THE STEP-MOTHER'S CHURCH: BERLIN'S SOPHIENKIRCHE

Today in Berlin: 18 June, 1713

On this day in 1713 Berlin’s oldest still existing Baroque church, Sophienkirche, opened in the historic district of Spandauer Vorstadt (actually Spandower Vorstadt as until 1878 Spandau, like Pankow, was officially spelled “Spandow”).

Its first name “Spandauische Kirche” was on one hand correct geographically - it was built to serve the growing number of Spandauer Vorstadt’s residents. On the other hand, though, it was a false label slapped onto the temple by a resentful king: the church’s founder, Queen Sophie Louise of Mecklemburg-Schwerin, was his step-mother who due to mobbing on the court eventually developed serious psychological problems. Her increasing derangement became gradually clear. And her being a strict Lutheran did not help either - in fact, it was one of the triggers for the mobbing.