The St. Nikolai-Kirche, (Nikolaikirche or St. Nicholas' Church) is the oldest church in

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 ...

, the capital of Germany. The church is located in the eastern part of central Berlin, the borough 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 ...

. The area around the church, bounded by Spandauer Straße, Rathausstraße, the

River Spree Spree may refer to: Film and television * '' The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers''), an episode of the television show ''Numbe ...

and

Mühlendamm Mühlendamm (Mill Dam) is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte (locality), Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. It runs from the historic Cölln and Fischerinsel quarters to the Molkenmarkt square of Alt-Berlin via the Mühlendammbrücke (Mill D ...

, is known as the

Nikolaiviertel The (; 'Nicholas Quarter') is an old Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of the German capital of Berlin, founded . Together with nearby Cölln, they jointly make up Alt-Berlin, the reconstructed historical heart of the city. Located in the M ...

'Nicholas quarter', and is an area of restored

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

buildings (in some cases recent imitations). The church was built between 1220 and 1230, and is thus, along with the Church of Our Lady at

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 ...

not far away, the oldest church in Berlin.

History

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, the Church of St. Nicholas became 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 ...

church after the

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

in the

Electorate of Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the fifth-largest German state b ...

in 1539. In the 17th century, the prominent

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

-writer

Paul Gerhardt wikisource:The New International Encyclopædia/Gerhardt, Paulus, Paulus or Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheranism, Lutheran minister and hymnodist. Biography Gerhardt was born into a middle-class fam ...

was the minister of this church, and the composer

Johann Crueger Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

was musical director. The prominent Lutheran theologian Provost

Philipp Jacob Spener Philipp Jakob Spener (23 January 1635 – 5 February 1705) was a German Lutheran theologian who essentially founded what became known as Pietism. He was later dubbed the "Father of Pietism". A prolific writer, his two main works, ''Pia desider ...

was the minister from 1691 to 1705. From 1913 to 1923, the minister at the Church of St. Nicholas was Wilhelm Wessel, whose son

Horst Wessel Horst Ludwig Georg Erich Wessel (9 October 1907 – 23 February 1930) was a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, who became a propaganda symbol in Nazi Germany following his murder in 1930 by two members ...

later became famous as a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

: the family lived in the nearby

Jüdenstraße Jüdenstraße, or Juedenstrasse (see ß; ), is a street in central Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is in the borough of Mitte and runs between Rathausstraße and Stralauer Straße, next to the Rotes Rathaus, Berlin's town hall. It is one o ...

. On

Reformation Day Reformation Day is a Protestant Christian religious holiday celebrated on 31 October in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation. According to Philip Melanchthon, 31 October 1517 was the day Martin Luther nailed his '' Ninety-five Theses'' ...

in 1938 (October 31) the church building served its congregation for the last time. Then the building, the oldest structure in Berlin proper, was given up to the government, to be used as a concert hall and ecclesiastical museum. The number of parishioners had shrunk due to the ever intensifying

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

of the inner city, as residential premises became superseded by offices and shops. The congregation later merged with that of the Church of Our Lady. 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 ...

, the Church of St. Nicholas had its roof and the tops of its towers destroyed as a result of Allied bombing. In 1949 all the vaults and the northern pillars collapsed. The ruins were located 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 it was not until 1981 that the officially atheist East

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

authorities permitted the rebuilding of the church with old designs and plans. Thus, the Church of St. Nicholas as seen today is largely a reconstruction. Today the church serves again as a museum and as a regular concert venue, administered by the ''Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin (Landesmuseum für Kultur und Geschichte Berlins)''. There is an organ recital there almost every Friday at 5pm. It is renowned for its acoustics and the rebuilt church has been equipped with a fine set of 41 bells.

Organ

The current organ was made by the firm Jehmlich (

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

). It has 44 stops on three manuals. * Couplers I/II, III/I, III/II, I/P, II/P, III/P * 256-position sequencer

References

External links

Nikolaikirche

Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin

Museum Nikolaikirche
{{Authority control Nicholas Mitte

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

Berlin Nicholas Berlin Nicholas Nicholas Mitte Berlin Nicholas Berlin Nicholas

Rebuilt buildings and structures in Berlin Berlin Nicholas Buildings and structures completed in 1243 Churches completed in the 1240s Rebuilt churches in Germany