Sophienkirche

The Sophienkirche is a Protestant church built according to the concept and plans of master builder Philipp Gerlach. The church was built in 1712-13 and was originally consecrated as the 'Spandau church'. It was only under the successor of King Friedrich II (1740-1786) that it was named after Sophie Luise and has since been called Sophienkirche. The baroque church tower was added in 1732-1734 by the master-builder Johann Friedrich Grael. On 13 September 1964, the American civil rights activist Martin Luther King preached in the Sophienkirche during a surprise visit to East Berlin.

About this building

Key Features

  • Architecture
  • Monuments

Visitors information

  • Bus stop within 100m
  • Café within 500m

Other nearby buildings

New Synagogue

The New Synagogue in Berlin was built from 1859 to 1866 designed in an eastern Moorish style by Eduard Knoblauch. The building resembles the Alhambra and is an important architectural monument of the second half of the 19th century in Berlin. The synagogue was miraculously not destroyed under Hitler, but the army confiscated it for use as a material depot from 1940 onwards. On the night of 23rd November 1943, during an air attack by the Royal Air Force, the synagogue was hit and heavily damaged. Under Soviet occupation, the damaged parts of the building were completely removed in the summer of 1958. Since the 1990s the synagogue has reopened as Centrum Judaicum, a centre of Jewish life in Berlin.

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Berlin Cathedral

Berlin Cathedral is a protestant church founded in the 16th century. The present building is a third reconstruction in the neo-Renaissance and neo-Baroque styles dating from between 1894 and 1905. Badly damaged during the Second World War, the exterior of the cathedral was simplified during a renovation completed in 1984 and, until 2002, it was rebuilt inside in keeping with the original. The Hohenzollern Crypt, located beneath the cathedral, is one of the most important dynastic tombs in Europe.

St. Mary's Church

St. Mary's Church is a Lutheran-Evangelical church built from 1250, making it one of the oldest places of worship in the city. After the damage caused by a fire, the parish renovated the tower structure in 1663-1666 according to the plans and under the direction of Michael Mathias Smids in the Baroque style. In the sense of a return to the Gothic style, Hermann Blankenstein commissioned extensive work between 1893 and 1894, which contributed considerably to giving the church its present appearance.