Qibla direction in Bonn

How to face the Qibla in Bonn

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 36.7° towards south: the result is the bearing of 126.7°. 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 Bonn.

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 Bonn, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Bonn 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 Bonn to Mecca points to 138.6° (south-east), 11.9° away from the correct 126.7°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 22 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 126.7° is the direction in which the shortest route from 50.7344° N, 7.0955° 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 Bonn to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,324 km from Bonn as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,031 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 35 min, although most pilgrims from Bonn connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Bonn 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 Bonn rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Bonn

On 299 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Bonn 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 08:59 local time.

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

Bonn compared with other cities

Compared with Berlin, 479 km away, the Qibla in Bonn is turned 10.0° further anticlockwise (126.7° against 136.7°), and Mecca is 193 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Cologne (24 km), prays towards 126.7°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.

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 Bonn

• Cologne126.7° · 24 km
• Koblenz126.9° · 54 km
• Wuppertal127.3° · 58 km
• Düsseldorf126.8° · 59 km
• Siegen128.0° · 67 km
• Mönchengladbach126.3° · 68 km