Petriplatz

Berlin · Germany · Urban site

Tower after tower collapsed at Petriplatz — the ground where legend places the temple of the three-headed heathen god Triglav never let the church rest.

Petriplatz on Fischerinsel is the birthplace of Berlin — and according to the founding legend a heathen temple to the three-headed Wendish god Triglav stood here before Albrecht the Bear christianised the region and set a little bear in the marsh. The church raised over the old cult site never found peace. Tower after tower was destroyed across the centuries: by fire, by lightning, and in 1734 the tower came down so catastrophically that the master builder was placed under arrest. Berliners knew what to blame. The last St Peter's was demolished by the GDR in the 1960s, but when archaeologists opened the square they found what the ground really held: Berlin's oldest cemetery, thousands of skeletons of the city's first inhabitants lying beneath the cobbles for centuries. Today the House of One rises over the square of the dead.

FAQ

Where is Petriplatz located?

Petriplatz is in Berlin, Germany.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: Molgreen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons