Qibla direction in Aachen

How to face the Qibla in Aachen

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 35.5° towards south: the result is the bearing of 125.5°. 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 Aachen.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Aachen, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Aachen is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Aachen to Mecca points to 137.8° (south-east), 12.3° away from the correct 125.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 23 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.

The value of 125.5° is the direction in which the shortest route from 50.7766° N, 6.0834° E sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Aachen to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,384 km from Aachen as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,093 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 39 min, although most pilgrims from Aachen connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Aachen 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 Aachen rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Aachen

On 293 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Aachen 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 08:57 local time.

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

Aachen compared with other cities

Compared with Berlin, 541 km away, the Qibla in Aachen is turned 11.2° further anticlockwise (125.5° against 136.7°), and Mecca is 254 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Mönchengladbach (52 km), prays towards 126.3°, a difference of 0.8°.

Across the 63 cities in Germany on this site, the Qibla ranges from 124.8° in Freiburg im Breisgau to 136.7° in Berlin, a spread of 11.9°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Germany.

Qibla in cities near Aachen

• Mönchengladbach126.3° · 52 km
• Cologne126.7° · 63 km
• Düsseldorf126.8° · 70 km
• Krefeld126.6° · 70 km
• Bonn126.7° · 71 km
• Duisburg127.0° · 87 km