Christmas at the Cathedral

Christmas is a big deal in Germany. For the last several years we have had the tradition of going to Christmas eve services at the Berliner Dom, which dates from the late 19th-early 20th century and was supposed to be a protestant version of St. Peters. It is big. Not quite big enough for all of the Christmas eve visitors, though.

We went to the second of six services. After the crowd last year we arrived almost an hour early and stood in a cold and increasingly hard rain until the crowd from the earlier service had departed and the doors opened again. The mass of umbrellas meant that we were somewhat sheltered, although the water flowed from higher to lower umbrellas and ultimately poured onto whoever stood the furthest underneath -- Joan's coat became almost soaked through, while I, with my umbrella held higher, escaped relatively dry.

Below are several photos from within the Dom as the seats slowly filled up. Click on them to see full-sized versions.

From Michael in Berlin

From Michael in Berlin