The Friedrichswerder Church in Mitte serves as an exhibition space for the Old National Gallery.
© dpa
The Senate and the Catholic Church in Berlin want to coordinate more closely on the future use of church properties.
This was announced by Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and Berlin Archbishop Heiner Koch after a meeting in the Rotes Rathaus.
This involves several hundred buildings, including 120 churches and around 180 parish and community halls across Berlin. The Archdiocese of Berlin, the Protestant Church of Berlin-Brandenburg and the Senate want to discuss the possibilities of subsequent use in a joint working group. Wegner thanked the Catholic Church for providing the impetus for this.
Many things are conceivable, said Senator for Culture Sarah Wedl-Wilson. Use as living space is one of them. Shared use by smaller religious communities is also being discussed. The senator also referred to previous conversions, such as in the case of the Friedrichswerder Church in Mitte, which serves as an exhibition space for the Alte Nationalgalerie. According to the information provided, the process is only just beginning and will take several years.