Church of Ss. Peter and Paul, Berlin, Self-Guided Tour

The Church of Ss. Peter and Paul, Nikolskoë, Berlin, is a picturesque Protestant church located in woods on the border of southwest Berlin in Germany. Inaugurated in 1837, this church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its Prussian history and Russian style architecture. The church is open to visitors daily, hosts weddings & offers church services every Sunday.

The church is a small but important place for many visitors to the Greater Berlin area. It receives many people who are hiking, biking and exploring the surrounding forest and lake area, people interested in seeing UNESCO World Heritage sites as well as couples looking for a beautiful and unique wedding venue.

The church was keen to provide a welcome for this special mix of visitors, even when staff were not there to greet them in person. The tour should tell visitors about the history of the church, provide information on the special atmosphere of this place of Christian worship and offer insight into what a wedding service at the church might be like.

The Church of Ss. Peter and Paul, Nikolskoë partnered with Antenna International to create an educational and engaging multimedia tour.

Knowing there would be no on-site staff, Antenna developed a downloadable app available in the iTunes and Google Play stores. Visitors to the church can download the multimedia guide onto their devices, making the history of this 19^th century church accessible in the 21^st century.

Antenna worked with the church to develop this app in various stages. The first stage provided a baseline tour experience for visitors and includes interviews with the church priest, musicians and others who work within the church or are part of its community.

Guests learn about the history of the church, information about the surrounding area and gain insight into the Christian faith and its meaning expressed throughout the church. On top of this half hour interview tour there is a special invitation of sitting down and listening to organ music recorded in the church, providing a meditative break. Additional in the app is a timeline where visitors see historical images showing how the church was build in the 19^thcentury and rebuilt after the world wars.

The tour is currently offered in German only.

The Church of Ss. Peter and Paul, Nikolskoë was delighted to work with Antenna and both organizations are looking forward to their continued work on the multimedia guide.The second stage of the multimedia guide is currently in production and will cater to visitors looking for a wedding venue. This content will not be a linear tour, but rather a mixture of 10 short audio and video interviews with different couples who have been married in the church. Guests will hear about experiences, treasured memories and general information from a mix of married couples. The interviews are with couples who were married at the church very recently as well as couples who married at the church over 30 years ago. The interviews will highlight the history of church weddings, the uniqueness of the church as a wedding destination and other event details.Antenna is looking forward to creating also a tour for the church for the whole family that brings the history of the church and its surrounding area to life. It will explore the rich Prussian history, including the Glienicke ‘spy’ Bridge made famous in the Cold War.

English and Russian translations of the tour are currently in production.