Berlin is a gritty rather than pretty city, but it has plenty of pockets of beauty. The churches in Berlin are right up there with the best of these, with some classic Berlin Neoclassical and Baroque from the city’s 18th century architectural heyday.
There’s very little left of medieval Berlin, but two of the churches I write about here offer a rare glimpse 700 years back in time. It’s a Berlin few get to see, but well worth seeking out, adding depth to your experience of a great city best known for its traumatic 20th-century history.
Several of these churches were greatly affected by these events, and had to be rebuilt following war damage. One of them – the only church in the former West Berlin in the article – now stands as an iconic reminder of the destruction wrought by war, and also the reconciliation that can follow. Another played a major part in the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 that helped bring down the Berlin Wall.
Enjoy.
Churches in Berlin – A Useful Tip
Berlin is a massive city by area, but most of the best Berlin churches to visit are concentrated in a small area in the Mitte district – in what was once East Berlin.
Seven of the nine churches I write about in this article are within walking distance of each other, and you could comfortably visit these in a single day, taking in a few Cold War or World War Two sites along the way as well.
Start at the U5 Museumsinsel station and take it from there.
Visiting Berlin’s Churches – Best Places To Stay
***** – Rocco Forte Hotel De Rome – 5-star luxury in exceptional setting on Bebelplatz, next door to St Hedwig’s Cathedral
***** – Titanic Gendarmenmarkt Berlin – ideal for exploring historic Berlin and its churches, 200 metres from the square after which it’s named
**** – Arcotel John F Berlin – great 4-star a few steps from Schinkel’s Friedrichswerder Church
*** – Hotel Nikolai Residence – excellent 3-star hotel in the historic Nikolaiviertel district
*** – Motel One Berlin-Alexanderplatz – reliable chain hotel in superb location , ideal for exploring the main Berlin sights
Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom)
When is a cathedral not a cathedral? The answer is when it doesn’t have a cathedra, the seat of a bishop. Berliner Dom is usually called ‘Berlin Cathedral’ in English, but its actual name is the Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church of Berlin. ‘Cathedral’ is so much easier to remember, so we’ll stick with it!
Besides, Berliner Dom is far bigger than many cathedrals, even with one component of it obliterated by the Communist East German government.
Built in the 1890s and 1900s on the site of three earlier churches, it was intended as the Prussian and Protestant answer to St Peter’s in Rome, a gargantuan Baroque-style hall with a landmark 115-metre (377 feet) high dome. The Dom is at its most impressive from a distance or from the Friedrichsbrucke bridge 200 metres or so away along the River Spree.
The Dom is also home to the Hohenzollern Crypt, one of the most important dynastic burial places in Europe. It’s the Prussian equivalent of the Royal Crypts of the Basilica of St Denis in Paris or the Cappelle Medicee in San Lorenzo Church, Florence, with 94 royal burials spanning over 300 years.
Admission is €10 per adult, or €7 with a Berlin Welcome Card.
Getting there: U5 to Museumsinsel, or buses 100 and 300 to U Museumsinsel
Nikolaikirche
Despite its foundation in the mid-12th century, there isn’t a great deal of ‘old Berlin’ to see. The one place to get a taste of it is the Nikolaiviertel (Nicholas Quarter), a few narrow streets with some reconstructed old houses and a cluster of traditional German restaurants. The area is named after its landmark building, the Nikolaikirche (St Nicholas’ Church).
The church was originally built between1220 and 1230, and served as a Catholic parish church for over 300 years. After the Reformation it became a Protestant church, which it remained until its deconsecration in 1938. The Nazis intended to use the space as a Museum, but didn’t do so because of the outbreak of the Second World War.
It was damaged during bombing raids in World War Two, with part of the building eventually collapsing. It wasn’t until the 1980s that the GDR authorities finally got around to restoring it – much of it is a fairly faithful rebuild.
The church’s most striking feature is its fortified west front with its twin spires, which once dominated the surrounding area. The Gothic interior is light and airy, and is now home to the Museum Nikolaikirche. This includes an exhibition on the history of the church, and also Berlin’s growth during the Middle Ages. As Berlin is dominated by its recent past, it’s fascinating to look centuries further back in time, as Berlin’s more distant past doesn’t tend to get much of a look in for most visitors.
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
This ruined church and its modern replacement are one of the most important Berlin World War 2 sites, symbols of the destruction wrought by war, but also reconciliation in its aftermath.
The original Protestant church was commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II in the 1890s, and named after his father, Kaiser Wilhelm I. It was built in the Romanesque Revival style, heavily influenced by several Romanesque churches in the Rhine Valley, including some in Cologne, Koblenz and, above all, Bonn’s impressive Münster church. However, most of it was destroyed during an Allied bombing raid in 1943.
