Qibla direction in Freiburg im Breisgau

How to face the Qibla in Freiburg im Breisgau

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 34.8° towards south: the result is the bearing of 124.8°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Freiburg im Breisgau.

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 Freiburg im Breisgau, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Freiburg im Breisgau 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 Freiburg im Breisgau to Mecca points to 135.8° (south-east), 11.0° away from the correct 124.8°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 18 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 124.8° obtained? From the coordinates of Freiburg im Breisgau (47.9959° N, 7.8522° 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 Freiburg im Breisgau to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,101 km from Freiburg im Breisgau as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,819 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 20 min, although most pilgrims from Freiburg im Breisgau connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Freiburg im Breisgau 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 Freiburg im Breisgau rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Freiburg im Breisgau

On 298 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Freiburg im Breisgau while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 February 2027 it happens at 08:48 local time.

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

Freiburg im Breisgau compared with other cities

Compared with Berlin, 640 km away, the Qibla in Freiburg im Breisgau is turned 11.9° further anticlockwise (124.8° against 136.7°), and Mecca is 29 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Reutlingen (114 km), prays towards 127.0°, a difference of 2.3°.

Among the 63 cities in Germany on this site, Freiburg im Breisgau has the smallest Qibla bearing; the largest is 136.7° in Berlin. Across the country the direction varies by 11.9°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Germany.

Qibla in cities near Freiburg im Breisgau

• Reutlingen127.0° · 114 km
• Pforzheim126.8° · 117 km
• Karlsruhe126.6° · 120 km
• Stuttgart127.3° · 131 km
• Saarbrücken125.1° · 151 km
• Heilbronn127.8° · 162 km