flamboyant, but it was never removed or simplified. The base of the lectern consists of different coloured marble. The lectern was donated by the American railway magnate John Pierpont Morgan, and the columns were a gift from fellow New Yorker William Ziegler. Seating The oak pews have decorations on the ends, which echo those around the church building, along with the arms and names of their benefactors. In total there are 1,800 seats. Organ The original organ is no longer available. This was begun in 1900 by the Stuttgart Organ company C. F. Weigle, and was finished by the Öttingen Firm Steinmeyer in 1902. It had 65 sounding registers, divided across four manuals and a pedal. This organ was sacrificed during refurbishments in 1938-39. The current organ came from the Organ workshop D. Kleuker in Bielefeld in 1979. Its 97 registers make it the largest organ in south-west Germany. The completely plain backdrop from 1939 is still intact, and was designed by the Munich sculptor Hans Miller. See the German Wikipedia page for specifications : Orgel Bells The original bells were cast by Franz Schilling in Apolda in 1900-1903. The Main bell (donated by Emperor) was destroyed in the so-called Glockenfriedhof ("Bell cemetery") in Hamburg in 1942. The four remaining bells returned to the church after the end of the war, but after their ordeal they were of such a poor quality that a whole new peal was cast by the Karlsruhe foundery the Brothers Bachert in 1959. The eight bells, funded through donations, were named after well-known Reformation figures, along with the Swedish King Gustav II Adolf: 1. Martin Luther - - f° 2. Johannes Calvin - - a♭° 3. Huldrych Zwingli - - c’ 4. Gustav II Adolf - - e♭’ 5. Philipp Melanchthon - - f’ 6. Martin Butzer - - a♭’ 7. Zacharias Ursinus - - b♭’ 8. Johannes Bader - - c’’ The Josephskirche The Catholics, too, were not keen on the "Protestant Cathedral". When the Building Association of the Gedächtniskirche acquired its site at what was then the edge of the city, the Catholics endeavoured to find a site in the immediate proximity. Thus a Catholic church building association was founded in 1887, and the foundation stone was laid in 1912 near to the Gedächtniskirche. Already in 1914 the church could be consecrated in honour of the patron of the Electorate of the Palatinate