berlin, and 28.7 million euros ($32.6 million) from the federal government. The rest is funded through private donations and crowdfunding initiatives, such as the option to purchase a brick for the future building for 10 euros.
The House of One is not the only attempt at interfaith bridge-building. The United States has a similar community, the Tri-Faith Commons in Omaha, Nebraska. Europe hosts a variety of interfaith projects as well: In 2020, the House of One convened a conference with six other German-speaking multi-faith institutions.
The founders and team at the House of One are aware that interfaith work comes with challenges.
"It's like the rabbi always says — Krupp, its head of communications. If it wasn't difficult, one wouldn't need the House of One,’” said Kerstin.
Their success, Sanci added, is a result of their ongoing collaborations, which carried them through the aftermath of Oct. 7.
“With us, there was clear solidarity,” Sanci said. “But that has nothing to do with luck. We have known each other for a very long time.”
That strength, he added, comes from a core belief: “We do not divide the world into Jews, Christians and Muslims. We also do not divide it into Israelis and Palestinians. For us, there are peaceful people and violent people.”
Others are more skeptical. Rabbi Max Feldhake, a project manager for the Jewish Future Forum, questioned whether such projects create real change, especially amid the ongoing war in Gaza. He described the House of One’s ambitions as complicated.
“If it's just about patting each other on the backs and saying, many similarities,’ is that really dialogue?” he said. “That's not the case. We're really not.”
For him, dialogue would need to have certain parameters, such as acknowledging alleged Muslim violence against the Jewish community in Germany.
Their interfaith work, the team said, is not just a grand ideal awaiting a building.
“It's not symbolic, because the heart of the house is beating,” Krupp said.
With the physical building not yet complete, the organization is, for now, “a wandering circus.” It offers workshops, lectures and sensitivity training sessions in schools, congregations, police departments and companies. These sessions, led by educators from all three faiths, focus on correcting misconceptions and highlighting commonalities between the religions.
In 2024, the organization worked with more than 3,000 people, including 1,400 students.
“We do not advertise it at all,” said Krupp, who noted they still get regular requests for workshops. “After October 7th, there was really a peak [in requests] that hasn’t come down.”
Another initiative is the podcast 331 — three women, three religions, one topic — which brings a younger perspective to interfaith dialogue.
The monthly peace prayer is another way they put solidarity into action.
In a small temporary building next to the House of One’s active construction site in Berlin's Petriplatz, the three faith leaders gathered on a chilly Thursday in March. News of Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza, the EU’s plan to boost defense spending and Russia’s war on Ukraine were all top of mind.
In turn, they each prayed.
“Whoever destroys a life destroys an entire world,” Nachama said of the ongoing violence in the Middle East and Ukraine. “This sentence can be found in the Talmud, but also in the Quran. And as is so often the case, the holy scriptures are close together, and as is so often the case, people are so opposed to one another. To bring people together, we are here today, and we stand here together.”
Asked what she sees as barriers to interfaith dialogue, Krupp said the first threshold is getting people to show up to events, which act as a “showroom” for the future full building.
“It's like democracy,” Krupp said. “You have to start with every single person again. … Eventually, the building will serve as a physical manifestation of the hope that interreligious dialogue and peace are possible.
The building of the House of One is also a metaphor in itself.
“Destroying is easy,” Sanci said. “Building something up is hard.”
This story has been published as part of a partnership with USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism.
Elissa Mardiney is a specialized journalism student at USC Annenberg. She's from upstate New York and has a BA in anthropology and sociology from Johns Hopkins and a graduate certificate in audio documentary from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. She worked for around four years as an outdoor guide before working as an audio producer.