Berlin has over 80 Christmas markets. Most blur together with the same wooden stalls, the same steaming mugs, the same roasted almonds. But one image cuts through: a broken tower, blackened by bombs, wrapped in golden light.

The Gedächtniskirche Christmas Market isn’t the oldest. It isn’t the fanciest. But it might be the most Berlin, a place where history refuses to be forgotten, even surrounded by Glühwein and gingerbread.

Source: UGREEN

The History Behind the Hollow Tooth

The original Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche was a statement of imperial ambition. Built between 1891 and 1895, Emperor Wilhelm II commissioned it to honour his grandfather. The architect delivered Neo-Romanesque splendour: five towers, intricate mosaics, a spire stretching 113 metres into the sky.

Then came November 22, 1943. Over 700 RAF bombers dropped 2,500 tons of ordnance on the city. Ten churches fell. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche burned. By morning, only the shattered western tower remained, 68 metres of hollow stone against the smoke.

Berliners gave it a nickname: Der hohle Zahn. The Hollow Tooth.

In 1957, architect Egon Eiermann proposed demolishing the ruins entirely. The public erupted. Berliners had watched their city disappear piece by piece, but not this time. This time, the tower stayed.

Eiermann adapted. The new church, consecrated in December 1961, wraps around the ruins in blue-tinted glass, over 21,000 stained glass panels glowing like something between a chapel and a lantern. It was consecrated the same day as Coventry Cathedral in England, which is interesting because both were bombed, both rebuilt, and both are choosing to remember.

Source: unsplash.com

Breitscheidplatz: The Heart of West Berlin

When the Wall went up in 1961, Berlin split in two. East Berlin had Alexanderplatz. West Berlin needed an answer. Breitscheidplatz became that answer.

The square sits at the intersection of Kurfürstendamm and Tauentzienstraße — the arteries of West Berlin’s commercial life.

In 1965, the Europa-Center opened here, topped with a spinning Mercedes-Benz star. Around it: the legendary KaDeWe department store, Berlin Zoo, boutiques and cafés. This was where West Berliners came to prove their half of the city was very much alive.

The Gedächtniskirche stood at the centre. A war memorial surrounded by commerce. A reminder of destruction in the middle of reconstruction. That tension never went away, which is what makes the Christmas market feel different from the rest.

Source: unsplash.com

The Visual Identity That Captured the World

Every winter, photographers hunt the same shot. The jagged silhouette of the Hollow Tooth against a canopy of golden lights. Wooden market stalls huddled at the base of a ruin, steam rising from cups of Feuerzangenbowle. The contrast between bomb-scarred stone and the soft glow of a 20-metre Christmas tree.

It shouldn’t work but it does.

The market stretches a 400-metre carpet of lights overhead, thousands of bulbs arranged like a starry sky. Fifty glowing islands of Christmas baubles. A second tree dripping with Swarovski crystals.

Behind the market, Kurfürstendamm extends into Europe’s longest illuminated Christmas street: 4.5 kilometres of fairy lights strung through nearly 600 trees. Walk the market first, then drift into that river of light.

This image has gone global. Today it’s Berlin’s winter postcard, with the broken church tower framed by golden lights and market stalls.

Memory, Loss, and the Golden Crack

On December 19, 2016, a truck drove into the market crowds.

Twelve people died that night. A thirteenth passed away years later from injuries. Nearly 70 were wounded.

One year later, a memorial appeared. A 17-metre line of gold-bronze alloy runs through the ground in front of the church. The names of the victims are carved into the steps. It’s called the Goldener Riss — the Golden Crack. The design philosophy: wounds visible, but healed.

The market returned, and it has come back every year since. Bollards now ring the perimeter, but the stalls still open, the lights still go up, and the Glühwein still flows.

Part of the mulled wine sales go to the Wärmebus — the Warmth Bus — a Red Cross initiative helping homeless Berliners survive the winter. Even celebration serves others here.

The Christmas Market Experience Today

The market runs from November 24, 2025, to January 4, 2026 — one of the longest seasons in Berlin. Unlike Gendarmenmarkt, there’s no entry fee. Unlike Alexanderplatz, there’s no overwhelming carnival atmosphere.

What you get: 100 to 170 stalls selling handmade crafts, glass ornaments, and enough food to keep you warm for hours. Bratwurst on open grills. Kartoffelpuffer with apple sauce. The smell of cinnamon hanging in the cold air. Children spin on a gentle carousel while parents queue for Feuerzangenbowle.

The market stays open on Christmas Day and runs through New Year. That’s rare for Berlin.

There’s no palace backdrop like Charlottenburg. No gourmet tents like Gendarmenmarkt. This market doesn’t compete on spectacle. It wins on meaning.

UGREEN at the Gedächtniskirche Christmas Market

The Gedächtniskirche has always been about holding opposites together. Imperial grandeur and wartime destruction. Memory and renewal. The old tower and the new blue church.

This year, one booth captures that same energy.

The UGREEN Christmas Mystery Box brings tech-world excitement to the wooden stalls. Each box contains surprise goodies — with prizes ranging from Apple devices and Lego sets to gaming consoles and premium charging gear.

{{UGBLOGBANNER}}

Not the Best. The Most Berlin.

Gendarmenmarkt might be more elegant. Charlottenburg Palace more romantic. Alexanderplatz bigger, louder, busier.

But the Gedächtniskirche Christmas Market is the one that feels most like Berlin itself.

A place that honours the past without being trapped by it. A place where scars become memorials, and celebration feels hard-won. A place where a broken tower wrapped in golden light somehow makes perfect sense.

The smell of woodsmoke and cinnamon. The glow of a thousand fairy lights. The jagged silhouette rising against the winter sky.

That’s the image you’ll carry home.