The Berlin Cathedral/Berliner Dom as it stands today was built in 1905 (and rebuilt in the latter half of the 20th century after significant damage during WWII), but there’s been a seat of worship at it’s location since the mid 1400’s. Climb to the top, and you can walk out along the edge of the main dome for great 360 views of the city and a better look at the beautiful green roofing material and ornamentation. 

St. Nicholas’s Church/ Nikolaikirche (pictured below as seen from the top of the Berliner Dom) is the oldest church in Berlin. Built between 1220-1230, it suffered severe damage during WWII and, as it was located in East Berlin, remained in ruins until restoration began in 1981. It’s a beautiful church with a great collection of church art inside and excellent interpretive panels to help you understand what you are seeing. I really loved that they had set up a seating area on the second floor above the entryway (I know there’s a real term for this place!) where you can listen to traditional church music from the entire history of Nikolaikirche. It was a really powerful experience to sit and listen to choirs singing Medieval chants in such an old sacred space. 

35mm taken with my Canon EOS Rebel 2000. Click here for more posts from Germany.

And don’t forget to check out my podcast about museums and travel, Museums in Strange Places, available on Apple Podcasts and wherever else you get your podcast fix.