Peeking through the trees, St. Maximilian Kolbe stands as a testament to faith and resilience. This Roman Catholic church is located on Maulbeerallee 15 in Berlin’s Staaken district. It is part of the parish of St. Johannes der Täufer.
St. Maximilian Kolbe’s story began in December 1966. Catholic services were first held in the Hermann-Francke-Heim. Later services moved to a rented shop on Loschwitzer Weg 15. In 1973, Kaplan Georg Walf became the pastor for the Heerstraße Nord district. A separate parish was established in 1975 and Georg Walf became the pastor. The parish was named after Maximilian Kolbe. He was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who died in Auschwitz.
Construction for St. Maximilian Kolbe began in June 1974. The church and community center were built on Maulbeerallee. Dompropst Wolfgang Haendly laid the foundation stone in November 1974. Generalvikar Wilhelm Albs celebrated the first Holy Mass in the new parish hall in October 1975. The church was consecrated by Marian Przykucki in September 1976. Jan Michalski from Gnesen was the main celebrant at the first mass. In 1979, a bronze sculpture of Maximilian Kolbe by Anneliese Schmidt was installed.
Since 2004, St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Wilhelm formed one parish. Regular services were held in both churches. In January 2023, the parish merged with St. Markus and Mariä Himmelfahrt to form the parish of St. Johannes der Täufer.
The building complex includes a church and a community center. The church is a steel-concrete skeleton construction. Its floor plan is almost a square with cut corners. This creates an octagon shape. The outer walls feature red-brown bricks. A roof lantern sits on the flat tent roof, bringing light into the interior.
Inside St. Maximilian Kolbe, the walls are clad with perforated clinker bricks. This enhances the acoustics. A spiral staircase leads to the organ loft. The pews are arranged in a semicircle around the altar.
The organ was installed in June 1980 by the Albiez company. Bishop Joachim Meisner and Bishop Jacob Thoomkuzhy consecrated it. The organ was used at the 86th German Catholic Day in Berlin. It has 25 registers and three manuals.
Several pastors have served at St. Maximilian Kolbe. Georg Walf served until 1985. Matthias Bastini then served until 2013. Bernhard Gewers was the parish administrator until March 2022. David Hassenforder has been the parish administrator since April 2022.
St. Maximilian Kolbe stands not only as a place of worship. It is also a community hub. It is a place where faith, history and art converge. It is located in the middle of Berlin. It is a symbol of hope and remembrance.