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Index
Hugendubel
Tauentzien
Brandel's
Bookshop
Buddhist
House
Mittelhof
Country-House
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It takes 10-15 minutes to follow the footpath from S-Bahnhof Frohnau to the Buddhistisches Haus at the end of Edelhofdamm. A long steep
staircase, where the number of steps and landings is connected to Buddhist
teaching, leads up to the temple. The building, designed by Max Meyer in 1924 in Ceylonesian style and the two-storied library are built on a hilltop in the middle of an ancient park. The builder-owner and founder of the Buddhistisches Haus was the homeopathic doctor and
writer, Dr. Paul Dahlke, who became a Buddhist after several visits to Asia and later published writings and translations about Theravada
Buddhism. After Dahlke’s death in 1928, it became difficult to sustain the spiritual
site. Buddhism was considered undesirable by the Nazis, the building fell into disrepair and was looted in 1949. In 1957 the German Dhammaduta Society, whose headquarters were in Colombo, Sri Lanka, bought the house from the
beneficiaries. The monks that were sent over brought new life to the oldest Buddhist site in Europe and West Berlin gained a magical hidden place of Eastern spirituality on its most northern edge. The monks from Sri Lanka and their beautiful house, rich in
tradition, have not played a significant role in Berlin’s contemporary Buddhist
community. After the recent threat of closure and sale of the land was
averted, the period of isolation, never completely voluntary, could come to an end. The house with its
temple, library and garden is open daily for meditation, contemplation and
study. |
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