Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church

The current Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church

The location of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche on the edge of the zoo south of Hansaplatz on Handelallee (the former Handelstrasse )

The Evangelical Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church (also for short : KFG ) is located on the northern edge of the Great Zoo in the Hansaviertel of Berlin's Mitte district . The modern church building by architect Ludwig Lemmer from 1957 replaces the original neo-Gothic church , built between 1892 and 1895 according to plans by Johannes Vollmer and partially destroyed in the Second World War .

A parish in the then newly created Hansaviertel was created in the 1880s. The construction of the first church was supported by Kaiser Wilhelm II , whose father Friedrich III. was honored by the naming.

On the decision of the West Berlin Senate to completely redesign the 90% destroyed area of ​​today's southern Hansaviertel as part of the International Building Exhibition 1957 (IBA 57), the remains of the tower and wall of the original church building were blown up in 1954 and removed to create a new building to make way in the style of post-war modernism .

The materials concrete, aluminum and glass determine the exterior of the new building. Renowned artists were involved in decorating the interior of the church. Like all buildings that were carried out as part of IBA 57, the current church is also a listed building

The Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche belongs next to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche and the Königin-Luise-Gedächtniskirche to the three remaining memorial churches in Berlin that honor members of the House of Hohenzollern .

In January 2016, the KFG parish merged with the parishes of Moabit West ( Heilandskirche ), Erlöser and St. Johannis to form the Evangelical parish of Tiergarten.

The first church building

The Hansaviertel parish and the first church building

The location of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche on the edge of the zoo on Händelstrasse in the extension of Lessingstrasse in 1893. The Charlottenhof was directly west of the church.

Draft Vollmer 1892: Site plan for the church on the northern edge of the zoo (north is on the right in the picture). The building site designated by the state is limited to the west by the Charlottenhof and to the east by the Tiergartenwiese. The construction plan provided for the tower to be aligned with the north-south axis of Lessingstrasse. The church was built in this location from 1893 to 1895.

A new residential area in northwest Berlin, located in Thiergartenfelde between the Spree and the Großer Tiergarten , was opened up in 1874 under the name Hansa-Viertel . The Protestant community there initially belonged to the parish of the Dorotheenstadt Church, which is more than two kilometers away . From the 1880s, however, efforts were made to create a closer meeting place for the Protestant believers in the Hansaviertel.

Services were initially held in the Charlottenhof garden restaurant , the former Villa Finkenherd designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1824 , and then since the end of 1891 in a chapel built by the community on Bachstrasse.

Plans and implementation

Laying of the foundation stone on October 18, 1892 in the presence of the imperial couple

On the construction site of the church, September 1893: in the center on the left construction manager Robert Leibnitz , next to him Johannes Vollmer with two of his sons

Due to the rapid development of the Hansaviertel, the chapel was only intended as an interim solution. The Berlin consistory of the Brandenburg church province of the old Prussian regional church and the Prussian minister of culture advocated a new church. The building site on Handelstrasse, directly east of the Charlottenhof , promised by the state , turned out to be swampy and uneven, which implied static problems and additional costs. The actually wealthy Dorotheenstadt community initially hesitated to tackle the construction because of these financial risks.

However, these concerns were discarded when Kaiser Wilhelm II approved the project in 1892 and donated the funds for the building site. The church should bear the name of Wilhelm's father, Kaiser Friedrich III. .

The building program envisaged a church with 800 seats, as well as two confirmation halls, a meeting room and a sacristy. The tower should be aligned with the north-south axis of Lessingstrasse.

The church, seen from Lessingstrasse, around 1900

Of the two submitted drafts, the parish preferred Vollmer's plan over Spitta's draft . The emperor confirmed this election on September 20, 1892. The foundation stone was laid in the presence of the ruling couple on October 18, 1892, the birthday of Emperor Friedrich III.

However, inadequacies in planning, structural reasons and difficulties in financing delayed the start of construction. On June 19, 1893, the Dorotheenstädtischer Parish Church Council decided on construction work, which began on August 15, 1893 under the supervision of Leipnitz and Vollmer. Despite the poor subsoil, work on the foundations was finished in 1893. The masonry was started in April 1894 and six months later, again on October 18, the topping-out ceremony could be celebrated. The consecration of the church took place on October 21, 1895 in the presence of the highest Prussian government members.

At the turn of the year 1895/1896 the parish of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche broke away from the Dorotheenstadt mother church and formed its own community. Ownership of the church property was transferred to them in 1900.

Architecture and design of the church

Vollmer's design for the floor plan of the church was implemented with a few changes, ground level on the left, the mezzanine on the right. North is on the right in the picture. In the northeast between the main nave and transept the square tower, in the southeast the semicircular closed, separate entrance to the court box; on the west side on the ground floor the assembly room and the sacristy with a confirmation room above the sacristy.

