13.12.2019
Friedrichswerdersche Kirche
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday 18 January and Sunday 19 January 2020, the Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin invites the public to visit the Friedrichswerdsche Kirche for a weekend of events. Once more, Visitors will finally have the chance to explore the church, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and closed for years due to restoration work, before it reopens as an exhibition venue for the Nationalgalerie in fall 2020.
The Friedirchswerdsche Kirche was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and constructed between 1824 and 1830, more or less concurrently with the Altes Museum. Originally planned in a Neoclassical style, Schinkel bowed to the wishes of Crown Prince Wilhelm, who preferred a church in the “old German” or Neo-Gothic style. Upon completion, the church was used by the German and French congregations of the Evangelical Churches of Prussia. Heavy damage during the Second World War meant the building had to be painstakingly restored between 1979 and 1986.
The reopening of the building and its first use as an exhibition space ultimately occurred as part of the celebrations to mark the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin in 1987. Since 2012, the church has only been able to be admired from without, since the construction of new buildings nearby had caused significant damage, necessitating painstaking repair and restoration work, which has only just reached completion. The Friedrichswerdsche Kirche is the only surviving church designed by Schinkel that retains the original appearance of both the façade and the interior.
As it was before its closure in 2012, the Friedrichswerdsche Kirche will now once again be used as an outpost of the Nationalgalerie for presenting sculptures. In fall2020, a newly conceived exhibition will open, featuring works of sculpture from the Nationalgalerie’s collection from Schinkel’s time through to the era of the German Empire. The open weekend at the Friedrichswerdsche Kirche will be accompanied by a diverse and informative programme of guided tours focusing on the history of the church’s architecture and its restoration.
Following this weekend, up until the opening of the exhibition in fall of 2020, public tours will be offered on every second and fourth Sunday of the month.