St. Marienkirche Berlin

Berlin, Germany

Standing in the open spaces around Alexanderplatz in central Berlin, the St. Marienkirche (Church of St. Mary) is one of the German capital's oldest churches. Originally serving a Roman Catholic congregation, since the Reformation the Marienkirche has been home to an active Lutheran community. Regular lunchtime organ concerts and a busy musical calendar attract visitors and locals alike.

The exact age of the original church on this site is not known, but the structure is presumed to date from the 13th Century. The present building combines an elegant simplicity with baroque touches, notably the organ, but is primarily representative of restoration work carried out in the late 19th Century and after the Second World War. The church also contains a number of examples of religious art from different periods throughout its long history. The oldest sections of the church are built of granite, but the later use of red brick in the Marienkirche also inspired another famous Berlin landmark — the nearby Rotes Rathaus, or Red Town Hall.