St. Hedwig's Cathedral, Berlin, Germany

St. Hedwig's Cathedral is the seat of the archbishop of Berlin. It was built in the 18th century as the first Catholic church in Prussia after the Protestant Reformation by permission of King Frederick II. The intention of Frederick was to offer the numerous Catholic immigrants who had arrived in Berlin, especially those from Upper Silesia, a place of worship. The church was therefore dedicated to the patron of Silesia and Brandenburg, Saint Hedwig of Andechs. The building was designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff modeled after the Pantheon in Rome and construction started in 1747, interrupted and delayed several times due to economic problems. It was not opened until November 1, 1773 when the king's friend, Ignacy Krasicki, then 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. In 1965 Lichtenberg's remains were transferred to the crypt at St. Hedwig's.

The cathedral burned down completely in 1943 during air raids on Berlin and was reconstructed from 1952 up to 1963.

User Reviews

Andrejs Cernusenko (13 months ago)
Temporary closed, but looks great outside.

Avihay Froochzad (15 months ago)
Beautiful cathedral, next to Unter den Linden.

Koen (2 years ago)
The Berlin version of the Pantheon. Frederick the Great authorized the construction of the first Catholic church in Prussia after the Reformation in 1743. He had just conquered Silesia from Austria and wanted to appease the Catholic population, which is why the church is also dedicated to Hedwig van Andechs, the Silesian patron saint. The church was built between 1747 and 1773 to a design by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. Since 1930, the cathedral, a Basilica Minor, has been the seat of the Archbishop of Berlin. In 2018, the church was closed for major restoration. So it will be a while before the church can be admired from the inside again.

Alek Korneev (2 years ago)
For many years this church is closed for reconstruction. I would be happy to see it inside. But even outside it looks terrific and special.

Michael (4 years ago)
Catholic church in Berlin

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Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.

Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.

St. Hedwig's Cathedral

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