Berlin - St Hedwig's Cathedral St Hedwigs-Kathedrale

The building of the Baroque St Hedwig's cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Berlin and modeled on the Pantheon in Rome, began in 1747 (architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff). The money required to build it was collected in Roman Catholic countries by a Carmelite monk named Mecenati. The site was provided by Frederick the Great. Apart from the Cathedral, St Hedwig's is the only church built in Berlin during the time of Frederick the Great.

After the end of the Seven Years' War, building continued in 1772 under the direction of Johann Boumann the Elder, and the church was consecrated in November, 1773. It was named St Hedwig's Cathedral after the wife of Duke Henry of Silesia, who was much revered in Silesia (The conquest of Silesia by Frederick the Great had for the first time incorporated large Roman Catholic territories in Prussia). The relief on the pediment was carved by Nikolaus Geiger in 1898. The church was destroyed by fire in the Second World War and was rebuilt between 1952-63. The rather plain interior is modern, (architect Hans Schwippert), but the original structure of the dome has been preserved. In the crypt below the church are graves of bishops.