Evangelische Gedenkkirche Plötzensee

The Evangelische Gedenkkirche Plötzensee at Heckerdamm is one of the three churches dedicated to commemorating the victims of the Nazi justice system in the former Plötzensee prison. It is located at an airline distance of about 1.5 to the west of the Plötzensee Memorial and is characterized by its inconspicuous appearance.

Because from the street, it is really hard to tell that this simple-looking building, built in 1970, is actually a church. The only giveaway is the large, unadorned concrete cross in the front. In addition to the main church, this functionally designed building also houses a day care centre, apartments, offices and community rooms.

A modern-design church

The main church, which has windowless walls made of raw concrete, is inspired by the church reform ideas from the 1960s: its design where the altar is positioned at the centre and the rows of seats are arranged around it in a square is intended to encourage community spirit and make people feel more involved in the service. Furthermore, the appearance of the main church, which only receives daylight through a single skylight in the high ceiling, has intentionally been kept reminiscent of a prison cell. This serves as a direct reference to the memory of the victims of the Plötzensee prison.

The “Plötzensee Dance of Death” 

Behind the simple facade of the memorial church hides an extremely special attraction: the “Plötzensee Dance of Death” by Alfred Hrdlicka is one of the most significant works of contemporary church art in Berlin. This impressive painting has 16 panels, each of which is 3.50 m high and 0.99 m wide. The artist has used pencil, charcoal, ink, opaque white and red chalk here. In this traditional medieval dance of death, the panels showcase biblical motifs - right from Cain and Abel to the crucifixion of Jesus, alongside other modern situations of violence and executions in Plötzensee. Depictions of iron hooks, steel beams and round arches, which can be seen on all panels, indicate the Plötzensee execution shed. The work concludes on an optimistic note with the “Emmaus – Last Supper – Easter” panels.

Read more about the Path of Remembrance, on which the Plötzensee Memorial Church is located, at visitBerlin.de.