Editing St. Hedwig's Cathedral (section)

==History and architecture==
St. Hedwig's Church was built in the 18th century following a request from local parishioners to King [[Frederick II of Prussia|Frederick II]]. He donated the land on which the church was built. The church was dedicated to the patron of [[Silesia]] and [[Brandenburg]], Saint [[Hedwig of Andechs]]. 
It was the first Catholic church built in [[Prussia]] after [[the Reformation]].  The building was designed by [[Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff]] and modelled after the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon in Rome]].<ref name=history>{{cite web| website=St.Hedwigs Kathedrale Berlin| title=History of St. Hedwig's Cathedral| url=https://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de/kathedrale/geschichte/| language=German| access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref>
 
Construction started in 1747, but was interrupted and delayed several times by economic problems. It was not opened until 1 November 1773, when the king's friend, [[Ignacy Krasicki]], the [[Bishop of Warmia]] (later [[Archbishop of Gniezno]]), officiated at the cathedral's consecration.<ref name=history/>

After the [[Kristallnacht]] pogroms that took place on the night of 9–10 November 1938, [[Bernhard Lichtenberg]], a [[Canon (priest)|canon]] of the [[cathedral chapter]] of St. Hedwig since 1931, prayed publicly for Jews at evening prayer. Lichtenberg was later jailed by the Nazis and died on the way to the [[concentration camp]] at [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]].<ref>{{cite web| website=Yad Vashem| title=Bernhard Lichtenberg - the righteous among the nations| url=https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/lichtenberg.html| access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> 
In 1965, Blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg's remains were transferred to the [[crypt]] at St. Hedwig's Cathedral.

The cathedral was severely damaged by [[Bombing of Berlin in World War II|Allied bombing]] in an air raid on 1 March 1943. Only the damaged shell of the building was left standing. Reconstruction started in 1952 and on 1 November 1963, All Saints' Day, the new high altar was consecrated by the Bishop of Berlin, Alfred Cardinal Bengsch.<ref>{{cite web| website=St. Hedwigs Kathedrale Berlin| title=Destruction and reconstruction| url=http://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de/en/hedwigs-kathedrale/destruction-and-reconstruction| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414075902/http://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de/en/hedwigs-kathedrale/destruction-and-reconstruction| archive-date=14 April 2018| access-date=19 October 2016}}</ref>

Between 1949 and 1990, St. Hedwig's was in [[East Berlin]], under the control of the East German government.

The cathedral closed for major renovations on 1 September 2018. The relics of Bl. Bernhard Lichtenberg have been transferred to the crypt of [[Maria Regina Martyrum]] during the cathedral's renovation.<ref name=history/> The church of [[St. Joseph, Wedding|St. Joseph]] in Wedding is the interim location for [[pontifical mass]]es. A focal point of the renovations is a hemispherical altar composed of small stones from around the diocese collected by parishioners, based on an idea proposed by Austrian artist [[Leo Zogmayer]].<ref name="Herzstück" /> The two-story interior of 1963, with a wide gallery and an awkwardly narrow opening down to the chancel, was divided into two floors, with the new church interior on the upper level.