A commemorative cover from Germany

Here is a very nice cover that I received from Germany.

The cover has been designed by its sender to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the New Protestant Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in German) located in Berlin.

The “old” church was consecrated in 1895. It was named in honor of Kaiser Wilhelm by his grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II. The church was widely destroyed in 1943 during a bombing raid.

The “new” church, designed by Egon Eiermann, consists on four buildings grouped around the remaining ruins of the old church. Among those four building there is an impressive tower that is 54m high. The new church was consecrated in 1961.

The stamp used on the cover was issued to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the consecration of the new church. It pictures the tower of the new church and the reaming part of the old one. Another view has been used by the sender of this letter to illustrate the cover on the left side. I think the mixture between the old and the new buildings gives a very stunning result!

The stamp is cancelled with the commemorative postmark which is very nice also.

Also as an illustration, you can see a picture of a 1953 stamp that pictures the old church as it was before its destruction. Here is a copy of the original stamp.

The old and new churches have appeared several times on stamps.

In 1956 a stamp was issued picturing the remaining ruins of the old church after the bombing.

The top of the old church also appears on a 1961 stamps.

The old and new churches appear together on a 1965 stamp illustrating the “New Berlin”.

And again they appear on a 1987 stamp commemorating the 750^th anniversary of Berlin.

The 100^th anniversary of the consecration of the old church was also celebrated by a stamp in 1995.

Just to close this philatelic illustration, a stamp issued in 2004 pictures part of the old and new churches in the background of a stamp commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Egon Eiermann, its designer.

To complete the franking, the cover also bears a label picturing the top of the Brandenburg Gate that I don’t need to introduce as it is probably the most famous landmark of Berlin!