Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, Berlin

The small museum inside the old church - the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche was very interesting. On exhibit was photographs documenting the history of the original church, and the destructive ravages of war. I liked the impressive mosaics mosaics on the arced ceiling and huge, partly destroyed roof and vaults.
It must have been an extremely nice church before it was bombed to pieces.

Berliners seem to like to come up with odd nicknames for things. Look, the damaged bell tower of the Emperor William Memorial Church is called the "hollow tooth", the tall modern bell tower is called "lipstick" and low octagonal church is called "powder puff".
Funny and quite... accurate names, aren't they? Look at hollow tooth and top of the lipstick on my picture :-).


More pictures in my travelogue. You are welcome!

On the northern side of Kurfürstendamm there is the square on which one can find two high and quite different structures well seen from Ku-dam as the street bends a little there: one old and partly destroyed by bombings during WWII and the second, new and modern in style. They both form the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche (Emperor William Memorial Church), a symbol of the city of Berlin.

It's strange. Looking at the church I thought about the two other symbolic buildings I never visited yet:
- St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City which looks slightly out of place among skyscrapers,
- A-bomb Dome in Hiroshima, Japan which partly survived an A-bomb explosion on August 6, 1945.


Welcome to my travelogues if you want to see more pictures of the churches both outside and inside

I visited a small museum inside the old church - the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche. There were exhibitions and photographs documenting the history of the original church, and the destructive ravages of war.
The place was a little bit crowded despite I visited it out of the season, in February (well, on Saturday afternoon). It maybe more crowded in summer weekends, I suppose.

I didn't find it very interesting to be honest. Instead, I enjoyed my eyes looking up to impressive, renovated mosaics on the arced ceiling and huge, partly destroyed roof and vaults.


More pictures in my travelogue. You are welcome!

A modern, octagonal chapel and hexagonal blue stained-glass bell tower were added next to the remainings of the old church in 1961. Inside, I found a cross of nails donated by Coventry, in Britain - another city devastated by bombs. The bell tolls every hour and plays nice song by Prince Louis Ferdinand which I was lucky to hear.

The new church can hold up to 1,200 worshippers, and 10-minute religious services - conceived for office workers heading home - are held there every day at 5.30 and at 6.00 pm. Between June and August, English-language services are conducted daily at 9.00 am, and free organ concerts are presented here every Saturday, year-round, at 6.00 pm. Hmm... it's a pity I didn't know about the Saturday concerts. Mybe next time...


More pictures in my travelogue. You are welcome!

This old massive red sandstone church or rather its ruins really surprised me. First because it was very high building, second because it looked a little like out of the place - located among modern buildings around, third because it was partly destroyed which made the huge construction somewhat more secret and a little horrible.
More pictures in my travelogue. You are welcome!

HISTORY
The Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche (Emperor William Memorial Church) commemorates the life of the first German Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm I. The neo-Roman church was built in an ornamental style from 1891–95. Then it was was destroyed in an air raid in 1943. Its ruins were supposed to be demolished to make place for the planned new building in 1956. But thanks to huge, emotional protests of Berliners it was decided to integrate the ruins into the new building.

The church was left and stands till today as a memory of the past, a reminder of the horrors of war for every Berliner. It's a symbol of the city of Berlin, like the Branderburg Gate and Berlin bears.


HOURS:
Church
Daily 9.00 am -7.00 pm

Service (Protestant):
on each Sunday at 10.00 am and 6.00 pm
from June till August additional service in a chapel on each Sunday at 9.00 am

Prayers welcome:
Mon - Fri: 1.00 pm, 5.30 pm, 6.00 pm

Cantata or organvespers concert: on each Saturday at 6.00 pm.

Memorial Hall
Tuesday-Saturday 10.00 am - 4.00 pm

The Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche commemorates the life of Kaiser Wilhelm I. It was was severely damaged by bombing during the Second World War and left it as a memory of the past. A new church and tower have been built around it.
The church sits in the middle of Kurfürstendamm: the premiere shopping district of Berlin.-

In the centre of Berlin West , this church was built in the neoromanic fashion. Completely destroyed by bombs in 1943 the tower remained a supported fragment and became a monument to the war and a landmark of the western part of Berlin.
Have a look inside and see what the church used to look like (on pictures) before the allied bombings.
In 1961 a modern tower was constructed, which is in contrast with the original one. Have a look at the restored mozaiks inside the remains of the church.