Apart from the fact that Berlin’s Dome on Museumsinsel is an absolutely stunning reconstruction and probably the city’s most lavish church, this place is also unique for the fact that you have to pay an entry fee (5 Euro in 2007).
The location is spectacular, the massive cathedral sitting right on the bank of the Spree river with lots of sightseeing boats drifting past.
Located next to the palace, Berlin Cathedral was the church of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Its history dates back to 1465 when it was just a parish church. In 1747 Friedrich the Great ordered a new Baroque construction with a dome. It was altered 70 years later by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, transforming the interior and exterior in the neo-classical style. In 1894 Emperor Wilhelm II agreed to demolish the church and erect a new one designed by Julius Carl Raschdorff. It was built from 1894 to 1905. In World War II it was badly damaged by a liquid fire bomb. The sermon church that holds the Hohenzollern crypt ended up as a ruin.
Only 30 years later reconstruction started. In 1983 the exterior was finished, and in the mid 1990s mass took place again. The interior works lasted until 2002 when the last of eight fabulous dome mosaics in smaller niches was reveiled.
Things remaining from the church built in 1747 are the baptismal font, an altar with an Apostles wall and two candelabra. The Hohenzollern sarcophagi are laid out in the Imperial family crypt. About 90 sarcophagi of Prussian monarchs and royals are held there.
Other features of interest are the Imperial Hallway, the Cathedral Museum and the Sermon Church with the impressive dome.
Talking of several churches within the cathedral: Already the original design of the Italian Renaissance with Baroque influence had this division into three churches. It included the Sermon Church, Baptism and Wedding Church, and a Memorial Church (which does not exist anymore). The dome was supported by four corner towers and was 114 metres high.
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