Hitler's Church

Recently, the Potsdam city parliament rejected a referendum which would have transferred decision-making control over the reconstruction to the citizens. 

This is the latest chapter in an ongoing debate that has bitterly divided the city.

The Garrison Church, an 18th-century Protestant Baroque church was, until 1918, the parish church of the Prussian royal family. 

Bach played there and the kings of Prussia, including Frederick the Great, are buried there. 

The church was damaged by British air raids in 1945 and finally demolished in 1968 by East Germany’s former communist regime.

The reason for the present controversy, however, is that the church was the scene of Hitler’s legitimization in the eyes of Germany’s upper class, a critical moment in his rise to power. 

On March 21, 1933, Hitler reconvened the new parliament, the ‘Reichstag’, after the notorious Reichstag fire the previous month. The opening ceremony on the "Day of Potsdam" was a carefully choreographed gathering held at the Garrison Church, staged to demonstrate unity between the Nazi movement and the old Prussian elite and military.

Potsdam’s Social-democrat mayor Jann Jakobs, who supports the rebuilding project, said he does not want to hear more arguments against the controversial construction and that the process has been conducted according to the law.

“It was once one of the finest Baroque churches in northern Germany and it shaped the image of the city,” said Jakobs. “It reflects the whole contradictory nature of German history like a mirror.”

The Christian Democratic Chancellor, Angela Merkel, along with much of the current conservative political elite, also supports the reconstruction, as does Germany’s Protestant Church. The new building is intended to help restore Potsdam’s architectural integrity and become a symbol of reconciliation.

“For me this is a very important place for the work of peace and reconciliation,” says Wolfgang Huber, the former bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg and chairman of the committee in charge of reconstruction. 

The interior of the building will serve as a memorial space, offering exhibitions of Germany’s past. According to Huber, “Leaving the space empty would mean giving the victory to Goebbels.”