St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale

The Bishop's Church of the Archdiocese of Berlin

St Hedwig's Cathedral will be ceremoniously reopened at Christmas time on 24 November 2024. In the heart of Berlin, it fascinates with its striking dome and the modern, simple interior, which has been extensively remodelled.

St Hedwig's Cathedral in the centre of Berlin - a church that has stood for religious tolerance throughout history and has been rebuilt in recent years. The Episcopal Church of the Archdiocese of Berlin adorns Bebelplatz with its striking dome. The simple interior of the round building has been renovated and remodelled in recent years to enable future church services to be celebrated in accordance with the liturgical guidelines of the Second Vatican Council.

A diamond of architecture

It is one of the most important Catholic places of worship in Germany: until it was closed for renovation in September 2018, St Hedwig's Cathedral attracted more than 200,000 visitors every year.
Since the previous redesign of the church in the 1960s, there had been a floor opening measuring around eight metres in the centre of the church interior. It was closed during the renovation in recent years - even though it was criticised by conservationists in particular. The redesign was carried out for purely liturgical reasons, as St Hedwig's Cathedral is and will remain first and foremost a house of worship where liturgy, proclamation and charity take place.
The renovated cathedral in Mitte will be a place that is open, inviting and interesting for all people. "If you imagine Bebelplatz as a ring, then the renovated cathedral is where the diamond is in the ring," says Stefan Förner from the Archbishop's Ordinariate.

Visualisation of the vestibule of Saint Hedwig's Cathedral

Saint Hedwig's Cathedral will be reopened on 24 November 2024 with a major programme.

First Catholic church in reformed Berlin - a look back in history

St Hedwig's Cathedral is the first Catholic church to be built in Protestant Berlin after the Reformation:

The Prussian King Frederick the Great allowed the circular building modelled on the Pantheon, in order to pay homage to the Catholic Silesians in Berlin. Frederick also donated the building site on the Forum Friderizianum, the new prestigious square next to the opera house and library. Between 1747 and 1773, St Hedwig's was built by Johann Boumann the Elder according to the plans of Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff.

In 1930, the diocese of Berlin was founded. St Hedwig's became an episcopal church and its interior was redesigned in the Expressionist style. After the destruction of the rotunda following an air raid in the Second World War, reconstruction began in 1952, with the interior being redesigned by architect Hanns Schwippert.

Since 2010, the cathedral has been increasingly in need of renovation. The previous liturgical celebration of services in accordance with the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council has long been hampered by the wide floor opening with a broad staircase in the centre of the cathedral. The Archdiocese of Berlin therefore launched a competition for a new spatial concept in November 2013. Of the 169 designs submitted, the jury decided in favour of the proposal by Sichau & Walter Architekten GmbH/Fulda and Leo Zogmayer/Vienna. The new church interior no longer features a wide circular floor opening, but an altar in the centre around which the congregation gathers.

Resistance under National Socialism: cathedral provost Bernhard Lichtenberg

Bernhard Lichtenberg has been cathedral provost since 1938. He opposed the National Socialist terror, prayed publicly for persecuted Jews and condemned the euthanasia programme. After his arrest, he dies after two years in prison while being transferred to a concentration camp. In 1996, Pope John Paul II beatifies Bernhard Lichtenberg during his visit to Berlin. In 2004, the Yad Vashem memorial honoured him as "Righteous Among the Nations".