Berliner Dom, Berlin

The Berliner Dom rises before you as a monumental Protestant church and a dynastic tomb. Its broad façade, towering dome, and dense sculptural treatment give the building a ceremonial weight. Julius Carl Raschdorff designed this church, built from 1894 to 1905 for Wilhelm II in Neorenaissance and Neobarock forms.

It is Germany’s largest Protestant church and among Europe’s most important dynastic burial places. The building’s story also includes severe wartime damage: the exterior was altered by 1984, while the interior was reconstructed by 2002. Since the northern Memorial Church was demolished in 1975, the surviving complex contains the central Sermon Church, the Baptismal and Matrimonial Church, and the Hohenzollern crypt.

The crypt connects this impressive worship space with generations of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Services take place here, but the church also hosts state ceremonies, concerts, and other events. Read the inscription as a final note of purpose: “SIEHE ICH BIN BEI EUCH ALLE TAGE BIS AN DER WELT ENDE. UNSER GLAUBE IST DER SIEG, DER DIE WELT UEBERWUNDEN HAT.”