Qibla direction in Linz

How to face the Qibla in Linz

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 43.8° towards south: the result is the bearing of 133.8°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Linz.

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 Linz, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Linz 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 Linz to Mecca points to 142.6° (south-east), 8.8° away from the correct 133.8°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 11 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 133.8° obtained? From the coordinates of Linz (48.3064° N, 14.2861° 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 Linz to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,753 km from Linz as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,455 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 55 min, although most pilgrims from Linz connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Linz 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 Linz rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Linz

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Linz 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 08:41 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Linz 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 Linz: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Linz compared with other cities

Compared with Vienna, 155 km away, the Qibla in Linz is turned 3.0° further anticlockwise (133.8° against 136.7°), and Mecca is 116 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Salzburg (108 km), prays towards 131.4°, a difference of 2.3°.

Across the 6 cities in Austria on this site, the Qibla ranges from 128.6° in Innsbruck to 136.7° in Vienna, a spread of 8.1°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Austria.

Qibla in cities near Linz

• Salzburg131.4° · 108 km
• Vienna136.7° · 155 km
• Graz134.1° · 163 km
• Klagenfurt131.9° · 187 km
• Innsbruck128.6° · 245 km