Historical or Not?

OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS WE WILL START TO VISIT AND ANALYZE MANY OF BERLIN'S HISTORIC CONTEXT WHICH INCLUDES MANY CHURCHES ,PALACES AND MONUMENTS. MOST OF THEM, IF NOT ALL , HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BEFORE AND SINCE BEEN REBUILT TO LOOK LIKE THEIR ORIGINAL STATE. THEREFORE, THIS PONDERS THE QUESTION OF WHETHER OR NOT THESE BUILDINGS ARE IN FACT HISTORICAL. SO I GUESS FIRST ONE MUST COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HISTORIC? HISTORIC IS DEFINED AS WELL KNOWN OR IMPORTANT IN HISTORY; A HISTORIC BUILDING. ACCORDING TO THAT DEFINITION, THEN THEY ARE HISTORIC, BUT ARE THEY AUTHENTIC TO HISTORY. I BELIEVE THAT THERE INTENTIONS ARE FAITHFUL TO HISTORY BUT THE BUILDING ITSELF IS NOT HISTORIC( OR NOT FAITHFUL TO ITS OWN HISTORY). FOR ME, THERE IS A DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE BUILDING AND ITS HISTORY. IF I KNOW THAT A CERTAIN BUILDING HAS BEEN REBUILT, IN MY MIND I HAVE LESS OF A APPRECIATION FOR IT BUT I STILL APPRECIATE IT TO SOME EXTENT WHICH MAKES ME UNDERSTAND WHY IT NEEDS TO BE REBUILT. I THINK ITS OKAY TO REBUILT HISTORY AS LONG AS ITS TRUE TO HISTORY. I THINK WHEN THEY START TO DESIGN THINGS LIKE THE "MEDIEVAL DISNEY WORLD" IT BEGINS TO PROMOTE FALSE HISTORY(SIMULATION). HOPEFULLY THIS FALSE HISTORY DOESN'T EVENTUALLY REPLACE ALL THE THOUGHTS AND VIEWS OF THE ORIGINAL HISTORY.

FIRST UP: MARIENKIRCHE

THE CHURCH WAS THE FOCAL POINT FOR BERLIN AND ITS IS THE MAIN REASON WHY THE PEOPLE WERE HERE. CHURCHES WERE USUALLY ESTABLISHED WITH A PLAZA SURROUNDING. THE MARIENKIRCHE HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 1270, BUT HOW MUCH OF IT IS STILL ORIGINAL. ITS HAS BEEN REBUILT NUMEROUS TIMES AND HAD ADDITIONS MADE TO IT. THE FOUNDATION IS THE MOST LIKE PART OF THE CHURCH TO EVEN COME CLOSE TO DATING BACK TO 1270. THE CHURCH IS A MIXTURE OF DIFFERENT STYLES FROM DIFFERENT TIME PERIODS. I WOULD DESCRIBE IT AS EARLY GOTHIC, WITH ROMANESCE MASONRY WHILE THE TOWER( WHICH CAME SOMETIME LATER) IS MORE NEO GOTHIC.
A CLOSE UP VIEW OF THE MASONRY WORK. HERE YOU CAN SEE A WAR WOUND,( A BULLET MARK) MOST LIKELY FROM ONE OF THE WORLD WARS.