Ecumenical Ash Wednesday for Artists

Auxiliary Bishop Dr Matthias Heinrich and Bishop Dr Christian Stäblein will celebrate together with the artist chaplain and art and culture representative of the Archdiocese of Berlin, Father Georg Maria Roers SJ, and the art representative of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO), Pastor Hannes Langbein, an ecumenical vespers service and distribute the ashes.

Auxiliary Bishop Heinrich will deliver the sermon. Marika Gejrot (cello) and Lothar Knappe (organ) will provide musical accompaniment with works by Ferdinand Halphen, Yehoyachin Stutschewsky and Samuel Alman.


The subsequent traditional artist's speech will be given by the writer, historian and cultural journalist Simon Strauß (*1988 in Berlin), who has been working as a feature editor and theatre critic for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung since 2016. Strauß made his literary debut in 2017 with Sieben Nächte (Seven Nights), an existential prose text about the search for meaning and contemporary experience. This was followed by ‘Römische Tage’ (Roman Days, 2019) and the novella ‘zu zweit’ (Together, 2023), among others. Last year, he published his first non-fiction book, ‘In der Nähe – vom politischen Wert einer ostdeutschen Sehnsucht’ (Nearby – On the Political Value of an East German Longing). In his texts, he combines historical reflection, personal experience and cultural-critical observations.

The ‘Ecumenical Ash Wednesday of Artists’ also marks the beginning of the exhibition ‘Parochet’ by Berlin artist Benyamin Reich in St. Matthew's Church. At its centre is a large room installation: the Talmud curtain (Hebrew: ‘Parochet’). During Lent, it covers the altar of St. Matthew's Church. It combines Talmudic texts with Christian Passion symbolism and, by covering the altar, reflects on the Jewish-Christian dialogue about visibility, revelation and the distance between God and man. Simon Strauß has contributed an essay to Reich's artist's book ‘Jerusalem – Berlin’.

Benyamin Reich: Parochet | visitBerlin.de

• Date: 18 February 2026
  
• Time: 6 p.m.
  
• Location: Kulturforum Berlin (Matthäikirchplatz, 10785 Berlin)