Walking across Berlin one morning, I noticed a graffiti-marked doorway, and above it a sign identifying it as St Adalbert’s Catholic Church—but the building looked like an ordinary early 20th-century apartment building.
Turning to my walking companion (Google) I quickly learned that I was looking at an ingenious solution to a tricky problem: fitting a church into a narrow lot surrounded on three sides by existing apartments and an abandoned workshop.
The church was built in 1933-34 by architect Clemens Holzmeister for a congregation of recent arrivals from Czechoslovakia. He used the open side of the lot, on Linienstrasse, for a handsome brick facade that fits with its neighbors but is clearly a church.
On the other side, on Torstrasse, a storefront of the apartment building was turned into an entrance for the church. Behind the door is a passageway leading to a small courtyard and the church entrance.
Below, yellow is courtyard and entrance from Torstrasse; blue is former workshop area.
The church wasn’t open when I passed by, so I’ve had to borrow an image by F.A. Hendel of the interior, where Holzmeister made best use of the limited space by creating a hall without columns.