The first Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church was built free-standing on the northern edge of the zoo. It was a single-nave, south-facing, neo-Gothic hall church in the style of historicism on the floor plan of a Latin cross with short arms. The choir had just finished. The main portal to the north was flanked by two windows; There was a rose window above him . The portal and windows were pointed arched with eyelashes . The portal led into a vestibule, over which the organ gallery lay. A separate entrance in the south-east allowed direct access to the courtyard box on the side of the altar. The sacristy was west of the choir. In the north-eastern corner between the nave and the transept stood the slim, 72-meter-high tower with a side entrance and terrace on a square floor plan. The tower had an open bell floor with an octagonal spire surrounded by corner turrets. The outer walls were faced with red brick; the areas were framed by bright corner cuboids and crossed by horizontal stripes. In a mandorla above the tower portal was a figure of the Archangel Michael based on a design by the sculptor Josef Drischler . Four figurative gargoyles surrounded the tower gable.

The materials used were black tuff for the base, red bricks for facing the outer walls and light Rhenish tuff for corner cuboids and horizontal strips.

Both the south orientation of the choir and the lateral position of the tower were unusual. In view of the requirements of the construction program to align the tower with the axis of Lessingstrasse and to maintain the size of the Tiergartenwiese, this was rated as a “clever architectural solution”.

The east side of the first church building shortly after completion, 1896

The nave was divided into two bays , which was followed in the south by a star vault, a beveled triumphal arch and a fore choir yoke above the retracted choir. The organ loft took up the northern nave yoke. The arms of the cross were also provided with galleries . The altar, baptismal font and pulpit were made of Istrian limestone. The pulpit, decorated with columns and angel heads, was on the western front wall, the font under the western transept gallery. The eastern transept gallery had access to the bell tower. The altar was crowned by a retable-like structure with two seated angel figures. The design of the altar was under the responsibility of Paul Nisse , the crucifix on the top came from Emil Cauer the Younger . A bronze bust of Friedrich III. was created by the sculptor Joseph Uphues in consultation with the widow Victoria . The floor of the church was covered with mosaics . The church building offered space for 800 visitors.

The interior of the church with the court box on the left and the pulpit on the right, above the triumphal arch, around 1895

Architectural elements made with bricks framed the light wall surfaces of the church interior. There were ornaments above the pulpit and courtyard box, and a triumphal arch made of glass mosaic rose above it. He showed twelve lambs, six each at the gates of Jerusalem and Bethlehem , with Jesus as the good shepherd watching over all . A mosaic in the vaulted choir depicts scenes from the passion story with Jesus on the way from Gethsemane to Jerusalem. The mosaics were made by the Puhl & Wagner company from Neukölln . The multi-section choir window donated by the emperor and his family showed the triumphant Christ in the upper rose, below the apostles Paul and Peter and in the smaller window elements scenes from the Acts of the Apostles . There were other large glass windows in the transept, depicting other apostles and Old Testament prophets . Most of the stained glass windows came from workshops in London .

The deviation from conventional easting led to disadvantages for the lighting. The colors of the glass windows in the choir only developed their full radiance at lunchtime, but then looked dazzling and disrupted the color effect of the rest of the building decoration. The Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung ruled in November 1895 that this case showed “how good it is to not divulge the tradition in church building based on clever calculation and rich experience without compelling reasons.” Twenty-five years later, the same journal mentions the church as Vollmers “ probably the most successful work ” .

Bells and organ

The bells of the church were cast in the bell foundry in Apolda from bronze provided by the emperor, which came from cannons captured in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. The bells were named Friedrich, Deutschland, Wörth and Sedan , the last two names referring to victorious battles of the war. The Sedan bell bore an iron cross and the inscription "Victory comes from the Lord". The bells were tuned to the notes A – C – D – E and should form a harmonious overall impression with the five bells of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (D – F – A – B – C). The bells had to be given to a metal collection during the First World War and were melted down. Only a small ring remained.

The church received an organ created by Ernst Röver with a tube pneumatic action and 50  voices , the first instrument of this type in Berlin. The case was created by the wood sculptor Gustav Kuntzsch from Wernigerode . In 1929 the instrument was replaced by a three-manual organ made by E. F. Walcker & Cie from Ludwigsburg with 2825 pipes, 36 voices and 4  transmissions (Opus 2237). The construction of this instrument already indicated the reform efforts of the so-called " organ movement ". The organ had the following disposition:

I Manual C-c 4 Far principal 08th' Principal flute 08th' Drone 08th' Gemshorn 08th' octave 04 ′ Hollow flute 04 ′ Cornet III-V 08th' Intoxicating fifth II 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Trumpet 08th'

II Swell C – c 4 Quintatön 16 ′ Horn principal 08th' Concert flute 08th' Salicional 08th' Principal 04 ′ Pointed flute 04 ′ Fifth flute 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Piccolo 02 ′ third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Mixture IV-V Vox humana 08th' Beat

III Swell C – c 4 Dumped 16 ′ Violin principal 08th' Reed flute 08th' Aeoline 08th' Violin beat 08th' Orchestra flute 04 ′ Schwiegel 02 ′ Cymbel III-IV Horn oboe 08th' shawm 04 ′ Beat

