Reminder of the Past

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church with Huawei behind it

I have arrived in Berlin for a few days and so far it's been colder than I thought! I have had to put on more layers just to keep warm.

Nevertheless the city is an interesting mix of old and new, though most of the city was bombed out during World War II and some sections of the city had to rebuild from scratch.

The extremely intricate ceiling decorated in mosaics

But there are a few places that are purposely left in its damaged state as a reminder of what happened to the building.

One of them is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The project was initiated by Kaiser Wilhelm II to honour his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm I, and construction started in 1890, and completed in 1894. It was officially consecrated 1906.

However on November 23, 1943, the church was severely damaged by an air raid. Parts of it were salvaged and when you first see the building, there are parts of it that are completely bombed out, others in tact.

A mosaic on the floor shows an angel slaying a dragon

Upon entering, visitors are blown away by the intricate mosaics on the ceiling of the foyer -- most of it is still in tact and glittering in gold. There are mosaics on the floor too, painstakingly put together, including an image of an angel slaying a dragon by the entrance.

Flanking the bombed out church are two parts of the new church designed by architect Egon Eiermann. He preserved the spire, incorporating it into the new tower. However we weren't able to see it, as it is covered by scaffolding sponsored by Huawei -- which is intriguing. Have you seen Huawei sponsor the renovation of a cultural landmark, let alone a religious one?

Or did the company find that tower to irresistible for advertising to care that it's actually the church spire?

The new church has a wonderful glow from the stained glass

In any event, the lower building, the rebuilt church, features a honeycomb design of over 21,000 stained glass inlays.  The glass designer, Gabriel Loire, was inspired by the cathedral at Chartres, and at night when the glass is lit up, has a wonderful dark blue glow.