In 1915, Germany built a mosque in a prisoner-of-war camp. The camp population was made up of soldiers of diverse militaries, nationalities, ethnicities, and languages. They all had one thing in common: their religion.
This digital exhibition explores the alliance between Germany and the Ottoman Empire during World War I and why they built a campaign of propaganda targeting Muslims. It investigates the Halbmondlager, or "Half Moon Camp," with a close look at the ways in which Germany and the Ottoman Empire fought for the hearts and minds of prisoners -- including the construction of the first mosque on German soil.
Fighting with Faith reflects on how nations and people shape political and religious ideas, and the reverberating consequences of those actions.
Exhibition Navigation
Click on a section to explore the story of the Half Moon Camp.
Exhibition Image Gallery
Click on each image to go to the exhibition page it is on and learn more about it.
This digital exhibition is sponsored by Lilly Endowment Inc.
Fighting with Faith: a WWI POW Camp of Propaganda is made possible in part by the generosity of Museum and Memorial donors. Three items in the exhibition were provided by partner institutions: the State Museums of Berlin, Humboldt University, Berlin and the Leo Baeck Institute – New York.