Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church | ||
---|---|---|
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche | ||
Style Neo-Romanesque (original) | Modernist (current) | |
Years built | 1891–1906 (original) 1959–1963 (current) |
The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, but mostly just known as Gedächtniskirche
The original church on the site was built in the 1890s. It was badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943. The present building, which consists of a church with an attached foyer and a separate belfry with an attached chapel, was built between 1959 and 1963. The damaged spire of the old church has been retained and its ground floor has been made into a memorial hall.
The Memorial Church today is a famous landmark of western Berlin, and is nicknamed by Berliners "der hohle Zahn", meaning "the hollow tooth".
Old church
The construction of the church was part of a Protestant church-building programme initiated by
The foundation stone was laid on 22 March 1891, which was Wilhelm I's birthday.
In World War II, on the night of 23 November 1943, the church was extensively damaged in an air raid.[1] Yet it was by no means beyond repair. A remnant of the spire and much of the entrance hall survived intact, as did the altar and the baptistry.[4] After the war, in 1947, the curatorium of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche foundation (Stiftung) decided in favor of rebuilding the church, but the manner in which this should be done was contentiously debated until the late 1950s.[5] In a two-phased design competition in 1956, the question of whether the secured remnant of the spire should be torn down or preserved was left open.[5] The winner of the competition, architect Egon Eiermann, initially proposed, in both his submissions, for the remnant of the old spire to be torn down, in favor of a completely new construction.[5] But that plan provoked a public outcry in which the ruined tower was characterized as the "heart of Berlin"; as a result Eiermann revised the design to preserve the tower.[5] He had most of the remaining structure pulled down, in order to build the modern church that now occupies most of the site.
New church
The new church was designed by Eiermann and consists of four buildings grouped around the remaining ruins of the old church. The initial design included the demolition of the spire of the old church but following pressure from the public, it was decided to incorporate it into the new design.
Inside the church, opposite the entrance, a figure of the resurrected Christ is suspended above the altar. This is made from
The tower is 12 metres in diameter and 53.5 metres high with a flat roof. Atop the tower is a pole carrying a gilded sphere above which is a gilded cross. It contains a belfry with six bronze bells cast from French cannon, booty from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.[13] The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 9 May 1959, its roofing ceremony was carried out on 16 December 1960, the new bells were consecrated on 19 July 1961, the new church was consecrated on 17 December 1961 and the foyer and chapel were completed in December 1963.[2]
Bells of the new church
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In 1894, Kaiser Wilhelm II donated 50,000 pounds of bronze from captured cannons to cast a new bell for the church. Five bells were made in the same year in the Franz Schilling court bell foundry in
Different bells are rung on different occasions:
- Devotions, family worship, baptisms and marriages: Bells 6, 5 and 4
- Organ Vespers and funerals: Bells 6, 5, 4 and 3
- Sunday worship: Bells 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2
- Festive services: All bells (6–1)
Number[14] | Year cast | Foundry | Diameter (mm) |
Weight (kg) |
Note (ST–1⁄16) |
Inscription |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1960 | Glocken- und Kunstgießerei Rincker, Sinn | 2140 | 5740 | g0 +1 | Eure Städte sind mit Feuer verbrannt ('Your cities were charred by fire'; Jes 1:7). Aber mein Heil bleibt ewiglich, und meine Gerechtigkeit wird kein Ende haben ('Yet my salvation remains eternal, and my righteousness will have no end'; Jes 51:6) |
2 | 1818 | 3593 | b0 +3 | Er vergilt uns nicht nach unserer Missetat ('He does not repay us according to our iniquities'; Psalms 103:10) | ||
3 | 1648 | 2854 | c1 +4 | Gott, dein Weg ist heilig ('God, your way is holy'; Psalms 77:13) | ||
4 | 1473 | 2000 | d1 +4 | Hilf deinem Volk und segne dein Erbe 'Help your people and bless your inheritance'; Psalms 28:9) | ||
5 | 1405 | 1807 | e♭1 +4 | So sind wir nun Botschafter an Christi Statt; denn Gott vermahnt durch uns; so bitten wir an Christi Statt: Lasset euch versöhnen mit Gott! ('We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God!'; 2 Cor 5:20) | ||
6 | 1279 | 1453 | f1 +3 | Seid fleißig zu halten die Einigkeit im Geist durch das Band des Friedens ('Be steadfast to uphold the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace'; Eph 4:3) |
Spire and memorial hall
The entrance hall in the base of the damaged spire was reopened to visitors, having been consecrated on 7 January 1987.
In December 2007, Charles Jeffrey Gray, a former British pilot who carried out World War II bombing raids over Germany, joined a campaign to rescue the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church from decay. After reading about the condition of the Church, Gray contacted Wolfgang Kuhla, the chairman of the church's advisory board, urging that its tower be restored. In response, a fund was launched to help raise the costs of its repair.[18][19][20][21]
See also
- Battle of Berlin (air)
- Bombing of Berlin in World War II
- Coventry Blitz
References
Notes
- ^ a b c Gerlach, p. 18.
- ^ a b c d Gerlach, p. 38.
- ^ Gerlach, pp. 23, 38.
- ^ Gerlach, p. 23.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-0346-0067-5. p. 60–97; here: p. 71.
- ^ Gerlach, pp. 2, 4.
- ^ Gerlach, pp. 4–5
- ^ Gerlach, p. 6.
- Spiegel Online. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
- ^ Gerlach, pp. 8–9
- ^ Gerlach, p. 10.
- ^ Gerlach, pp. 10, 12.
- ^ Gerlach, p. 14.
- ISBN 3-422-06066-9.
- ^ "Kirchengebäude". Evangelische Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirchengemeinde Berlin (in German). Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ Gerlach, pp. 24–32
- ^ Gerlach, pp. 34–38.
- ^ Former British World War II pilot fights to save Berlin church Archived 7 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Smee, Jess (14 September 2008). "Germany: Berlin's 'Hollow Tooth' church may be forced to close, officials warn". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- ^ Schmiemann, Brigitte. "Englischer Bomberpilot löste die Spendenaktion aus" (in German). Retrieved 18 August 2018.
Bibliography
- Gerlach, Erwin; Beyer, Constantin (2001). Berlin, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche (in German). Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner. OCLC 76489888.
External links
- Official website (in German)
- Google Maps Aerial View