Berliner Dom
Berlin
The Berliner Dom is the largest church in Berlin. Julius Raschdorff built it between 1894 and 1905 on the Lustgarten, on Museum Island.
From palace chapel to cathedral
The cathedral's story begins in 1465 with a chapel in the palace on the Spree. Later the princes' church became the burial place of the ruling family.
In 1750 a Baroque church was consecrated on the Lustgarten. After 1871 Berlin was the capital of an empire, and that church seemed too modest.
The emperor's cathedral
William II chose the design by Julius Carl Raschdorff. The new cathedral was built from 1894 to 1905.
Beneath the church lies the crypt of the Hohenzollern family, one of the most important family tombs in Germany. In the Second World War, in 1944, it was badly damaged. The outside was rebuilt in simpler forms, and the inside was restored up to 2002.
The garden in front
The Lustgarten began in 1573 as the palace kitchen garden, with herbs and fruit trees. Over time it has changed many times: garden, parade ground and lawn.
In 1834 a great stone basin was placed here, still standing in front of the Altes Museum. The museum with the long row of columns was finished by Schinkel in 1830. It was one of the first buildings in Europe designed purely as a museum. Here the king's art collections were shown to the public for the first time.
