This is where Bonhoeffer worked, this is where the GDR opposition met: Zionskirche is an exciting place in Berlin and German history. Even today, feel the spirit of resistance, the pursuit of freedom and the courage to act that shape the history of Zionism. Here German history was written again and again. This is where Dietrich Bonhoeffer worked. Opposition members in the GDR met here and directed a secret library. History of the Zion Church At the beginning of the church is a failed assassination: out of gratitude to have escaped attempted assassination, donates Wilhelm I. 1861 money for a new church of thanks and votive. After some scramble between different responsibilities can be started in 1866 with the construction. On the highest point in the former Berlin, a church with a brick terracotta cladding is being built. Architect Orth chooses the then very popular mix of styles of Berlin historicism: Neo-Romanesque combined with Gothic elements. After all, the church should not only be a place of worship but also a patriotic expression of royal gratitude. Bombs destroy the roof, the organ, the altar and the choir window during the Second World War. After the war, Berlin plunder the church in search of firewood. Later damage in the roof will not be repaired for a long time, so the church is in very bad shape for a long time. At the end of the 80s, the renovation begins, first on the roof, meanwhile also in the interior. Since 2002 the Zionskirche is reopened. Today every Sunday services are held in the Zionskirche. Dietrich Bonhoeffer - A brave man Dietrich Bonhoeffer was active in the community since 1931. After the seizure of power of the National Social East he joins the resistance. In 1944, the National Socialists arrested him and set him up on 5. April 1945 in the concentration camp Flossenbürg - shortly before the end of the war. Since 1997, a bronze monument on the west side reminds of him. Opposition in the GDR Since the middle of 1980, the basement of the Zionskirche serves as a meeting place for opposition groups such as the Peace and Environment Circle in the Zionsgemeinde. They also hide the "Environmental Library" with officially banned books and magazines on environmental and human rights issues. After a raid, the Stasi arrested some participants and made the group really well known. Supporters hold vigils, West media reported extensively. The detainees are quickly released and the group receives a lot of attention. Thus, it becomes a driving force in the civic movement, which led to the end of the GDR. Permanent exhibition in the Zionskirche "Remembrance becomes the power of the present": This sentence by Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the guiding idea of the exhibition about Zion's Church and its turbulent history, which you should not miss. Bonhoeffer's struggle with the resistance is the subject of the exhibition, as well as the history of the environmental library and the community's commitment. Thus she shows the close connection of the church with German history. Our tip Every Sunday, you can climb the tower for a small donation - after 104 steps you will have a spectacular view over the Prenzlauer Berg and the whole of Berlin.
