Reopening of the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche on 27 October 2020

06.10.2020
Friedrichswerdersche Kirche

After a nearly eight-year closing, the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche (Friedrichswerder Church) is reopening to the public on Tuesday, 27 October 2020. Built from 1824 to 1830, it is the only historically preserved church interior by Karl Friedrich Schinkel still in existence. The special exhibition Ideal and Form, opening at this site in parallel, features 19th century sculpture from the Nationalgalerie collection. Free admission.

As before its closing in 2012, the Friedrichswerder Church will once again serve as a branch of the Alte Nationalgalerie for the presentation of its comprehensive sculptural inventory. The Nationalgalerie owns one of the most extensive collections of 19th century sculpture and thus holds a prominent position within Germany’s museum landscape.

Special Exhibition: Ideal and Form

Showcasing sculpture from Schinkel’s era to the German Empire, the exhibition Ideal and Form traces this medium’s lines of development across the long 19th century into the Modern period. It invites visitors to rediscover the Berlin school of sculptors, which was internationally oriented even at that time. The Friedrichswerdersche Kirche (Friedrichswerder Church), planned and built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel from 1824‒30, has been a museum church and also a branch of the Alte Nationalgalerie since 1987. It offers a unique opportunity to experience 19th century sculpture in a largely originally preserved architectural setting from that same period – with changing natural light effects that reveal ever new facets of the works. Encompassing the most comprehensive inventory of 19th century German sculptural works of art, the Nationalgalerie sculpture collection holds a prominent position within Germany’s museum landscape.

The Friedrichswerdersche Kirche

The church was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and was constructed in the period from 1824 to 1830 – almost concurrent to the Altes Museum. The building’s proportions reveal how the architect nevertheless remained true to his aim 'to refine the Gothic by the ancient'. Once the church was completed, it was used by German and French congregations. The pulpit, altar, and stained glass windows (some of which are original) are visible remnants of the building’s religious use. Badly damaged in the Second World War, the church was at first only provisionally stabilized.

The church was opened in 1987 to coincide with the 750-year celebrations of the founding of Berlin. The East-German authorities put it to use as an additional venue for the (Alte) Nationalgalerie. After undergoing renewed restoration from 1997 to 2000, the church housed a permanent display of early 19th-century sculpture. As an affiliate department of the nearby Alte Nationalgalerie, until 2012 the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche was home to a selection of sculptures dating from the first half of the 19th century.

Special Admission and Health and Safety Regulations

Please note that because of the coronavirus pandemic there are special admission and health and safety regulations in effect in our museums until further notice.

• The number of visitors is limited and determined by the space available. All visitors aged 6+ are obliged to wear a mask/nose and mouth covering, to maintain a distance of at least 1.5 metres from other people, and to follow signs and the designated courses through all exhibition spaces.
• Museum visits are only possible with a time-slot ticket, which can be booked online: www.smb.museum/tickets.