Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church
Kaiser Wilhelm church on Breitscheidplatz, colloquially called “Hollow Tooth”, is considered a reference point of sorts in West Berlin. Before the air raid of November 23, 1943 the church was considered to be the tallest in the city. In March 1957 an architectural competition was announced on the construction of a church to replace the lost one. German architect Egon Eiermann won the competition. However Berliners demanded to leave the ruins of the old church. Thus a compromise solution was found: next to ruins of the old church built after the project of Franz Schwechten in 1881-1895, buildings forming the memorial appeared. Church museum is located inside the oldest part of the temple.
Here you will find historical documents, remaining mosaics, including Hohenzollern mosaic, as well as the figure of Christ, initially placed on the main altar. There are symbols of reconciliation of three countries here that used to be enemies: a cross made with nails found on the site of fire of an old cathedral in the English town of Coventry, a Russian icon in the shape of a cross – present of an Orthodox bishop of Volokolamsk and Yuriyevsk, and Stalingrad Madonna – a drawing created during the battle of the same name by a German military doctor and priest Kurt Reuber. Due to its decoration, the new church has a blue glow in the evenings. Bells toll every hour from the top of the old belfry.
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