St. Hedwig's Cathedral
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St. Hedwig's Cathedral (German: Sankt Hedwigskathedrale) is a Roman Catholic cathedral on the Bebelplatz in Berlin, Germany.
It was built in the 18th century by Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. The King's friend, Ignacy Krasicki, Bishop of Warmia (later Archbishop of Gniezno), officiated at the Cathedral's 1773 opening.
The Cathedral was named after the patron saint of Silesia and Brandenburg, St. Hedwig of Andechs, and commemorated the arrival of Catholic Silesian immigrants to Brandenburg and Berlin.
In 1931, the bishop of Berlin appointed Bernhard Lichtenberg as Canon of the Cathedral Chapter of St Hedwig, who after the kristalnacht 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.