The major stop today is the largest Protestant church in Germany and possibly the largest Lutheran Protestant building in the world, the Berliner Dom. It was built early 20th century at the order of Emperor William II, the last Emperor of Germany. The idea was to show the importance of Berlin and Germany and directly contrast it against the Papal Basilica in Rome. It was damaged by Allied bombing in World War 2 and then reconstructed and partially demolished during the DDR period.
It is quite expensive to enter but it is a one time only expense so in we go. We also get a couple audio guides to explain to us what we are seeing but they are quite verbose and soon we just listen to a selection and then enjoy the church.
It is quite a beautiful one, it does not look like a Protestant church at all, it looks more Catholic than any Protestant church we have seen. But maybe it is a different denomination than the ones we have seen before?
The altar is also surprisingly beautifully decorated and we enjoy exploring the church for a time. But then we notice the sarcophagi and we learn that below is the crypt of the Hohenzollern and that it just was re-opened to the public so it is something to see later.
We listen to the audio guide for some time explaining the different details of the Dom and then return the guide as it is time to explore the crypt below.
The crypt is below the church, as expected, and it was significantly damaged during the Allied bombing. Multiple sarcophagi were destroyed and the whole crypt was significantly damaged. The first room has an exhibit showing photos after the bombing and they are quite sobering showing broken sarcophagi and the destroyed room.
There are also exhibits of how the Hohenzollern were buried and explanations on who was buried, children especially were not always receiving burials given the very high death rates.
And then we enter the renovated crypt which is impressively large. It has re-opened only recently so we are some of the first people to see it with rows and rows of sarcophagi and caskets. You can easily see which are new because the original was destroyed in the bombing, those are the less ornate ones while the original sarcophagi are quite ornate and special.
Here are the sarcophagi of many from the ruling Hohenzollern family of Brandenburg and then Prussia and finally Germany until the abdication in 1918. They are quite interesting to see and to understand from which period they came from.
But the more haunting are the ones that have been destroyed including the one of King Friedrich I, the first King of Prussia. And close by is one that has been left semi-destroyed to show the scale of destruction, this one housing King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia one of the most famous leaders of Prussia.
And then from the crypt it is time to climb to the top to view the city from above. That is quite an undertaking so we are happy that there multiple spots to rest and enjoy the views inside the Dom. This also allows us to estimate how far we still have to climb, a lot unfortunately.
Probably about half-way up is a small Dom Museum showing how the Dom was constructed and plaster models from various statues that were used to repair and reconstruct them after they were destroyed.
There are some also some paintings here and we enjoy seeing how the Dom looked before it being destroyed and also to understand a bit about emperor’s funerals.
At the next rest opportunity when going up we sneak a view into the Dom and notice we are quite high up, not a lot left to go. Or so we think.
But then the stairs become more narrow and winding and we barely crawl up and up until we finally reach the outdoor platform. Phew. From the beginning we have some nice views of the city, towards Alexanderplatz and the incoming ominous looking dark clouds.
We decide to speed up through the area to ensure we are not caught by any thunderstorms. But still we have to take photos and enjoy the views and catch our breath as the climb has been quite exhausting.
We are more relaxed after we see a few lightning rods, hopefully if worst comes to worst they can protect us from any lightning. And the views are becoming even better, we can see the Potsdamer Platz in the distance and we can trace our way to the Dom via the Unter den Linden boulevard, quite impressive to have such a bird’s eye view.
Next we have some great views of the Humboldt Forum, the former Berlin Palace and the Red Town Hall (Rotes Rathaus). We initially assume it was build during the Soviet years to imitate Moscow buildings but actually it is an older building built in the 19th century and now houses the administration of unified Berlin. And then we are at the separate descent door which we take down for a long descent right into the souvenir shop. From here it is time to return to the hotel but we take a different route as we want to visit Checkpoint Charlie along the way and also meander through old Berlin.
