St. Mary's Church, known in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

as the Marienkirche or St.-Marien-Kirche, is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is located on Karl-Liebknecht-Straße (formerly Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße) in central Berlin, near

Alexanderplatz (, ''Alexander Square'') is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the north-ea ...

. The exact age of the original church site and structure is not precisely known, but it was mentioned as the site of the alleged theft by Jews of the wafers in an act of

Host Desecration Host desecration is a form of sacrilege in Christian denominations that follow the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It involves the mistreatment or malicious use of a consecrated Sacramental bread, host—the bread used in ...

in 1243. As a result of these charges, a number of Jews were burnt at the stake at a place later called Judenberg. It is also mentioned in German chronicles in 1292. It is presumed to date from earlier in the 13th century. The architecture of the building is now largely composed of comparatively modern restoration work which took place in the late 19th century and in the post-war period. The church was originally a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church, but has been a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

church since the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

in 1539. While keeping this confession the parish was part of the

Prussian Union of churches The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in P ...

from 1817 to 1948, an umbrella church body combining parishes maintaining mostly the Lutheran, but also some the Calvinist and few the United Protestant confession.

Overview

Marienkirche is the church of the

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia with

Berlin Cathedral Berlin Cathedral (), also known as the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, is a monumental Protestant Church in Germany, German Protestant church and dynastic tomb (House of Hohenzollern) at the Lustgarten on the Museum Island ...

being under joint supervision of all the member churches of the Union of Evangelical Churches. However, the church is not titled cathedral, a titulature not usual in German Protestantism but only colloquial for cathedral churches which used to be sees of Catholic bishops before the Reformation. Along with the Nikolaikirche, the Marienkirche is the oldest church in Berlin. The oldest parts of the church are made from

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

, but most of it is built of

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

, giving it its characteristic bright red appearance. This was deliberately copied in the construction of the nearby Berlin City Hall, the

Rotes Rathaus The Red Town Hall ( ) is the town hall of Berlin, Germany, located in the Mitte (locality), Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the Governing Mayor of Berlin, governing mayor and the government (the Senate of B ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was heavily damaged by Allied bombs. After the war the church was in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

, and in the 1950s it was restored by the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

authorities. Before World War II, the Marienkirche was in the middle of a densely populated part (''Marienviertel'') of the district of

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuz ...

, and was in regular use as a parish church. 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. There is a striking statue of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

outside the church. The Marienkirche also contains the monumental tomb of

Otto Christoph von Sparr Otto Christoph Freiherr von Sparr (13 November 1599 or 1605 – 9 May 1668) was a ''Generalfeldmarschall'' of Brandenburg-Prussia. Sparr came from a noble family from the Margraviate of Brandenburg. He was born either in Lichterfelde near Eberswa ...

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (; from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire, (''Reichsgeneralfeldmarsch ...

of Brandenburg-Prussia made by the Flemish sculptor Artus Quellinus the Elder possibly with the assistance of Bartholomeus Eggers.Regina Bartsch-Molden: ''Artus Quellinus' Grabmal Sparr. Der Einfluß der Niederlande auf das Grabmal in Norddeutschland zwischen 1650 und 1725.'' PEter LAng Verlag, FrankfurtM. 1993, (zugl. Dissertation FU Berlin 1992). Carl Hildebrand Freiherr von Canstein, the founder of the oldest Bible society of the world, the Cansteinsche Bibelanstalt, was also buried in the church in 1719. Image:Neuer Markt, Berlin 1880.jpg, ''Neuer Markt'' and St. Mary's Church, ca. 1880 Image:Berlin Mitte St. Marienkirche Lutherdenkmal 1906.jpg, St. Mary's Church surrounded by houses of the ''Marienviertel'' and the Luther monument, 1906 Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-24785-0005, Berlin, Marienkirche.jpg, Similar perspective, 1954 Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1985-0406-005, Berlin, Marienkirche, Fernsehturm.jpg, St. Mary's Church and ''Fernsehturm'', 1985 Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0311-032, Berlin, Marienkirche vom Rathausturm.jpg, St. Mary's Church from the tower of the ''Rotes Rathaus'', 1987 Image:View of St Marienkirche from the Berlin TV tower.jpg, St. Mary's Church from the ''Fernsehturm'', 2009 Image:Relief Karl-Liebknecht-Str 8 (Mitte) Stadtmodell 1880.jpg, City model with St. Mary's Church in ''Marienviertel'' and ''Heilige-Geist-Viertel'' around 1880, Alexanderplatz station on the left,

Berlin Palace The Berlin Palace (), formerly known as the Royal Palace (), is a large building adjacent to Berlin Cathedral and the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin. It was the main residence of the Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia and Ge ...

on the right

Personalities

Christoph Albrecht was notably the church's organist/choirmaster from 1976 to 1992.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Mary Mitte Mary Mitte Berlin Mary Mitte Berlin Mary's Mitte