St. Hedwig's Cathedral
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St. Hedwig's Cathedral | |
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St. Hedwig's at the Bebelplatz
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Basic information | |
Location | Friedrichstadt, a historical neighbourhood of Berlin-Mitte |
Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
Province | Archdiocese of Berlin |
District | 1st deanery Berlin-Mitte |
Year consecrated | 1773 |
Website | www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de |
Architectural description | |
Architect(s) | Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, Jan Bouman the Elder (1747-1773), Max Hasak (1886-1887), Clemens Holzmeister (1930-1932), Hans Schwippert (reconstruction 1952-1963) |
Architectural style | Neoclassical |
Direction of façade | north-west |
Completed | 1773, 1887 (dome), 1932 (interior), 1963 (reconstruction) |
St. Hedwig's Cathedral (German: Sankt-Hedwigs-Kathedrale) is a Roman Catholic cathedral on the Bebelplatz in Berlin, Germany. It is the seat of the archbishop of Berlin.
History and Architecture
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.
Burials in the crypt
Gallery
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OpernplatzHedwigskirche1850.jpg
drawing of the cathedral by Joseph Maximilian Kolb, 1850
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Bundesarchiv Bild 183-Z0929-312, Berlin, Hedwigskirche, Opernplatz.jpg
photography of the cathedral, 1886
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Innenansicht der St.-Hedwigs-Kirche (Verona).jpg
interior view, ca. 1780
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M Hedwigskirche Berlin innen 1886.jpg
historic interior view before air raids 1943
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Berlin Hedwigskathedrale.jpg
interior with altar and lower church
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Berlin Hedwigskathedrale Altar.jpg
altar column
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St.Hedwig Berlin (31).JPG
organ in the lower church
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Grab Bernhard Lichtenberg.jpg
tomb of Blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg in the lower church
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Berlin - Hedwigskathedrale 4 Krypta.jpg
baptisterium
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. Hedwig's Cathedral (Berlin). |
- www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de Parish of St. Hedwig, Berlin (with mass-schedule and English pages)
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- Pages with broken file links
- Articles containing German-language text
- Commons category link is locally defined
- 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings
- Basilica churches in Germany
- Buildings and structures in Berlin destroyed during World War II
- Buildings and structures in Mitte
- Churches in Berlin
- Rebuilt buildings and structures in Berlin
- Religious buildings completed in 1773
- Roman Catholic cathedrals in Germany
- Roman Catholic churches completed in 1963
- Roman Catholic congregations established in the 18th century