The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (in German: Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, but mostly just known as Gedächtniskirche) is a Protestant church affiliated with the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia, a regional body of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is located in Berlin on the Kurfürstendamm in the centre of the Breitscheidplatz.
The original Gedächtniskirche on the site was built in the 1890s. It was badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943. The present Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, 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 Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church today is a famous landmark of western Berlin, and is nicknamed by Berliners "der hohle Zahn", meaning "the hollow tooth".
The construction of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was part of a Protestant church-building programme initiated by Kaiser Wilhelm II and his consort Augusta Victoria to counter the German labour movement and socialist movement by a return to traditional religious values. Wilhelm II decided to name the church in honor of his grandfather Kaiser Wilhelm I. The competition for the design was won by Franz Schwechten, member of the Bauakademie who had distinguished himself with the design of the Anhalter Bahnhof. Schwechten, a native Rhinelander, planned for a large church to be built in a Neo-Romanesque style modelled on the Bonn Minster with a Tuff stone facade.
The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church foundation stone was laid on 22 March 1891, which was Wilhelm I's birthday. The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was dedicated on 1 September 1895, the eve of the Day of Sedan. At that time, the entrance hall in the lower section had not yet been completed; that part of the Gedächtniskirche was not opened and consecrated until 22 February 1906. Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church construction costs mounted to 6.8 million gold mark, raised primarily through donations. The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church design, quite unfamiliar in the Brandenburg region, inspired several architectural projects in the surrounding area.
In World War II, on the night of 23 November 1943, the Gedächtniskirche was extensively damaged in an air raid. 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. After the war, in 1947, the curatorium of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche foundation decided in favor of rebuilding the church, but the manner in which this should be done was contentiously debated until the late 1950s. 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.
The new Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial 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 Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church but following pressure from the public, it was decided to incorporate it into the new design. The four buildings comprise, on the west of the ruins, the new church with a foyer to its west, and to the east of the ruins, a tower with a chapel to its northeast. The plan of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is octagonal while the plan of the tower is hexagonal. The new buildings are constructed of concrete, steel and glass. The walls of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church are made of a concrete honeycomb containing 21,292 stained glass inlays. The glass, designed by Gabriel Loire, was inspired by the colours of the glass in Chartres Cathedral. The predominant colour is blue, with small areas of ruby red, emerald green and yellow. The church is 35 metres in diameter and 20.5 metres high with a capacity of over 1,000. Because of the distinctive appearance of the new buildings, it is sometimes nicknamed "Lippenstift und Puderdose" (the lipstick and the powder box) by Berliners.
Inside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, opposite the entrance, is a figure of the Crucifix which is suspended above the altar. This is made from tombak and was designed by Karl Hemmeter. The cross on the altar, by Peter Tauchnitz, is of gilt silver with 37 rock crystals. To the left of the altar is the baptismal font on a stand filled with Carrara marble which contains a majolica bowl for the holy water.
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Gedächtniskirche, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Berlin
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