The Gedächtniskirche or Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is the symbolic centre of West Berlin, an anti- war memorial to peace and reconciliation. Following allied bombing during WWII, the original, west Tower has remained standing as a ruin and is hauntingly named the “hollow tooth” as it is literally an empty husk. Immediately recognizable and located on the Breitscheidplatz at the start of the busy shopping district which includes the Tauentzienstrasse and Ku’damm, this is the only building on the square which was spared by the bombing and deliberately preserved as a part ruin.
Built between 1891-95 in memory of Kaiser Wilhelm I, the first German Emperor (1861-1888), by Franz Schwechten in neo-romanesque style, it was damaged on December 23rd, 1943 and subsequently almost completely destroyed during the April 1945 air-raids.
The Gedenkhalle (Memorial Hall) contains photographic exhibits of the Church and the surrounding area before and after the War. Other exhibits of interest are liturgical objects from bygone days and mosaics.
The Church remained heavily damaged until 1956 when the new building was built following Egon Einermann’s winning project for an adjacent modern church including an octagonal hall and a bell tower. This was erected between 1957 and 1963 and the nave had to be removed. The modern tower, which is not to everyone’s liking, consists of an octagonal structure and a six-sided bell tower. Its peculiarity is blue shimmering light, was achieved by leaving an inner cavity of 2m between the inner and outer walls with lamps which give-off a blue hue to the inside and outside of the structure. Over 20,000 panels of stained glass make up the walls of the modern Church, consecrated on May 25, 1962 the same day as the new Coventry Cathedral in the UK, also a victim of WWII bombs.
Inside the Church is an aluminium baptismal font filled with Carrara marble pebbles, an organ from the Schuke workshop in Berlin-Lichterfelde with over 5000 pipes, a suspended brass figure of a resurrected Christ, a martyr’s memorial commemorating Protestant martyrs of the Nazi regime and the Cross of Nails from Coventry and the icon cross from the Russian Orthodox Church to keep alive the theme of reconciliation. The chime in the old tower was composed by Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia and can be heard every hour.
The city of Berlin has already allocated Euros 1.5 million for much-needed renovation – the steeple and stone façade need to be reinforced – and a “Save the Tower Campaign” foundation is hoping to raise the required three million Euros needed for the project to begin thus avoiding long-term decay.
A foyer and a Chapel are also used by the active parish for regular children and family services, christenings and weddings. The shop sells postcards, guides and souvenirs. The surrounding Breitscheidplatz is a place to sit around in the open-air Cafés and the nearby 22-storey Europa Center erected in 1965 by Helmut Hentrich and Hubert Petshnigg, is a popular a shopping and leisure centre.
At a glace
Where:
Breitscheidplatz, 10789 Berlin
Opening hours: Mon-Sun 9-19 (Church)
Guided Tours: Mon-Sat 13.15, 14 and 15; Mon, Fri and Sat additionally at 10:15, 11 and 12
Architect: Franz Schwechten, Egon Eiermann
Style: historism
source and more Information: Berlin.de