It was founded in 1250 in the early Gothic style as a monastery church for a Franciscan house. It was a fieldstone church, 52 metres long and 16 metres wide. Its remains can be found in the north wall of the present ruins. The church was destroyed on 3 April 1945 in the bombing of Berlin in World War II. In 1950 the debris was removed and the church ruins secured between 1959 and 1963, although the ruined monastic buildings were demolished completely to make way for a park. The ruins were restored again in 2003-2004 and are now used for exhibitions, plays and concerts.