Saint Hedwig

Of course, when I saw this church's name on the map, I had to visit. It actually has an interesting history, as it is the main cathedral for the Catholic diocese that includes Berlin (I guess the correct term is the seat of the archbishop of Berlin). It was also a good thing, because it turned out that there was a free organ concert that evening, my last evening in Berlin.

Side view of St Hedwig's, showing the domes.

Front entrance of St Hedwig's. There was much construction, as can be seen, in the platz surrounding the cathedral, as is true of much of Berlin.

Organ in St Hedwig's.

I was excited, because the poster for the concert said that some of Arvo Pärt's music would be played. I was introduced to Pärt when I went to a concert at Stetson University about a year ago. It was a duet with piano and tuba - being an old tuba player myself, I had to go. One of the pieces they played was Pärt's "Spiegel im Spiegel." Normally it is piano/violin, but these guys reworked it for piano/tuba. It was excellent. I've since heard it (in a recording) with the standard violin.

The organ player in St Hedwig played "Annum per Annum," by Pärt. I had not heard it before, but I recognized it immediately by the style. I recommend listening to both of these pieces, or anything by Arvo Pärt. It's well worth the time!