St. Mary's Church, Berlin
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The St. Marienkirche (Church of St. Mary) is a church in Berlin, capital of Germany. The church is located in Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse (formerly Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse) in central Berlin, near the Alexanderplatz. Its exact age is not known, but it was first mentioned in German chronicles in 1292. It is presumed to date from earlier in the 13th century. It was originally a Roman Catholic church but since the Protestant Reformation it has been a Lutheran church.
Along with the Nikolaikirche, the Marienkirche is the oldest church in Berlin. The oldest parts of the church are made from granite, but most of it is built of brick, giving it its characteristic bright red appearance. This was deliberately copied in the construction of the nearby Berlin City Hall, the Rotes Rathaus. During World War II it was heavily damaged by Allied bombs. After the war the church was in East Berlin, and in the 1950s it was restored by the German Democratic Republic authorities.
Before World War II the Marienkirche was in the middle of a densely populated part of the borough of Mitte, and was in regular use as a parish church, but after the war this area was cleared of ruined buildings and today the church stands in the open spaces around the Alexanderplatz, and is overshadowed by the East Berlin television tower, the Fernsehturm. Today the Marienkirche is the seat of the Lutheran Church's Bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg, and is used mainly for ecumenical services and church music meetings. There is a striking statue of Martin Luther outside the church.
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