Qibla · North Rhine-Westphalia
Qibla direction in Essen
To face the Kaaba in Essen, turn to 127.3° measured clockwise from true north, which is south-east (37.3° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,377 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Essen should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 127.3°, the Qibla of Essen. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 127° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Essen
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 37.3° towards south: the result is the bearing of 127.3°. 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 Essen.
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 Essen, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Essen 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 Essen to Mecca points to 139.4° (south-east), 12.1° away from the correct 127.3°. 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.
How is the figure of 127.3° obtained? From the coordinates of Essen (51.4566° N, 7.0123° 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 Essen to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,377 km from Essen as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,081 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 39 min, although most pilgrims from Essen connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Essen 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 Essen rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Essen
On 299 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Essen 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 09:02 local time.
The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Essen during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | 09:02 | — |
| 15 February 2027 | 09:13 | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 09:24 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 09:33 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 10:43 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 10:52 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 11:01 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 11:10 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 11:20 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 11:26 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 11:29 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 11:27 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 11:18 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 11:06 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 10:48 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 10:31 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 10:12 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 09:55 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | 08:39 | — |
| 15 November 2027 | 08:30 | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Essen: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Essen compared with other cities
Compared with Berlin, 454 km away, the Qibla in Essen is turned 9.4° further anticlockwise (127.3° against 136.7°), and Mecca is 246 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Duisburg (17 km), prays towards 127.0°, a difference of 0.3°.
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 Essen
Qibla in Essen: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Essen?
It is 127.3° from true north, which is south-east: 37.3° south of east.
How far is Essen from Mecca?
4,377 km in a straight line over the globe, and 4,081 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Essen?
On 299 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Essen not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 139.4°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Essen at 127.3°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 127.3° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.