Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (German: Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche), mostly known simply as the Memorial Church (Gedächtniskirche), is a Protestant church affiliated with the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia, a regional body of the Protestant Church in Germany. It is located in the Bikini-Berlin building complex on the Kurfürstendamm in the centre of the Breitscheidplatz.

The original church on the site was built in the 1890s. It was badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943. The present building, which consists of a church with an attached foyer and a separate belfry with an attached chapel, was built between 1959 and 1963. The damaged spire of the old church has been retained and its ground floor has been made into a memorial hall.

The Memorial Church today is a famous landmark of western Berlin, and is nicknamed by Berliners "der hohle Zahn", meaning "the hollow tooth".

Old church

The church was built as part of a plan by Kaiser Wilhelm II and his wife Augusta Victoria to encourage people to return to traditional religious values. They named it after Wilhelm II's grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm I. The architect, Franz Schwechten, designed a large church in a special style called Neo-Romanesque, inspired by the Bonn Minster.

During World War II, the church was badly damaged in an air raid. After the war, there was a lot of discussion about whether to tear down what was left or to keep it. Finally, the decision was made to keep part of the old tower and build a new modern church around it.

New church

The new church was designed by Eiermann and includes four buildings around the old church's remaining ruins. The buildings are made of concrete, steel, and glass. The church has an octagonal shape, and the tower next to it has a hexagonal shape. The walls of the church have many colorful stained-glass pieces.

Inside the church, there is a special figure above the altar and an organ with thousands of pipes. There are also artworks remembering important events and people, including a drawing made during a difficult time in history. The tower has a tall cross on top and bells made from old French cannons.

The new church was completed in 1961, and the other parts were finished in 1963.

Bells of the new church

In 1894, Kaiser Wilhelm II gave 50,000 pounds of bronze from old cannons to make a new bell for the church. Five bells were created that same year in Apolda. The largest bell, named Queen Luise & Kaiser Wilhelm I, weighed 13,230 kg and was the biggest of its kind in Germany. When the bells arrived in Berlin on June 1, 1895, they were paraded through the city and blessed on June 18.

During World War II, many of the larger bells were taken to be melted down for the war, and the church was badly damaged by bombs in November 1943. In 1954, three new iron bells were ordered, but they were used for other churches. In 1960, new bells and a bell tower were made and put in place on July 19, 1961. The bells ring for different church events, like special services and Sundays.

Spire and memorial hall

The entrance hall at the base of the damaged spire opened again for visitors on January 7, 1987. The floor has a picture showing the Archangel Michael fighting a dragon. The walls show pictures of important princes and leaders from history, including Crown Prince Wilhelm, who never became king.

There are also pictures and carvings from Bible stories, as well as scenes from the life of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Sixteen panels tell the story of the old church and how it was destroyed. In the hall, you can see a damaged statue of Christ, a special cross made from nails of a damaged cathedral in Coventry, and an icon cross given by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988. Outside, there are four large stone figures.

In 2007, a former British pilot, Charles Jeffrey Gray, started a campaign to save the church from decay. He contacted the church leaders and helped start a fund to repair the tower.