Pedal C – f 1 Acoustic bass 32 ′ Principal bass 16 ′ Pedestal 16 ′ Soft bass (from III) 16 ′ Octave bass 08th' Bass flute (from III) 08th' Violoncello (from III) 08th' Choral bass 04 ′ trombone 16 ′ Horn (from III) 08th'

• Pairing :
  • Normal coupling: II / I, III / I, II / II, I / P, II / P, III / P.
  • Super octave coupling: II / I, III / I, II, III, III / P.
  • Sub-octave coupling: III / I, III.
• Playing aids :
  • Introductory steps : tongues, 32 ′ + 16 ′ + coupling, pedal (small roller),
  • Combinations: 3 free combinations , flutes + principals, strings + reeds, aliquots + mixtures, manual coupling, pedal coupling, octave coupling, cylinder , full work .

Development until the end of World War II

Church life

The Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnisgemeinde had a reputation for being very wealthy, an impression that was reinforced by its location in the middle-class Hansaviertel and the willingness of its members to donate, as demonstrated during the construction of the church. Community life was shaped by numerous associations and groups of helpers who were also socially committed. On the occasion of the purchase of a parish hall in 1902, they proudly claimed that no hardship in the Hansaviertel would go unrelieved. However, in 1913 the community refused to re-parish the poor house of the Luisenkirche from neighboring Charlottenburg .

Due to the size of the community, which already comprised 10,000 members, a second pastor's office was set up in 1899. The church services in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche as well as lectures in the parish hall and publications in the parish journal were academic. This made the church and community known beyond the Hansaviertel area.

In times of need during the Weimar Republic, social welfare became the focus of community activities. In all the houses in the Hansaviertel, confidants were in contact with the community to draw attention to those in need. A church trust council coordinated work on the deportation of children to the country , welfare for the unemployed, the maintenance of a poor kitchen and the holding of charity bazaars.

At the beginning of the National Socialist era , the attitude towards the new rulers led to strong conflicts in the parish council. Pastor Gustav Eichstätt joined the German Christians , while his official brother Johannes Magerstädt belonged to the Confessing Church . Outwardly, however, the appearance of the Kaiser Friedrich Gedächtnisgemeinde remained apolitical. No protest arose when the persecution of the Jewish residents of the Hansaviertel began.

Destruction of the Church and Consequences for the Congregation

The first Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche was badly hit and partially destroyed during a British air raid on the evening of November 22, 1943 during World War II. The rich interior of the church was completely burned.

The parish practically dissolved with the widespread destruction of the Hansaviertel and the subsequent flight of numerous residents. The two clergymen were delegated to rural Brandenburg to represent clergymen who served as field chaplains . The sister parish of the Heilandskirche in neighboring Moabit carried out the remaining official business.

The community in the post-war period

Since Magerstädt, who was entrusted with the provisional management of the parish, did not have the strength to reorganize community life, it was initially completely suspended after the end of the war. It was not until January 1947 that the new parish priest Fritz Schmidt-Clausing initiated the re-establishment of the parish .

This used several emergency shelters in the following years. A Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Chapel used between October 1947 and July 1956 was located in the former Reich Health Office on Klopstockstrasse, in the former official residence of the President's office. The furnishings of the emergency chapel were partly faced with stones that had been taken from the ship of the destroyed church building. Initially, the only remaining bell in the remains of the old church tower served as the church bell. Schmidt-Clausing had it publicly launched to greet German prisoners of war returning from the Soviet Union , a practice that even an American newsreel considered newsreel worth reporting in this early phase of the Cold War .

The parish council had planned to rebuild the church. The West Berlin Senate decided, however, to redesign the 90% destroyed Hansaviertel, which "would not contain any artistic or even locally historically interesting building" in a modern style . These were under the International Building Exhibition 1957 (IBA 57) invited renowned architects from 13 countries. The Hansaviertel should become a symbol of Berlin's will to renew. Thus the Berlin Senate took the decision on the reconstruction of the church from the hands of the community. The remains of the structure, including the tower, were blown up and removed in 1953 and 1954.

Today's church building

Construction in the context of Interbau 57

Buildings of Interbau 57 on Hansaplatz

On the initiative of the architect Otto Bartning , a new church was built as part of the 1957 International Building Exhibition , which was dedicated to the "99-day emperor" Friedrich III. remind. Senate Building Director Ludwig Lemmer drafted the plans for the building, which is listed as "Object No. 26" in the redesigned Hansaviertel. The modern construction of the church was controversial at the time, despite the coordination with the urban context of Interbau 57. Opponents of the project called for a historicizing church to be built, but found a staunch opponent in Pastor Schmidt-Clausing. The foundation stone of the second Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church was laid on August 15, 1955; the church was consecrated on June 30, 1957. The then Federal President Theodor Heuss took part in the opening service on July 10, 1957 .