The surviving tower – nicknamed the ‘Hollow Tooth’ by locals – was left standing, and a new church and tower designed by Egon Eiermann – called the Lipstick and Powder Pot – were added between 1959 and 1963.
The interior of the church is a wonderful surprise, dominated by the deep blue stained glass – it’s inspired by the glass of Chartres Cathedral, and it in turn inspired the beautiful modern windows in the Lady Chapel in Salisbury Cathedral in England.
Several memorials can be found inside the church, including to Germans who resisted the Nazi terror, and the group who attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1944. There is also a copy of the Stalingrad Madonna, a charcoal drawing made by German army physician Kurt Reuber while Nazi forces were surrounded by the Red Army in 1942. Copies of the drawing are also held in a church in Volgograd and in Coventry Cathedral, which was also destroyed during a bombing raid in 1940.
Continuing the theme of reconciliation, the church also holds a copy of the Coventry Cross of Nails. The old ruins and new church are another common thread with Coventry, which also maintains strong links with the rebuilt Frauenkirche Dresden.
St Hedwig’s Cathedral
Berlin is a predominantly Protestant city, and its most prominent Roman Catholic church is the green-domed St Hedwig’s Cathedral on the corner of the Bebelplatz.
The church was part of Frederick the Great’s Forum Fridericianum, the series of buildings around what is now Bebelplatz, which was intended to reflect Berlin’s Enlightenment. A mixture of Neoclassical facade and light Baroque interior, the building has always made me think of the great Italian Renaissance architect Palladio, particularly some of his churches and other buildings in Vicenza and Venice.
St Hedwig’s was initially a parish church, raided to Cathedral status in 1930. Just three years later, under the new Nazi government, the Bebelplatz was the setting for an infamous event that symbolized the country’s descent into darkness.
The Nazis, led by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, burned around 20,000 books by authors with ideas that differed from their own, some of whom were Jewish. One of the priests at St Hedwig’s, Bernhard Lichtenberg, spoke out against the Nazis – he was to die two years after his arrest during his transport to the notorious Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, near Munich.
The Cathedral was severely damaged during 1943 Allied bombing raids, and then restored in the 1960s. Recently it has undergone a second restoration, and the Cathedral was only reopened in late 2024. The Crypt remains closed while works are ongoing.
The design of the newly-remodelled St Hedwig’s Cathedral has raised considerable controversy, with the placement of the high altar in the centre of the church – which is highly unusual in a Catholic place of worship.
Getting there: U5 to Museumsinsel, then a short walk to Bebelplatz
Deutscher Dom or Neue Kirche (German Cathedral or New Church)
A trivia question for you: Which European city has three ‘cathedrals’ which are not actual cathedrals? As well as the Berliner Dom, these two churches on the beautiful Gendarmenmarkt square, are both known as ‘Dom’ – which means a major church, but not necessarily a cathedral, which is the seat of a bishop. Both served as important Berlin parish churches, but neither has ever been a cathedral.
The Gendarmenmarkt is gorgeous. Home to the capital’s main Christmas Market, it’s graced by three outstanding buildings – Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s superb Konzerthaus is the centrepiece, with a fine domed church at either end of the square.
The Deutscher Dom is one of several churches in Berlin that no longer serve as places of worship. Originally built in the early 17th century, the first Baroque church on the site served both Lutheran and Calvinist congregations. The main difference between the two churches was the language used to worship: German was used in the German ‘Cathedral’, and (you guessed it) French in the French ‘Cathedral’.
Both churches are adorned by similar domes designed by Carl von Gontard in the 1780s. They were inspired by Jacques-Germain Soufflot’s design of what would become the Pantheon in Paris, which was being built around the same time. Although both domes are taller and narrower than the original.
After severe wartime damage the Deutscher Dom wasn’t rebuilt until the 1980s by the GDR government. When the building was completed in 1996, it reopened as a Museum of the History of the German Parliament, run by the Bundestag.
Französischer Dom (The French Church of Friedrichstadt)
The ‘French Cathedral’ is at the northern end of the Gendarmenmarkt , and was built as a church for the local Huguenot (also known as Calvinist) population who had arrived in Berlin in the early 18th century.
As with the Deutscher Dom at the other end of the square, the tall, elegant dome was added by Carl von Gontard in the 1780s – although it’s slightly apart from the body of the church.
The interior is beautiful, humble and simple – a surprise if you’ve visited many Baroque churches across Europe!
