Chapel of Reconciliation
Encyclopedia
The Chapel of Reconciliation stands on the site of the old Church of Reconciliation (Versöhnungskirche in German), on Bernauer Straße
in the Mitte
district of Berlin
.
. It received some damage in the Second World War, and still has a deactivated American bomb in the basement discovered during the reconstruction in 1999, but the church survived the war. With the division of Berlin in 1945, the church building found itself within the Soviet occupation zone
, with most of the parishioners in the neighbouring French zone
. This meant that when the Berlin Wall
was constructed in 1961, it ran directly in front of the church on its western side and behind it on the eastern side, preventing access to everyone except the border guards, who used its tower as an observation post. The church building was destroyed in 1985 in order ‘to increase the security, order and cleanliness on the state border with West Berlin’ according to the official justification by the GDR (German Democratic Republic
) government. Less than five years later, the Wall fell.
The Berlin architects Rudolf Reitermann and Peter Sassenroth were commissioned to design the chapel. Wooden columns were used for the outer oval wall, which recreates the shape of the chapel’s predecessor and the inner oval of the chapel is made from pressed clay and follows the usual east-west orientation of churches
. The chapel was constructed in 1999 under the leadership of the Austrian clay artist Martin Rauch. Volunteers from Open Houses (a German charity founded in 1989 that specialises in preserving endangered historical monuments in east Germany, with the help of foreign volunteers) came form fourteen eastern and western European countries to support the building project. To construct the walls, 30 cm of moist clay was put into position and then compressed by 8 cm, giving the wall’s structure its strength. Within the clay, pieces of stone and even glass are visible and these came from the rubble of the previous church. It is the first clay-built public building to be built for over 150 years in Germany and the first clay-built German church. On the 9th November 2000, on the eleventh anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Chapel of Reconciliation was consecrated.
The chapel unites architectural and ecological modernity with remembrance, standing as a triumph against its predecessors destruction. Its memorial and reconciliation roles are recognised by the chapel being part of Gedenkstaette Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall Memorial) and with it being included in Coventry Cathedral
’s Community of the Cross of Nails: a world symbol for reconciliation and peace. The chapel also has a replica of Coventry Cathedral’s Statue of Reconciliation, a gift of the Cathedral found in Hiroshima
and Belfast
too – also places emerging from the destructiveness of war.
After helping with the construction, Open Houses has continued its involvement with the chapel. Every year volunteers from around the world work at the chapel and help the parish with their work.
Bernauer Straße
Bernauer Straße is a street of Berlin situated between the localities of Gesundbrunnen and Mitte, today both belonging to the Mitte borough. It runs from the Mauerpark at the corner of Prenzlauer Berg to the Nordbahnhof...
in the Mitte
Mitte
Mitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin. It was created in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by the merger of the former districts of Mitte proper, Tiergarten and Wedding; the resulting borough retained the name Mitte. It is one of the two boroughs which comprises former West and...
district of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Church of Reconciliation
The church was completed in 1894 as an imposing brick-built building, in the neo-Gothic styleGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
. It received some damage in the Second World War, and still has a deactivated American bomb in the basement discovered during the reconstruction in 1999, but the church survived the war. With the division of Berlin in 1945, the church building found itself within the Soviet occupation zone
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
, with most of the parishioners in the neighbouring French zone
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
. This meant that when the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
was constructed in 1961, it ran directly in front of the church on its western side and behind it on the eastern side, preventing access to everyone except the border guards, who used its tower as an observation post. The church building was destroyed in 1985 in order ‘to increase the security, order and cleanliness on the state border with West Berlin’ according to the official justification by the GDR (German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
) government. Less than five years later, the Wall fell.
The rebuilding project
In the summer of 1990 the removal of the border fortifications began, leaving the land where the Church of Reconciliation had once stood overgrown with grass and shrubs. While the general trend was to get rid of the physical evidence of Berlin’s division, the Reconciliation Parish considered the most suitable use for the site, in a way that commemorated its past whilst looking towards the future. The result was to build a chapel on the site; a modern construction that considered ecological and historical concerns as well as the needs of its parishioners.The Berlin architects Rudolf Reitermann and Peter Sassenroth were commissioned to design the chapel. Wooden columns were used for the outer oval wall, which recreates the shape of the chapel’s predecessor and the inner oval of the chapel is made from pressed clay and follows the usual east-west orientation of churches
Orientation of Churches
The orientation of churches is the architectural feature of facing churches towards the east .The Jewish custom of fixing the direction of prayer and orienting synagogues influenced Christianity during its formative years. In early Christianity, it was customary to pray facing toward the Holy Land...
. The chapel was constructed in 1999 under the leadership of the Austrian clay artist Martin Rauch. Volunteers from Open Houses (a German charity founded in 1989 that specialises in preserving endangered historical monuments in east Germany, with the help of foreign volunteers) came form fourteen eastern and western European countries to support the building project. To construct the walls, 30 cm of moist clay was put into position and then compressed by 8 cm, giving the wall’s structure its strength. Within the clay, pieces of stone and even glass are visible and these came from the rubble of the previous church. It is the first clay-built public building to be built for over 150 years in Germany and the first clay-built German church. On the 9th November 2000, on the eleventh anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Chapel of Reconciliation was consecrated.
The chapel unites architectural and ecological modernity with remembrance, standing as a triumph against its predecessors destruction. Its memorial and reconciliation roles are recognised by the chapel being part of Gedenkstaette Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall Memorial) and with it being included in Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral, also known as St Michael's Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current bishop is the Right Revd Christopher Cocksworth....
’s Community of the Cross of Nails: a world symbol for reconciliation and peace. The chapel also has a replica of Coventry Cathedral’s Statue of Reconciliation, a gift of the Cathedral found in Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
and Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
too – also places emerging from the destructiveness of war.
After helping with the construction, Open Houses has continued its involvement with the chapel. Every year volunteers from around the world work at the chapel and help the parish with their work.
External links
- http://www.kapelle-versoehnung.de/bin/englisch/index.php
- http://www.openhouses.de/english/start.htm
- Versöhnungskirche (in German)