Officially known as the “Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church,” the Berlin Cathedral is located on Museum Island in the center of the city. This is not a “Cathedral” in the usual sense of being a seat for a Bishop, but became known as such out of tradition.
It’s history began in 1454 as a Roman Catholic Church. Following a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Frederick II “Irontooth” turned the chapel in the city palace into a parish church. He then filled it with altars and relics he had collected. Pope Paul II, in 1465, created a canon-law college within this former palace chapel. Traditionally, collegiate churches such as this one were known as cathedrals, so the colloquial German term “Cathedral” was applied to this structure. Joachim II Hector, in 1535, talked the pope into closing the Dominican Black Friar convent on the south side of the palace and then turned the property over to the collegiate church. Four years later, Joachim II converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism and did the same thing to the Church. By 1608, Prince-elector John Sigismund, who had become a Calvinist, dissolved the Lutheran Church and redesignated it the “Supreme Parish Church of the Holy Trinity in Colln” (during the 13th century, Colln had been the sister city of Berlin before becoming part of the larger city). This was the first Calvinist Church (and at the time, the only one) in Berlin. The Church was completely demolished in 1749 in order to make room for the baroque extension of the Berlin Palace. A new church building was completed three years later, north of the palace.
Under King Frederick William II of Prussia (in 1817) the congregation joined an organization known as the “Evangelical Church of Prussia” and adopted the new denomination known as the “Prussian Union” ( becoming the largest independent religious organization of the German Empire).
By 1893, the congregation began discussing the need for a new building. The old structure was again demolished and what was to become the present-day “Cathedral” was constructed. It was dedicated on February 27, 1905.
At 374 feet long, 240 feet wide, and 381 feet tall, this was larger than any other previous church. Some felt the church’s new size rivaled St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (obviously a subjective thought). This new building did suffer significant damage during World War II, taking several years to be reconstructed to its original appearance. Still, this is a beautiful building.
Visitors can climb the interior of the cathedral’s dome to get wonderful views of the city...
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