Emergency church

Emergency church of Russian emigrants in a barrack in Wünsdorf , 1925

An emergency church is generally a room or a building that, in an emergency, is prepared with simple means for provisional use as a church building. This can be a barrack built for this purpose, any building used for church purposes ( barns , halls , storage buildings ) or containers . Especially after the Second World War, parts of large, damaged church buildings were separated by partition walls and ceilings and used as emergency churches until the entire building was completely restored. The Bartning-Notkirchen (see section "Typenkirchen"), however, were not designed as a temporary solution.

Type churches

After the Second World War, around 100 type churches in Germany that were built by Otto Bartning to replace destroyed churches are also referred to as emergency churches. Around 70 of the three model types of buildings are still preserved today.

Barrack churches

A barrack church is a makeshift accommodation made of simple materials such as corrugated iron , wood or cardboard, which is used to gather believers. Barracks are makeshift, simply designed buildings to accommodate large crowds.

In Europe, barrack churches were often built in post-war times and, with a few exceptions, were later replaced by new buildings. An exemplary location in Barackenkirchen were DP camps . Churches of this type were also found in rapidly growing industrial areas during the reconstruction.

Image examples

Barracks emergency church, Kleve , Reichswaldsiedlung, 1949
Barrack church Nöstlbach
St. Michael Church in Dahlenburg
Wooden church Schönebeck , "assembly church" from 1964 in Bremen - Schönebeck
Kripplein Christi in Glandorf (Lower Saxony)
Mission house from Henton (left in the picture) as a prefabricated building in the Chiltern Open Air Museum
Emergency Church in Walhausen ( Saarland )
Emergency Church of the Evangel. Community in old Saarbrücken
Evangelical Holy Spirit Church in Mitterfels , Bavaria