Qibla direction in Vienna

How to face the Qibla in Vienna

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 43.3° towards east: the result is the bearing of 136.7°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Vienna.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Vienna, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Vienna is a handy reference, because the prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Vienna to Mecca points to 144.8° (south-east), 8.1° away from the correct 136.7°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 9 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

How is the figure of 136.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Vienna (48.2085° N, 16.3721° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from Vienna to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,637 km from Vienna as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,334 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 47 min, although most pilgrims from Vienna connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Vienna run 2 hours behind Mecca in winter and 1 hour behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Vienna rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Vienna

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Vienna while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 08:47 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Vienna during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Vienna: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Vienna compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Graz (145 km), prays towards 134.1°, a difference of 2.6°.

Among the 6 cities in Austria on this site, Vienna has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 128.6° in Innsbruck. Across the country the direction varies by 8.1°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Austria.

Qibla in cities near Vienna

• Graz134.1° · 145 km
• Linz133.8° · 155 km
• Klagenfurt131.9° · 235 km
• Salzburg131.4° · 252 km
• Innsbruck128.6° · 387 km