St. Hedwig's Cathedral

St. Hedwig's Cathedral

St. Hedwig's at the Bebelplatz
Basic information
Location Friedrichstadt, a historical neighbourhood of Berlin-Mitte
Affiliation Roman Catholic
District 1st deanery Berlin-Mitte
Province Archdiocese of Berlin
Year consecrated 1773
Website www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de
Architectural description
Architect(s) Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, Jan Bouman the Elder (1747-1773), Max Hasak (1886-1887), Clemens Holzmeister (1930-1932), Hans Schwippert (reconstruction 1952-1963)
Architectural style Neoclassical
Completed 1773, 1887 (dome), 1932 (interior),
1963 (reconstruction)
Direction of façade north-west

St. Hedwig's Cathedral (German: Sankt-Hedwigs-Kathedrale) is a Roman Catholic cathedral on the Bebelplatz in Berlin, Germany. It is the seat of the archbishop of Berlin.

History and architecture

Interior view of the cathedral, June 2014

St. Hedwig's Church was built in the 18th century following a request from local parishioners to King Frederick II. He donated the land on which the church was built.[1] The church was dedicated to the patron of Silesia and Brandenburg, Saint Hedwig of Andechs. It was the first Catholic church built in Prussia after the Protestant Reformation . The building was designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff [1] and modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. Construction started in 1747, interrupted and delayed several times by economic problems. It was not opened until November 1, 1773, when the king's friend, Ignacy Krasicki, the Bishop of Warmia (later Archbishop of Gniezno), officiated at the cathedral's consecration .

After the Kristallnacht pogroms that took place over the night of 9–10 November 1938, Bernhard Lichtenberg, a canon of the cathedral chapter of St Hedwig since 1931, prayed publicly for Jews in the evening prayer following. Lichtenberg was later jailed by the Nazis and died on the way to the concentration camp at Dachau.[2] In 1965 Lichtenberg's remains were transferred to the crypt at St. Hedwig's.

The cathedral was severely damaged by allied bombing in an air raid on 1 March 1943. Only the damaged shell of the building was left standing. Reconstruction started in 1952 and on the 1st of November 1963, All Saints' Day, the new high altar was consecrated by the Bishop of Berlin, Alfred Cardinal Bengsch.[3]

Between 1949 and 1990 St. Hedwig's was in East Berlin, under the control of the East German government.

Tapestries

Three impressive tapestries are now used in the reconstructed catherdral. All three share the motif of the heavenly Jerusalem but only one is set up and viewable at any one time.[4]

The tapestry of former Bauhaus student Margaretha Reichardt (Grete Reichardt) (1907 - 1984) of Erfurt was handwoven in 1963. It depicts a stylised city with the names of the apostles inscribed on foundation stones. God is represented by the Tree of Life and a lamb features as a symbol of Christ.

de:Anton Wendling (1891 - 1965) made a colorful appliqué work. It is a geometric composition using themes from the Book of Revelations.

The three-part woven carpet made by de:Else Bechtele-Moses (1933 - ) was made in cooperation with Nürnberger Gobelinmanufaktur GmbH, a tapestry weaving company, between 1979 and 1981. This also uses themes from Revelations.

Burials in the crypt

References

  1. 1 2 St.Hedwigs Kathedrale Berlin : History. Available at: http://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de/en/hedwigs-kathedrale/history (Accessed: 19 October 2016)
  2. ↑ Yad Vashem website(2016). Bernhard Lichtenberg - the righteous among the nations. Available at: http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/stories/lichtenberg.asp (Accessed: 19 October 2016).
  3. ↑ St.Hedwigs Kathedrale Berlin : Destruction and reconstruction. Available at: http://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de/en/hedwigs-kathedrale/destruction-and-reconstruction (Accessed: 19 October 2016)
  4. ↑ St.Hedwigs Kathedrale Berlin : Interior. Available at: http://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de/en/hedwigs-kathedrale/interior (Accessed: 19 October 2016).
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Coordinates: 52°30′57″N 13°23′41″E / 52.51583°N 13.39472°E / 52.51583; 13.39472

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