Postage stamp from 1957 with a schematic representation of the rebuilding of the Hansaviertel; the KFG can be found at the bottom right

The building was the only one in the Hansaviertel that was rebuilt on the foundation walls of a previous building that had been destroyed in the war. This restriction forced Lemmer to abandon his original plan to give the church a free-standing bell tower. However, in this way the already high construction costs could be reduced, because a new foundation on the unfavorable building site would have been time-consuming. Nevertheless, the financial burden caused by the building project brought the church community into difficulties, which could not be remedied by donations from home and abroad. The West Berlin Senate had to cover a quarter of the costs. In addition, the congregation argued with several artists involved in the design of the church about the amount of the fees. Some prestige projects for further decoration could not be realized. This also included the erection of a seven meter high aluminum cross on the forecourt of the church.

Like the destroyed previous building, the church stands on Händelallee, which has marked the southern end of the development of the district since the 19th century. The earlier course of Lessingstrasse, which once ran towards the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche, can only be seen as a visual axis up to Hansaplatz, which is located exactly to the north. The low-rise building in the southern entrance hall of the Hansaplatz underground station, which opened in 1961, is being displaced . However, a direct connection between KFG and Hansaplatz is provided by a footpath.

Architecture of the church

Lemmer created a 660 m² construction area in reinforced concrete skeleton construction, an outwardly simple, single-nave hall church with a side chapel to the west (gray hall). Together with concrete, the materials aluminum and glass determine the modern appearance of the church building. As in the previous building, the bell tower rises to the east near the front of the church. An inner courtyard with a garden connects the church with the rectory and parish hall to the east, whose distinctive monopitch roof is inclined steeply to the east without overhanging the roof. A retaining wall separates the courtyard in the south from the lower lying meadows of the zoo. The inner courtyard, together with the forecourt, which is raised on three levels, was conceived as an extended sacral area, which, on special occasions, should offer space for more people than the inside of the church can hold. This reflects the optimism of the future of the reconstruction years, but turned out to be superfluous due to the steadily declining membership of the community.

The spiral staircase in the Soul Drill Tower

The 68 meter high, open tower made of reinforced concrete framework has a central support and four orthogonally arranged external supports. The latter alternate with eight thin steel struts clad with aluminum sheet, each arranged in pairs. Platforms are incorporated at heights of 32, 44 and 51 meters. A helmet-like open end with a ten-meter-high cross sits on the upper platform. A striking spiral staircase leads to the lower of the three bells hanging one above the other. The derisive name of the soul drill , which has been attached to the tower since the 1950s, goes back to these stairs . When planning the church, the parish pastor Schmidt-Clausing had advocated the construction of an even higher tower whose illuminated cross should " shine into the eastern sector ". However, this suggestion was not followed.

West side of the church with protruding side chapel

The north-facing, 21 meters long, high front of the church is divided vertically into seven narrow areas by eight walkways and opened by three low portals in the middle three areas and a round window high above the central portal. Wall lights are installed above the three portal doors. The entrance area is vaulted by the cantilevered, folded roof made of thin shell concrete. Its zigzag profile is reminiscent of a row of gables. The roofs of the vestibule and the nave rise in opposite directions, which can be clearly seen on the west side of the church, which faces an open area of ​​the zoo.

The portal doors lead into an entrance hall, where the stairs to the gallery are on the right. Glass doors lead to the church hall, in which the room height increases from nine meters at the entrance to eleven meters. This directs one's gaze to the three-tier, raised chancel, which - according to the type of the Wegekirche  - is clearly separated from the parish area. In addition to the altar, there is also the pulpit, the baptismal font and the lectern. The sacristy adjoins in the south-west corner of the building. Above the separable side chapel is the gallery, which extends to the area above the entrance hall, where the organ is located in the eastern corner. Because of the protruding pulpit corner, an eastern wall of light and the gallery protruding over the side chapel, the room appears asymmetrically cut on the central axis despite the corridor. The seating offers space for 230 people.

The natural lighting of the church hall is primarily provided by the 10 by 12 meter glass ornament window on the east side and - with the sliding wall open - by a large rectangular window in the west side chapel. Three round windows are on the west side above the gallery, another round window is above the central portal. The front wall of the chancel is closed, but the light from a concealed, long rectangular window in the eastern apse falls on it.

Design and equipment

The rich design of the interior of the church as well as the windows and doors of the new Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church is unusual for the 1950s. It forms a contrast to the simple, exposed concrete exterior of the modern building. The participating artists chose both abstract and figurative forms of representation, a contrast that is occasionally emphasized critically in descriptions of the interior of the church. The artistic design in particular attracted many interested visitors in the early years and made the church a popular wedding church in West Berlin.

The church's furnishings go back to a lesser extent to collections in the congregation, whose members had, for example, collected gold and silver for the sacrament implements since 1947. More important, however, were individual donations from personalities and corporations who wanted to support a prestigious reconstruction project in West Berlin with their contributions. These donations came from Konrad Adenauer (altar), Theodor Heuss (altar bible), Louis Ferdinand von Prussia and his wife Kira (altar crucifix), Axel Springer (lectern), the state of Lower Saxony (pulpit), the Berlin number lottery society (organ ), the city of Bonn and the Bayer company (portals), Otto Dibelius and the Evangelical Relief Organization (window in the side chapel), Ludwig Lemmer, the state of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Stuttgart (round window over the west gallery), the Victoria insurance company (round window over Central portal), the state of Hesse (round window in the stairwell), the cities of Hamburg , Bremen and Lübeck (bells) and the federal government (tower cross).

