18 April, 2011
The Potsdamerplatz area is mostly modern buildings, due to extensive postwar rebuilding in this area. However, there is one very significant architectural landmark remaining there. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church) is a very famous church that marked the center of West Berlin, and after the war, half the church was destroyed. Rather than taking it down, it was preserved in its half-ruined state, and there are many aerial before/after photos of it. Here is a model of how it looked before and after, as seen from two directions.
In the photos it doesn't show up well, but the mosaics on the ceiling liberally used sparkly materials such as gold and either crystal or crushed glass for a very impressive, magical effect. Sadly all the scaffolding, cracks and light fixtures detract from the effect, but it is still there for those who can appreciate it.
The view in the next shots is looking up into what was presumably the central bell tower; as you can see, very little is remaining of the original material.
After exiting the old church, we went inside the squat octagonal building that is visible in the second "After" model above, which is the new church. From the outside it looks really ugly, but inside it's a stunning marvel of blue stained glass. This picture does not do it justice; the colors in this room was like being inside a giant sapphire or lapis lazuli and the glass held lovely images.
A service was just beginning, so we didn't linger to try to get a better photo.
The Potsdamerplatz area is mostly modern buildings, due to extensive postwar rebuilding in this area. However, there is one very significant architectural landmark remaining there. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church) is a very famous church that marked the center of West Berlin, and after the war, half the church was destroyed. Rather than taking it down, it was preserved in its half-ruined state, and there are many aerial before/after photos of it. Here is a model of how it looked before and after, as seen from two directions.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
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| Above four photos not taken by me, but used with permission. |
It is currently covered in a kind of temporary metal and plexiglass "shell" while restoration is being done (which made it harder to find on foot as we were looking for the church itself), but the nave (?) of the old church was open as a museum. The exhibits were bilingual and quite interesting.
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| Photo not taken by me, but used with permission |
The exquisitely detailed and colored mosaics on the ceilings and floors were amazing.
In the photos it doesn't show up well, but the mosaics on the ceiling liberally used sparkly materials such as gold and either crystal or crushed glass for a very impressive, magical effect. Sadly all the scaffolding, cracks and light fixtures detract from the effect, but it is still there for those who can appreciate it.
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| Photo not taken by me, but used with permission |
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| Photo not taken by me, but used with permission. |
These two beautiful mosaics were on the floor.
This one didn't have any visible damage. About 3 meters wide, I had to wait a while to get a shot of it without any feet!
Standing in the tower looking back into the main lobby. (Nave? narthex? apse? I have forgotten my "church anatomy".)
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| Photo not taken by me, but used with permission. |
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