In 1984, the West German right-wing army officer Max Klaar, started an in initiative for the reconstruction of der Potsdam Garrison Church, originally build 1735 by the Prussian King, badly damaged in April 1945 by bombing, its ruin removed in 1968. The building is understood as a national symbol for the Prussian state, not to say the central one, as it served as the gravesite of Friedrich the great and his father, and as a hall of fame for the Prussian military. Not by coincidence it was used at the “Tag von Potsdam” in 1933, to pass the power from the old elites of military, nobility and church to the national-socialist state of Adolf Hitler.
When the wall came down 1989, Klaar and his follower propagated in Potsdam (former East Germany) the project for many years and ultimately successfully. In 2000, the Protestant Church got involved in the project. In 2010 a first part of the data center, which was build at the site in 1970, was demolished to give way for the reconstruction of the church tower, which finally started in 2017 and by now is almost finished. The previous decision for the complete demolition of the data center, which includes a high profile and large artistic mosaic on its ground floor, is currently been questioned, as it is used by a large community of 300 artist and culture producers (creative industries) as a self-governed start-up center since 2015. But a strong group of conservatives and church representatives demand the demolition, and finish the coexistence of the tow projects. Remaining parts of data center would be in the way for the reconstruction of the churchs nave, but there is anyhow neither a need nor money for further reconstructions.
While the project was initiated by right wing activist, it is now realized by the protestand church, financed mainly by the German state
The original project was designed Philipp Gerlach, the reconstruction proejct by the architect firm Himler, Sattler, Albrecht