The altar bible was donated by the first Federal President Theodor Heuss and is personally dedicated:

"Dear brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run and be praised as it is with you."

- 2 Thess 3.1

Mosaics

The largely closed walls of the altar area are designed with eye-catching mosaic surfaces. On the front wall above the altar is a monumental mosaic wall with abstract patterns created by Ludwig Lemmer and Hans Wagner, the color effect of which is enhanced by interspersed gold leaf stones. The abstract mosaic on the western altar wall in shades of brown is by Charles Crodel , who added a figurative representation of John the Baptist at the foot .

The round mosaic of the apocalyptic Christ on the pulpit wall was created by the Basel painter Hans Stocker . Following a description in the book of Revelation ( Rev 1,14–15  LUT ), the work of art shows Christ removed from all earthly colors. Body, robe and halo are predominantly in shades of blue. Another mosaic by Charles Crodel can be found on the south gallery wall above the side chapel. It shows the heavenly Jerusalem .

The mosaics were made by the August Wagner company - united workshops for mosaics and glass painting , successor to the Puhl & Wagner company , which was responsible for the triumphal arch of the first church building.

window

Round window with Luther rose above the central portal

Ludwig Peter Kowalski created the five round windows of the church . The windows above the west gallery are titled Annunciation , The Angel Shows the Women the Empty Tomb and The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit . The window above the central portal shows a Luther Rose and bears the inscription "Vivit" ( "He is alive"). A fifth, ornamentally designed round window by Kowalski is in the southwest stairwell.

In the left wall of the church is the most famous and most impressive work of art of the Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church: the 127 m² light wall by Georg Meistermann Sieg des Lichts .

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. "

- John 8:12

The symbol for this is the sun at the top left and a small golden splinter of light shining diagonally below: "As if it were a piece in you and me."

A large window in the side chapel depicts Christ on the wall and is by Willy Fries . This crucifixion group was highly controversial at the time of its creation, as Fries provided the Roman soldiers with Wehrmacht helmets and suggested a brick wall as the background to the event . This was understood as an allusion to the executions of the Nazi era just a decade ago .

The effect of the mosaic on the front wall of the altar is varied by the incidence of light from the side of the rainbow window created by Heinz Trökes in the eastern apse, the five larger segments of which are each held in one of the primary colors of the rainbow. The large wall of light Sieg des Licht dominates the east side of the church. The painter and glass window artist Georg Meistermann designed them with green and gray glass surfaces. The lighter glass surfaces, formed as high strips with round arches at the end, are reminiscent of traditional church windows arranged in parallel and - thanks to the green colored surfaces - of lines of sight in a forest landscape.

Doors

Portal door with the fight of St. George against the dragon and Luther quote

The three double-leaf aluminum portal doors were designed by the sculptor Gerhard Marcks . The middle portal shows on the outside in relief form the fight of St. George against the dragon. Four lines from the hymn A strong castle is our God by Martin Luther from 1529 appear in raised letters :

"And if the world were full of devils
and even want to devour us,
we are not so afraid, we
should succeed."

- Martin Luther: A solid castle is our God

The sacristy door with a medieval emblem was created by the Berlin artist Otto Haake .

Bells

The three cast steel bells manufactured by Bochumer Verein from 1955 sound in the tones F – Es – C. They weigh 780, 1080 and 2070 kilograms. The three Hanseatic cities of Hamburg , Bremen and Lübeck acted as donors, each of which is noted in inscriptions on the wall of the bells and explained in more detail on a bell plaque in the vestibule of the church. The then pastor Fritz Schmidt-Clausing had the bells tuned to his initials F – Es – C. The bells of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche are coordinated with that of the neighboring, Catholic St. Ansgar Church (F – G sharp – H).

Chime	Weight (kg)	Diameter (cm)	Height (cm)	inscription
f ′	0780	126	108	Shoulder : + THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE + / + JOY AND PEACE +. Wolm : + THE OLD HANSEAL TOWN LÜBECK GIVED ME + THAT I LOVE A MAHNE. +
it'	1080	144	120	Shoulder : + I AM THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND LIFE + / + NOBODY COMES TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME + Wolm : + THE FREE AND HANSEAL CITY OF BREMEN GAVE ME + THAT I KNOW THE TRUTH. +
c ′	2070	170	140	Shoulder : + I WANT TO GIVE PEACE IN THIS LOCATION + Wolm : + THE FREE AND HANSEAL CITY OF HAMBURG GAVE ME + THAT I ASK FOR PEACE. +

organ

The three-manual organ of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche comes from the Karl Schuke Berlin organ building workshop . It has 3122 pipes that are between one centimeter and 5.6 meters long. The organ initially had 40  registers ; In the case of a change of disposition made by the builder company in 1964, another register was added. The aluminum-framed Plexiglas cladding of the pipes, which are grouped next to each other in a free order like a tower, add a striking spatial element to the otherwise strictly structured church hall. The instrument, whose sound, which is tuned to the limited interior of the church, has to do without the typical reverberation and still achieves an impressive effect, is considered a milestone in the development of modern Berlin organ construction. The organ has the following disposition :