The church is also home toa small Huguenot Museum, and the climb up the 284 steps to the viewing gallery will reward you with outstanding views of the square and city. If you’re there on a sunny day, the later you visit the better!
Marienkirche
Berlin’s buildings rarely give up their secrets easily. You can often look at a photograph of a building and have a rough idea of where it may be from characteristics peculiar to a certain region. This is seldom the case with Berlin, where many of its most famous buildings are from the 18th-century Neoclassical period.
One of the few churches of Berlin that gives you a helpful hint is the Marienkirche, which dates back to the 13th century. The red brick Gothic gables on the exterior of the church are the giveaway – they are a common feature across northeastern Germany, along the Baltic coast and across the border in Poland.
The original St Mary’s Church dates from the second half of the 13th century, and it’s the oldest Berlin church still in use today. It makes for an amazing contrast with the soaring Fernsehturm (TV Tower) a short walk away in Alexanderplatz. And the interior is a wonderful surprise, with its simple white Gothic arches and vault and clear glass windows, it’s an uplifting space even on a dull Berlin winter’s day.
While inside, don’t miss the rare Dance of Death fresco, dating from the late 15th century. Very few of these have survived in Northern Europe, and this series of paintings was only uncovered in 1860, having previously been covered with whitewash.
Friedrichswerder Church (Friedrichswerder Kirche)
This 19th-century Berlin church is one of the most beautiful in the city, but like the nearby Nikolaikirche is now used as a museum rather than a place of worship.
I’ve always loved the simple red brick Gothic Revival exterior, and when I first saw it around the year 2000, that it was the work of perhaps Berlin’s – and Prussia’s – greatest architect, Karl Friedrich Schinkel.
He was mostly known for his Ancient Greek-inspired Altes Museum (Old Museum) a short distance away on Museum Island, and the Konzerthaus on the nearby Gendarmenmarkt. So this was a rare – but I’d say hugely successful – foray into neo-Gothic, something of which I wish we’d seen much more.
The building was badly damaged during the Second World War, and only restored in the 1980s. It never served as a church again, and was used instead to house exhibits from the nearby Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), also on Museum Island. When I first visited in 2000, it served as the Museum of 19th-Century Sculpture. After several years’ closure due to structural damage in the 2010s, it reopened in 2020, again showing works from the collections of the Alte Nationalgalerie.
Getting there: U5 to Museumsinsel, then a 5-minute walk via Niederlagstrasse
Gethsemane Church, Prenzlauer Berg
This 19th-century Protestant church in the former Eastern border suburb of Prenzlauer Berg is best known for its role in the lead-up to the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The church is classic late 19th-century Gothic Revival, albeit with some additional neo-Romanesque elements such as round-arched windows. It’s one of very few churches in Berlin to have survived the many bombardments of the city intact.
The statue of Christ at the entrance to the church was retrieved from the nearby Church of the Reconciliation, which GDR authorities demolished in 1965, close to the Berlin Wall Memorial site at Bernauer Strasse.
As elsewhere in East Germany in the 1980s, the church was also the venue for prayer meetings, and opponents of the totalitarian regime would also gather there despite Stasi surveillance.
Whereas the October 1989 Monday demonstrations that started in the Nikolaikirche Leipzig were able to proceed peacefully, the East Berlin Stasi cracked down violently on protesters around the corner from the church on Schönhauser Allee. Some sought refuge in the church, and around 500 were held by the Stasi until around the time the Berlin Wall fell a month later.
Getting there: S- or U-Bahn to Schönhauser Allee
Churches in Berlin – Final Words
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article on the best churches to visit in Berlin. Its role in 20th century history makes it such a compelling city to visit, and its churches are a fascinating part of this.
For more articles on Berlin, take a look at my guides to the best Berlin World War 2 Sites and the best Berlin Cold War sites to visit. Between them, these two articles cover all the main locations linked to Berlin’s tumultuous 20th-century history.
My article on Berlin Landmarks is a great primer for all the main – and a few less-known – sights to see around the city. And my guide to Photographing Berlin takes you further to even more curious corners to seek out. My feature on the best day trips from Berlin shows you the many amazing places to see within an hour or two of Berlin.
For further inspiration, take a look at my guide to the Best Places To Visit In Germany, and the companion feature on the Best Places To Visit In Eastern Germany.
I’ve also written many articles on churches in Europe. Check out my guides to the best churches in Dresden to visit, the best Churches in Nuremberg and best Churches in Quedlinburg. And across the Czech border, take a look at my guide to the best churches in Prague to explore. Further across Central Europe, check out my guides to the best Churches in Vienna and best churches in Budapest to visit.
And while you’re there, please do take a look at my extensive Germany Travel Guide page.