Jesus appears to float above the altar in the modern version of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (GedÄchtniskirche) in Berlin.
The modern church, which Berliners mostly call by its short name, stands next to the original church, built in the 1890s by Kaiser Wilhelm II as a memorial to Wilhelm I. It stands in a fashionable area just off the Kurfurstendamm in West Berlin. Largely destroyed by WW II bombing, it stands next door as a memorial of a different sort, with a remembrance hall on the lower floor. That doesn't stop irreverent Berliners from calling the building the "hollow tooth."
The new building also takes up the theme of remembrance and reconciliation, with colors and images chosen to evoke other cathedrals, and with artwork that is shared with other churches, including Coventry Cathedral, that were destroyed or damaged by war.
Below, the original church, as built
Comments (1)