I Rückpositiv C – g 3 Dumped 08th' Principal 04 ′ Flûte douce 04 ′ Field whistle 02 ′ Sif flute 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Sesquialtera II 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Overtone II 01 1 ⁄ 7  ′ +  8 ⁄ 9 ′ Sharp IV – V 01' Hopper shelf 08th'

II Hauptwerk C – g 3 Quintad 16 ′ Principal 08th' Coupling flute 08th' octave 04 ′ recorder 04 ′ Nasat 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ octave 02 ′ Mixture V-VI 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Sharp IV 02 ⁄ 3 ′ Dulcian 16 ′ Trumpet 08th'

III Breastwork (swellable) C – g 3 Dumped 08th' Reed flute 04 ′ Principal 02 ′ Pointed flute 02 ′ octave 01' None 02 ⁄ 9 ′ Terzian II 02 ⁄ 5 ′ Cymbel III 01 ⁄ 4 ′ Krummhorn 08th' Tremulant

Pedal C – f 1 Principal 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ octave 08th' Dumped 08th' octave 04 ′ Pommer 04 ′ Peasant flute 02 ′ Bass Sesquialtera III 05 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Mixture V 02 ′ trombone 16 ′ Trumpet 08th' shawm 04 ′

• Coupling : I / II, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
• Playing aids : 2 free combinations, Organo pleno

Others

In the wall cladding made of Limba wood under the organ loft there is a relief of Emperor Friedrich III. let in, the namesake of the church. The wood sculptor Otto Flath created it . The relief bears the same inscription as the bust of Friedrich in the first church building: “Friedrich III, the German Emperor and King of Prussia, died on June 15, 1888 at the age of 57, in honor of his memory. His wife."

The altar is made of cut Sellenberg shell limestone . Five precious stones in liturgical colors are inlaid in the altar crucifix based on the Maria Laacher model. The altar bible bears a handwritten dedication by Federal President Heuss with the motto “Go on, dear brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run and be praised as it is with you.” ( 2 Thess 3,1  LUT ) The baptismal font made of raw Sellenberg shell limestone - approx. 230 million years old - made the Kiel sculptor Walter Rössler . This baptismal font is a present from the state government of Schleswig-Holstein , recognizable by the coat of arms on the back.

"St. Aluminum"

Thanks to a donation from the German and Swiss light metal industry, which wanted to promote the architectural use of aluminum , extensive use was made of this metal in the construction and design of the church, in addition to the portal doors and the cladding of the organ, as well as the sacristy door, window frames, Altar and altar crucifix, pulpit with sound cover, lectern, gallery parapet, banister, tower ribs and cross as well as the acoustic ceiling that clad the concrete. The material appears anodized in silver, bronze or gold in various parts of the church . A total of 30 tons of the metal were used in and on the church. In 1957, Fritz Schmidt-Clausing jokingly described himself as the “Pastor of St. Aluminum ” in a pamphlet for the opening of the new church .

Conservation problems

The preservation of the church in its original state has proven to be a burden over the decades for the parish, which is characterized by declining membership numbers. The KFG congregation's website complains that the interior design in the style of the 1950s “ often no longer does justice to a living liturgy ”: “Many visitors perceive the congregation's space almost like an art-historical museum, in which the spirit of reconstruction still shines. "

The open design made the tower of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche and its bells susceptible to weather-related damage. The first major renovation of the concrete structure took place in 1981. Since 2004, the two larger bells have not been rung due to concerns about the strong natural oscillation of the tower. A renovation report commissioned by the parish, the church district and the Berlin State Monuments Office determined in 2006 that the tower was basically stable, but the frequency of the largest bell was in the impermissible range and all three bells together triggered a tower movement that exceeded the limit value climb over. In order to preserve the original construction, but also to be able to use all the bells again, extensive renovation work is necessary, the cost of which is estimated at 460,000 euros. Since it cannot raise these funds on its own, the parish calls for donations.

Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Cemetery

Preserved war memorial in honor of fallen parishioners

The Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnisfriedhof at Dohnagestell in today's district of Wedding belonged to the parish . After the destruction of the first church, it went up in the cemetery at Plötzensee, which the city maintains . This has now been cleared and converted into a green area. A small place of honor for fallen soldiers, the house of the cemetery keeper and the war memorial designed by Emil Cauer from the 1920s have been preserved.

literature

• Expert opinion on the design for the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin In: Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung . XIII. Volume, No. 42, October 21, 1893 , 437–438, 441
• Wilhelm Lütkemann: German Churches - Volume 1 - The Protestant Churches in Berlin (Old City) . Verlag für Volksliteratur, Berlin 1926, p. 127 ff .
• Aluminum headquarters e. V. (Ed.): Aluminum and the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche . Aluminum publishing house, Düsseldorf 1957.
• Fritz Schmidt-Clausing : Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnis-Kirche. In: Ders .: The Hansa district. From the Schöneberger meadows to the “city of tomorrow”. 3rd, supplemented edition. Großmanndruck, Berlin 1957, pp. 29-33.
• Friedrich Weichert: A sunken jewel. The history of the first Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church in Berlin . Lettner-Verlag, Berlin 1970.
• Günther Kühne, Elisabeth Stephani: Evangelical churches in Berlin. Christlicher Zeitschriftenverlag (CZV), Berlin 1978, ISBN 3-7674-0158-4 , p. 272 ​​f.
• Dieter Krampf: Johannes Vollmer (1845–1920). An architect of the German Protestant church building in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Dissertation, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, 1990.
• Iselin Gundermann: One hundred years of Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church . In: The Bear of Berlin . No. 44, 1995, ISSN  0522-0033 , pp. 71-90.
• Architects and Engineers Association of Berlin (ed.): Berlin and its buildings , part VI, sacred buildings . Verlag Ernst & Sohn, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-433-01016-1 , p. 105, 375 .
• Angela Beeskow: The furnishings in the churches of the Berliner Kirchenbauverein (1890–1904), with a contribution to the iconography of Protestantism. Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-7861-1765-9 , pp. 375-376.
• Andrea Schulz, Klaus Bock: The Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche, Händelallee 20. The renovation concept for the church tower . In: Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (Ed.): The Hansaviertel in Berlin. Meaning. Reception. Redevelopment. Imhof, Petersberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-287-1 ( Contributions to the preservation of monuments in Berlin. Vol. 26.), pp. 78–82.

