The Fronau Buddhist House ( German: Das Buddhistische Haus ) is the very first Buddhist temple ( vihara ) of the Theravada tradition in Europe. Built in 1919 - 1924 in Fronau - an area in the north of western Berlin . It was rebuilt and turned into a monastery in the 1950s.
The complex is located on a hill, consists of a meditation hall, a library and rooms for monks.
Content
History
The Buddhist house was built by the Berlin doctor Paul Dalke , who during his trips to Asia got acquainted with the Buddhist tradition. In 1900, he adopted Buddhism, translated a number of Pali Buddhist works into German, and began publishing the New Buddhist Journal.
In the fall of 1919, he managed to take possession of a plot on a hill of 36.500 m² in Fronau, planted with pine trees. Previously, it belonged to the Protestant community, which abandoned it because of the difficulty of climbing a hill and the remoteness of the place.
In 1923, the Berlin architect Max Mayer built a Japanese-style temple. Dahlke financed the construction, raising funds and donations from Buddhists. In August 1924, Dalke and his friends opened a new temple, and in 1926 another temple was built.
During the life of P. Dalke, the “Buddhist House” functioned as a meditation complex, but not as a monastery. He did not meet all the requirements for monasteries, in particular, women and men lived here. However, those living in the Buddhist house complied with at least the Five Prescriptions.
On September 21, 1952, the German Dharmadut Society was founded in Germany, which in September 21, 1957 took over the temple, having bought it from the heirs of Dalke. Buddhist gram (vihara) was founded here, in which monks from Sri Lanka and other countries began to live. Thus, in 1957, P. Dalke's desire to create a truly Buddhist monastery was fulfilled.
Currently
Since 2000, the temple was run by Tissa Viraratna. Since the summer of 2005, a representative of the Dharmaduta community dismissed all the monks and staff of the temple, becoming a temple manager with an English-speaking monk. In 2007, the Buddhist House Society was founded.
The Buddhist house is regularly visited by monks from different countries and senior guests. On February 2, 2007, the temple was visited by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, Rohith Bolollagama.
The meditation hall of the temple is constantly open. The temple hosts seminars, retreats, lectures, and celebrations. The library is open to visitors.
Architecture
The site is planned in the style of Sri Lankan temples, a staircase of 73 steps rises, symbolizing the passage along the Eightfold Path .
Behind the temple is a meeting place. In 1974, a Ceylon house was added. Behind the temple complex begins a grove on the hill. In the garden is a stone sculpture of the goddess of mercy Kannon [1] , donated by the Japanese city of Nagoya . At the entrance gate there is a memorial plaque in memory of Paul Dahlke.
The Buddhist house is protected as a cultural monument and a monument of garden art.
Notes
Links
- Das buddhistische haus
- Buddhistisches Haus Förderverein e. V.
- Einträge in der Berliner Landesdenkmalliste: LDL Berlin 09011909, Buddhistisches Haus; LDLBerlin, 09046233, Grünflächen des Buddhistischen Hauses