I recently listened to a podcast that asked the participants for one of their best Christmas memories, which got me thinking. I have a lot wonderful Christmas memories. For many years, it was mostly the five of us, my mother, Jennie, Ross, Susan, and me, and they were great. Then, after my mother passed away, the four of us did some traveling over Christmas: Guadeloupe, Peru, and maybe the best: Berlin in 2010.
We went to Germany in December, 2010, to see the Christmas markets – and Germany in the snow. And there was a lot of snow in 2010. We decided to stay until December 26, so we could celebrate Christmas in Berlin.
On Christmas Eve, we ended our sightseeing early and went back to the hotel for our own Christmas celebration. Susan bought gifts for everybody at KaDeWe. I bought what I call “Kindereier” at Kaiser’s, a food store1 (and brought baseball cards with me – because you always give baseball cards for Christmas).
The church was originally built in 1891-95. It was named by Kaiser Wilhelm II after his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm I. The church was bombed on November 23, 1943 and further damaged in 1945. After World War II, it was eventually decided to build a new, modern church on the site but keep the damaged tower as a memorial. The memorial includes a cross of nails from Coventry Cathedral in Great Britain (which was itself destroyed by a German bombing raid on November 14, 1940). The new buildings include an octagonal hall, 115 feet in diameter, and a hexagonal tower, 67 feet high. The buildings are constructed of concrete, steel, and glass. The walls are a concrete honeycomb. The colors of the glass are inspired by the colors of the glass at Chartres Cathedral, especially blue.
When Susan and I first visited West Berlin in 1979, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was in the center of the city, right next to the Europa Center with its classic revolving Mercedes insignia on top. Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was a symbol of West Berlin. Since then, every time we have gone to Berlin (and we have gone a fair number of times), we have visited the church. We took Jennie and Ross there when we went to Berlin on our “grand tour” of Europe in 1994. And so, when we were thinking of going to a Christmas Eve service in Berlin, it seemed natural to go to Kaiser Wilhelm.
We got a late start on our way to the church, and there was a wait for a train at the Savignyplatz station. All of which meant we did not get to the church until 4:55 pm, and there were no seats left. Standing did not sound like a great idea, but we did not know what else to do.
Before continuing, let me describe the interior of the new church. It is very modern – and spare. The altar is just a raised platform with two or three steps all around it. There is a lectern and a pulpit, and that is it.
As we were standing in the back of the church, one of the ministers, in a long black robe, came up and said something to all of the people standing there. I was not exactly sure what he said, but I had an idea. So, along with the other people, we walked up to the front of the church – and we sat on the steps around the altar. The woman assistant minister motioned Jennie to sit on a chair next to her. It was incredible. As I wrote to the minister after we got home, it reminded me of what Jesus said in Matthaeus 25:35: “Ich bin ein Gast gewesen, and ihr habt mich beherbert” (“I was a stranger, and you welcomed me”).
The service was wonderful.2 We recognized several of the hymns, and Susan and I were able to sing along in German (since the words were printed in the bulletin). At the end of the service, they sang “Stille Nacht” (“Silent Night”), which seemed right. On Christmas Eve, our church, Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, always sings the first verse of “Silent Night” in German (because of its German heritage). So, while we were in Berlin, we also felt at home.
It was a truly memorable – and wonderful – Christmas.
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1 Which at that time you couldn’t buy in the United States because they were supposedly unsafe for little children.
2 I was able to understand a bit of the sermon. The minister was talking about the first time that you heard the story of Jesus’s birth (from “Lukas”), though he said you might not remember the first time if you heard it first as a young child.
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