Web links

Commons : Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• picture index of art and architecture
• Entry in the Berlin State Monument List (under: Buildings of 'Interbau 57' )
• Website of the parish
• Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church. In: arch INFORM .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List (under: Buildings of 'Interbau 57' )
2. ↑ Krampf 1990, 323
3. ↑ Weichert 1970, 9-12.
4. ↑ Weichert 1970, 13-14
5. ↑ It seems that the minister of culture put the consistory under a certain pressure to build it as soon as possible. Weichert writes of “the astonishing situation that the community did not intend the state to build their church, but the state intended the church. [Also that] this embarrassing causal relationship can occasionally also be observed in the history of church building in Berlin ”. See: Weichert 1970, 13-14.
6. ↑ Weichert 1970, 17, 25-26.
7. ↑ Expert opinion on the design for the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin . In: Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung . XIII. Volume, No. 42, October 21, 1893 , pp. 437–438.
8. ↑ Weichert describes the reasons for the delay in detail. See: Weichert 1970, 16–31.
9. ↑ Weichert 1970, 34; Cramp 1990, 324.
10. ↑ Originally again planned for the birthday of Friedrich III on October 18, the inauguration had to be postponed because the emperor was involved in the unveiling of a monument to the battle of Wörth on that day . Weichert describes the celebration of the church inauguration in great detail. See: Weichert 1970, 36-44.
11. ↑ Gundermann 1995, 79-85, 88 (footnote 19).
12. ↑ Krampf 1990, 326; Gundermann 1995, 78-81; Beeskow 2005, 375-376.
    Architects and Engineers Association Berlin (Hrsg.): Berlin and its buildings. Part IV: Sacred buildings. Ernst & Sohn, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-433-01016-1 , pp. 105, 375
13. ↑ Krampf 1990, 326; According to Weichert, these were red baking stone and light sandstone for the walls. See: Weichert 1970, 32.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung . XIII (1893) 437-438
15. ↑ Krampf 1990, 325
16. ↑ Weichert 1970, 26-27, 32-35; Gundermann 1995, 81-83; Beeskow 2005, 375-376
17. ↑ Weichert 1970, 26-27, 32-35.
18. ↑ The Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church. In: Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung . XV (1895) 463-464 , quotation p. 464.
    Cf. Gundermann 1995, 80
19. ^ Obituary, in: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung , Volume 40, 1920, No. 53, p. 344. ( online )
20. ↑ Weichert 1970, 26; Gundermann 1995, 90 (footnote 39)
21. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} History of the KFG ( Memento from December 8, 2014 in the web archive archive.today )
22. ↑ Weichert 1970, 27
    Berthold Schwarz (Ed.): 500 years of organs in Berlin churches. 2 volumes. Pape, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-921140-34-X ( publications of the Society of Organ Friends . No. 134), Volume 2, p. 362.
    Reinhold Kurth: The organ in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin. In: Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau , vol. 50, 1929/1930, pp. 157–158.
23. ^ Homepage of the Walcker company ( Memento from November 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
24. ^ History of the KFG . On: Homepage Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnisgemeinde , accessed on February 15, 2017;
    Schmidt-Clausing 1957, 30
25. ↑ The church ruins (photo 1949)
26. ↑ ^{a b c d} Schmidt-Clausing 1957, 30
    History of the KFG . On: Homepage Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnisgemeinde ( Memento from December 8, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on December 8, 2014
27. ↑ After Krampf, two altar carpets and the organ console were saved. In 1990 they were kept in the house at 36 Handelallee (Krampf 1990, 324).
28. ↑ quoted from: History of the KFG . On: Homepage Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnisgemeinde , accessed on November 3, 2019
29. ↑ Schmidt-Clausing 1957, 30–31.
30. ^ History of the KFG . On: Homepage Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnisgemeinde ( Memento from December 8, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on December 8, 2014;
    Aluminum headquarters e. V. (Ed.): Aluminum and the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche . Aluminum-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1957, pp. 1-3.
31. ^ Aluminum and the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche . Pp. 1-3.
    Schmidt-Clausing: Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnis-Kirche. S. 32. History of the KFG . On: Homepage Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnisgemeinde ( Memento from December 8, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on December 8, 2014.
32. ↑ Entry Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche . In: Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (Ed.): Monuments in Berlin. Mitte district. Districts Moabit, Hansaviertel and Tiergarten. Imhof, Petersberg 2005, ISBN 3-86568-035-6 , pp. 187-188.
    Schwarz (ed.): 500 years of organs in Berlin churches. P. 362.
33. ^ Aluminum and the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche . S. 3. Gabi Dolff-Bonekämper : The Hansaviertel. International post-war modernism in Berlin . Verlag Bauwesen, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-345-00639-1 , pp. 146–149.
    Entry Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. In: Monuments in Berlin. S. 187.
    History of the KFG . On: Homepage Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnisgemeinde ( Memento from December 8, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on December 8, 2014.
34. ^ Berlin and its buildings. Sacred buildings . P. 215–216, quotation P. 215.
    See Dolff-Bonekämper: Das Hansaviertel. Pp. 146-149.
    Andrea Schulz, Klaus Bock: The Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche, Händelallee 20. The renovation concept for the church tower. In: Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (Ed.): The Hansaviertel in Berlin. Meaning. Reception. Redevelopment. Imhof, Petersberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-287-1 ( Contributions to the preservation of monuments in Berlin. Vol. 26.), pp. 78–82.
35. ↑ ^{a b c} Dolff-Bonekämper: The Hansaviertel. Pp. 146-149.
36. ↑ Dolff-Bonekämper: The Hansaviertel. Pp. 146-149. Aluminum and the Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church. P. 1.
37. ↑ ^{a b} Dolff-Bonekämper: The Hansaviertel. Pp. 146-149. Entry Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. In: Monuments in Berlin. P. 187.
38. ^ Reorganization case Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnis-Kirche (PDF; 66 kB), accessed on December 8, 2014.
39. ↑ ^{a b c d} leaflet of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnis-Kirche with the title A tour through the church .
40. ↑ ^{a b} Landesdenkmalamt Berlin: Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnis-Kirche  in the German Digital Library , accessed on December 8, 2014.
41. ↑ Entry Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. In: Monuments in Berlin. P. 332 (footnote 442)
42. ↑ Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (Ed.): Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. Hansaviertel, Händelallee 20, Berlin-Tiergarten . ( Memento of December 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) 1st revised reprint. Landesdenkmalamt, Berlin 2007 (series of leaflets recognize and preserve )
43. ↑ Dolff-Bonekämper: The Hansaviertel. Pp. 148-149.
    Entry Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. In: Monuments in Berlin. P. 188.
44. ↑ Entry Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. In: Monuments in Berlin. Pp. 188, 332 (footnote 442).
45. ↑ Evangelical Church Community Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtnis . P. 19 - Festschrift for the 100th anniversary of the community
46. ↑ Klaus Dieter-Wille: The bells of Berlin (West). History and inventory. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-7861-1443-9 ( The buildings and art monuments of Berlin . Supplement 16). Pp. 97-99.
    Schulz, Bock: The Kaiser Friedrich Memorial Church. P. 78.
47. ^ Schwarz (ed.): 500 years of organs in Berlin churches. Pp. 299, 362-364.
    organindex.de: Organ of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche , accessed on December 8, 2014.
48. ↑ Directory of locations of Flathwerken , accessed on December 8, 2014.
49. ^ Aluminum and the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche .
    Entry Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. In: Monuments in Berlin. P. 332 (footnote 442).
50. ^ Aluminum and the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. P. 2.
51. ↑ Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (Ed.): Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. Hansaviertel, Händelallee 20, Berlin-Tiergarten (sic) . ( Memento of December 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) 1st revised reprint. Landesdenkmalamt, Berlin 2007 (series of leaflets Recognize and Preserve ).
    Der Tagesspiegel from September 14, 2013: Ding, dong on the hour , accessed on December 8, 2014.
    Schulz, Bock: The Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche. Pp. 78-82.

Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 54 ″  N , 13 ° 20 ′ 36 ″  E

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on May 16, 2009 .