When a church finally dies.
Today was another cold and rainy day but thankfully I spent most of my time in museums and churches only walking 7 miles today. If you are keeping track that brings my total walking distance to 36 miles in 4 days. [Picture is a view of the Berlin Cathedral from 2nd floor inside the Old National Gallery.]
Like yesterday I set up my desired destinations in google maps and proceeded through them in order. Since many of the pictures from museums would be meaningless without context, I’ve spent the great part of the late afternoon and evening organizing the pictures in files on my Facebook account, as well as documenting most of them. So, if the picture is of a musical manuscript from Egypt or a Coptic church father, a painting by Paul Cezanne, or a Celtic helmet the notation on the picture will say so. In the following list you can see today’s journey and you can click on each to see today’s pictures.
MUSEUMS
Old National Galerie - 3 Museums in one.
CHURCHES
St. Marienkirche - Redbrick Gothic Protestant Church
Parochialkirche - the first Calvinist Church in Berlin
Friedrichswerdersche Kirche - the first Neo-Gothic church built in Berlin. It was designed by architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, better known for his Neoclassical architecture. His artwork is displayed in the church.
Although the weather was awful, and Covid has added another level of caution, all of the greeters, security, and attendants at the museums and churches were wonderful. Berlin could be called the city of great church buildings, but not churches. Sadly, the vibrant days of Luther and the Reformers have long passed, and these great buildings seem to be nothing more than echo chambers for the few last attenders. This was no more obvious than my last stop where a great Neo-Gothic church has been turned into a museum housing the artwork of the building's architect. Buildings are good, but Jesus is better! Great ornate church buildings without passionate followers of Christ mock us and shame our Lord.
All and all it was a great day of seeing and learning. I'll leave you with a few of my favorites from today's journey. You'll have to go to the links above to find context and commentary.