18 Protestant Church of Reconciliation

The initiative to build a Protestant church came from Dutch survivors, supported by the World Council of Churches. The Evangelical Church in Germany built the Protestant Church of Reconciliation, consecrated on April 30 1967 by the regional bishop of Bavaria, Hermann Dietzfelbinger. The dedication service was led by the retired church president and former Dachau prisoner, Martin Niemöller.

The architect Helmut Striffler designed the building with the church and meeting room to represent a counterpoint to the symmetrical, angular structures and layout of the former concentration camp.

Sunk into the ground, the building made of concrete avoids right angles. On the left, at first a vertical wall arises, which then, at a slight angle, passes into the top of the building. On the other side, this “roof” then, at a gentle trajectory, levels out to the ground.

Protestant Church of Reconciliation, 2010 (Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site)