Deutsche Post 100th Anniversary of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

DEUTSCHE POST on 10 August 1995 issued a stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. A total of 29,680,000 stamps were printed, of which  324,000 released as first day covers. The cancellation postmark originated from Bonn. The cachet depicts the Memorial Church. A certificate of authenticity was included in this rather large envelope.

The Protestant Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (or Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche , colloquially known as the Gedächtniskirche and in the Berlin dialect "Hohler Zahn") is on Breitscheidplatz between Kurfürstendamm, Tauentzienstrasse and Budapester Strasse in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg. The preserved vestibule of the former church is now a museum and war memorial.

During the air raids on Berlin, the church building caught fire on the night of 23 November 1943, which led to the collapse of the roof structure over the nave and the tip of the main tower snapping off. The National Socialists promised the community that the destroyed Memorial Church in post-war Berlin would be rebuilt just as large and magnificent. In contrast, the victorious powers of the Second World War found this plan relatively difficult; the building also reflected Wilhelmine-German national pride. So the ruins were left to decay for the time being.

 

In March 1957, it was decided to renovate the church. The 71 meter high ruin of the old main tower remained, structurally secured, as a memorial against the war, surrounded by a four-part building ensemble based on architect Egon Eiermann's designs. An octagonal nave and a rectangular foyer to the west of the old truncated tower and a hexagonal bell tower and a chapel, also rectangular, to the east of it. On May 9, 1959, the cornerstone was laid for the new building.

The damaged remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church serves as a sobering reminder of a war Germany initiated and prosecuted, the result of which is a symbol of what war brings to any nation, not just Germany -- death and destruction.