Berliner Dome - Lutheran response to Vatican
This time my report about Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dome) and the area around: famous Berlin museum island and the site of former and future Berlin castle.
Despite it's majesty Berlin Cathedral lefts mixed feeling: is it art or is it kitsch ?
The Berliner Dome is majestic building right in the center of old part of Berlin, it's Nikolai district. The various churches stood at this place from around 1300 but nothing left from those older churches. Modern Dome was built only in 1905. It was a period of a rapid growth of newly formed German empire. And new and strong country should have own symbols. So new Cathedral has been designed and built as the main Lutheran shrine in the world and as a Lutheran response to St. Peters and Paul basilica in Vatican. That's why this majestic building is mentioned in various guides about Berlin only passingly...
The building is massive:
Modern towers are simplified. On a historic card you still can see how they looked 100 years ago:
The area around was place which all totalitarian rulers of Germany (from Adolf to Erich) liked to use for various celebrations, especially military parades:
The facade is heavily decorated:
Even the backdoors must leave impression:
To the right side from the Cathedral on the other side of the street once Berlin castle - Berliner Stadtschloss - once stood. The castle suffered heavy damage in 1944-1945 and was demolished in 1960s by the decision of GDR rulers to built so called Republika-palast - a seat of GDR parliament (Volkskamera) which itself was grandiose building. After heavy discussions of 1990s German Bundestag voted in 2002 to restore the old castle complex. Which of course meant that Palast der Republik must be demolished. Demolition process has been successfully finished but the restoration process is still in the very early stages.
The look from the 1980s you can still see on the infodesk (Volkskamera is that modern complex to the right from Dome):
The construction site this May ...
The more interesting views could be seen to the left from Cathedral since there is situated one of the most famous Berlin's sites - Museum island - site which is included ti the UNESCO list of World Heritage. Island consists from a series of museum buildings constructed in the XIXth century and in the first decades of XXth. Museum island also suffered heavy damage in WWII and looked awfully after the fall of GDR: returning back home I found German documentary film from 1998 and compared the with the s\views that I saw in 2010. Restoration works are still going on but today island is representative place of Berlin.
Old museum (Altes Museum) building (built in 1828-18730, arch. Karl Schienkel):
Entrance to the old museum with it's rich collection of antiquities:
Old national gallery in the neighborhood of Old museum (built in 1876, arch. Stuehler who left his signs also in Lithuania):
Bode museum (originally Kaiser Friedrich museum) building which perfectly fits to the end of island and here you really could see that complex is situated on the island:
Closer view:
New museum (Neues Musuem) built in 1843-1855 by the same arch. Stueler with some restoration going on:
And my favorite - Pergamon museum - with it's famous Pergamon altar, Babilon gates and other antiquities (built in 1910-1930 by A. Messel and L. Hoffmann):
View to the side of Pergamon and Bode:
counter widget
Despite it's majesty Berlin Cathedral lefts mixed feeling: is it art or is it kitsch ?
The Berliner Dome is majestic building right in the center of old part of Berlin, it's Nikolai district. The various churches stood at this place from around 1300 but nothing left from those older churches. Modern Dome was built only in 1905. It was a period of a rapid growth of newly formed German empire. And new and strong country should have own symbols. So new Cathedral has been designed and built as the main Lutheran shrine in the world and as a Lutheran response to St. Peters and Paul basilica in Vatican. That's why this majestic building is mentioned in various guides about Berlin only passingly...
The building is massive:
Modern towers are simplified. On a historic card you still can see how they looked 100 years ago:
The area around was place which all totalitarian rulers of Germany (from Adolf to Erich) liked to use for various celebrations, especially military parades:
The facade is heavily decorated:
Even the backdoors must leave impression:
To the right side from the Cathedral on the other side of the street once Berlin castle - Berliner Stadtschloss - once stood. The castle suffered heavy damage in 1944-1945 and was demolished in 1960s by the decision of GDR rulers to built so called Republika-palast - a seat of GDR parliament (Volkskamera) which itself was grandiose building. After heavy discussions of 1990s German Bundestag voted in 2002 to restore the old castle complex. Which of course meant that Palast der Republik must be demolished. Demolition process has been successfully finished but the restoration process is still in the very early stages.
The look from the 1980s you can still see on the infodesk (Volkskamera is that modern complex to the right from Dome):
The construction site this May ...
The more interesting views could be seen to the left from Cathedral since there is situated one of the most famous Berlin's sites - Museum island - site which is included ti the UNESCO list of World Heritage. Island consists from a series of museum buildings constructed in the XIXth century and in the first decades of XXth. Museum island also suffered heavy damage in WWII and looked awfully after the fall of GDR: returning back home I found German documentary film from 1998 and compared the with the s\views that I saw in 2010. Restoration works are still going on but today island is representative place of Berlin.
Old museum (Altes Museum) building (built in 1828-18730, arch. Karl Schienkel):
Entrance to the old museum with it's rich collection of antiquities:
Old national gallery in the neighborhood of Old museum (built in 1876, arch. Stuehler who left his signs also in Lithuania):
Bode museum (originally Kaiser Friedrich museum) building which perfectly fits to the end of island and here you really could see that complex is situated on the island:
Closer view:
New museum (Neues Musuem) built in 1843-1855 by the same arch. Stueler with some restoration going on:
And my favorite - Pergamon museum - with it's famous Pergamon altar, Babilon gates and other antiquities (built in 1910-1930 by A. Messel and L. Hoffmann):
View to the side of Pergamon and Bode:
counter widget