The adventure continued this week. Logan started the week with a case of bronchitis. By the time Monday morning rolled around he had been up most of the night with a terrible cough and stuffy nose. It was clear that he couldn’t go to school. Chad worked from home while we waited for 3pm to roll around so we could go to open office hours at the Dr. Apparently sickness descends on Berlin just like Fall - sudden and without warning. The doctor’s office was full of kids with the same cough and other symptoms. We saw the doctor and were instructed to stay home through Wednesday. In Germany you are more than encouraged to stay home from school and work when you are sick - it’s expected. By Thursday everyone was back at school & work and Logan got to finally celebrate his birthday with his class mates - they were super excited to see him back in class.

As the week came to a close we wanted to get out of the house after spending much of the week in our flat. We decided to do something we should have done a long time ago, visit the Berliner Dom. We ride our bikes past it weekly, Chad’s taken many pictures from the outside and it’s a staple of the Berlin city scape with it’s grand dome that can be seen from afar. Until recently we didn’t know that you could climb to the top; with this new information a visit to this magnificent site became imminent.

Berlin Cathedral was completed in 1905 but it’s rich history goes back much further. In 1454 Frederick II of Brandenburg, “The Iron,” returned from his pilgrimage in Jerusalem and Rome to his new palace on Cölln (known today as Museum Island and located about 600 meters from our flat). Upon his return Frederick asked Pope Nicholas V to elevate the chapel on the island to a parish church due to the new alters and relics he was bestowing to the chapel from his travels. Ten yeas later Pope Paul II elevated the new church to a collegiate church which equated it to a cathedral - a big deal for Catholics of the time. Over the centuries the architecture changed and various different styles were erected on the site including a completely new structure in 1747. In the mid 16th century Prussia and its churches were converting to Lutheranism and in 1608 the college was dissolved and the title of Supreme Parish Church of Holy Trinity in Cölln was bestowed on the church. Essentially, the newly found Protestants were making a major statement to the Pope. The renaming and disillusion of the college was a huge step forward for the Lutherans and would a major step to cement Lutheranism in Prussia for the next 400 years.

In the late 19th century Kaiser Wilhelm II took the plans his father Friedrich III had drafted years earlier and commissioned the Berlin Cathedral. By 1905 the cathedral was complete. Wilhelm, like his father, wanted to build on the legacy of their family dynasty and there was no better way to do this, at the time, than to commission a great cathedral to celebrate the birth place of Lutheranism and the severity of the king. Such a structure was a reminder that his family line had unified Prussia, and that his severity remained intact during a turbulent time in Russia/Europe. It was the last great structure the Hohenzollern dynasty would bestow on Prussia and as he would abdicate 13 years later. 

The cathedral is purposely modelled off of the Sistine Chapel in Rome in an effort to equalise Lutheranism to Catholicism. The interior of the cathedral is breathtaking. Above the front alter are sculptures of the key theological figures from the reformation. To the rear on the same level are the Prussian royalty that oversaw the reformation. To the West is a magnificent organ that is never silent during opening hours and to the East are  the ceremonial sarcophagus of Friedrich I and Sophia Charlotte (the first king of Prussia). The Kaiser’s family sat above and to the back in perfect view of the alter under mosaic depicting the beatitudes of  the Sermon On The Mount. Every last detail down to the way the light from the stained glass hits the sculptures was influenced by Wilhelm II. He was said to have made suggestions to the artists, including giving notes to the sculptures regarding Luther’s statue, and to have helped draft the architectural plans.

After taking in the majesty of the interior, and light’n one for the Yos, we headed up the stairs to see Berlin from the dome’s catwalk. Logan made it all the way up without assistance (which was better than some of the other adults). From the top you have a 360 degree view of Berlin. It’s amazing how small Berlin really is. Last winter we took the train most places because we didn’t know the are or the joys of biking around the city. This always left us with a sense things were a greater distance than they actually were. However, on Saturday as we stood on the catwalk we could see all of the major sites we have already visited including our flat. Similar to climbing the Reichstag, you can see much of the city. Berlin is an old city and as such much of the city scape only has 5-6 story buildings.  

After taking in the views, and continually convincing Doreen that the catwalk was not going to give way, we headed back down stairs. Mid way down there is a museum with the original sculptures and models the architect used during the design of the building. The detail in the models was remarkable. The red model was an original suggestion of what the cathedral could look like.

The last stop on the tour was the Hohenzollern crypt where we got to see the final resting place of Wilhelm and his queen along with many more of the royal family. There are 94 burials in the crypt, that range from the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 20th century, which makes this one of the most important burial sites in all of Europe. The sarcophagi collected here, and in the main chapel, represent over 500 years of Brandenburg/Prussian culture. It was shocking to see how many children there were but after watching a video it became obvious why. In addition to the many dangers and other hard aspects of life hundreds of years ago, the royals didn’t breastfeed their children -they gave them to a wet-nurse. If the wet-nurse ran out of milk they would feed the young child wine and mash not knowing that would kill an infant. Apparently it took a while to learn that lesson.

After the war much of Berliner Dom was devastated and it fell in Easy Germany and sat un-repaired for users. The DDR didn’t want to repair it but couldn’t bulldoze it due to pressure from the church. Finally, in the 70’s the East reached a deal with the West to fund the repairs using DDR resources. This deal ended up being the blueprint for Soli Tax - a system after the wall came down where the West would pay to upgrade the East’s infrastructure. 

It was a remarkable way to spend a Saturday morning and to finally see the cathedral whose bells we often hear from our flat. We understand there are many Christmas services and other festivals throughout the year so we will be back for sure. It’s also going on our list of preferred places to recommend and/or take guests when in town.

We headed to lunch for some delicious Syrian food and then to take a walk around Berlin on the way home. During our walk we spent some time reflecting on the time we’ve had in Berlin and how lucky we are to have this opportunity. This was never our ‘plan’ but now it’s hard to imagine life without this chapter. We feel like we are growing tighter as a family even though we spend less time together with work and school in the mix. I think this is a direct result of the ability we have to experience new and exciting places and cultures. Although it’s feeling more and more like home here, the novelty you feel when you travel to a foreign place has yet to wear off. In many respects it feels like one big European vacation. We hope we never get used to that.

Until Next Time,

The McNeills