Church

Going to church in Germany can be added to the list of things that were routine for me in the U.S., but are more challenging here. First of all, the number of churches here isn't huge. This is partly due to Berlin's location in the former East Germany. When someone from East Germany is asked to what church they belong, they will say, "I'm East German." It is interesting that Germany has governmentalized tax support for the Protestant and Catholic churches in the country. When you fill out your residence registration (which is required anytime you move in Germany, even just down the street), you can check a "Catholic" or "Protestant" box. I've learned that it is by this method that the government collects special taxes that it distributes to these two churches. Where is the separation of church and state, you might ask? I don't know... There are only the two boxes, so if you are a part of a third church then the government doesn't have an option for you. You can opt not to check either box however.

Anyway, so in looking for a Catholic church to go to, I kept running into churches that seemed like Catholic churches, but they would turn out to be Protestant. This kept happening over and over. There was some indefinable property of these churches that made them seem Catholic to me. But then I would turn out to be wrong. It was really starting to bug me. Then, I was reading about the history of one of these churches, and it said that it had been a Catholic church for a couple of centuries, before the Protestant Reformation. Then, it was a Protestant church afterwards. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... This was one of my, "Aha, stuff in Europe is quite old...." moments.

Well, I have gone to a few different churches here to check things out. The common denominator is that I have little idea what is going on in any of them. Of course I understand some words. But, they speak quite fast, of course, and there is a bit of specialized church vocabulary. And the echo-ish effect in these large cathedral type churches isn't helping. At one of the places I've gone the most often, they have a big, beautiful organ which they play during mass. Then afterwards, the organist goes crazy and plays a virtuoso organ solo for a few minutes, which I always look forward to. Here is a taste below. Turn up the volume and enjoy. I videoed it stealthily from my lap so that no one was aware. Like a ninja.

Also, here is a picture of some of the treats they have at the Protestant churches. Here you can see some Martin Luther Bonbons. They also had cookies. For the kiddies.