Anglo-American Church

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Anglo-American Church in Leipzig, around 1900

The Anglo-American Church (also Anglican Church , All Saints Church , Church of the Ascension , All Saints' English , American Episcopal Church ) was an Anglican church in Leipzig's Bachviertel .

History of the church

Anglo-American community

In the 19th century, a large number of English and American artists, students and business people lived in the cultural and trade fair city of Leipzig. Therefore, there were first or regular Anglican services for the Anglo-American community as early as 1862/64. Initially the Evangelical Lutheran were for Thomas Church at St. Thomas's Church and the Conservatory of Music in Music District them. To remedy this, the Saxon architect Oskar Mothes was commissioned to plan the church in 1870 . Nevertheless, his Leipzig designs were used for a building project in the Bohemian Karlsbad , so that the start of construction in Saxony was delayed.

The city of Leipzig left the Anglican community building land in Bismarckstrasse (later Ferdinand-Lassalle-Strasse) at the north-western end of Johannapark . Due to the prestigious location, however, those responsible swapped the construction site a little later with the site of the nearby and simultaneously built Evangelical Lutheran Luther Church on the corner of Sebastian-Bach-Strasse and Schreberstrasse. In May 1884, the foundation stone was laid in the presence of the Anglican Bishop for Northern and Central Europe , Jonathan Titcomb , and personalities from the city . The Anglo-American Church came into being with the support of the British and American consulates. In June 1885, found consecration of Church of the Ascension ( Ascension Church instead), later the name was All Saints Church ( All Saints ) changed.

Mothes based his plans on the Early English Style , the English early Gothic . The plan of the church was similar to a Latin cross . In the nave there were aisles . A high wooden roof trussed over the nave . The front on Sebastian-Bach-Straße was decorated with a rose window , a long vestibule connected to the entrance area. An originally planned church tower in the left entrance area was no longer realized.

The Anglo-American Church housed an organ . Thomas James Crawford was the organist here from 1894 to 1898 .

When the war broke out in 1914 , the active community dissolved.

Reuse and war destruction

During the Weimar Republic , the building was used by a German free church. In the Allied air raids on Leipzig on December 4, 1943 and in the spring of 1945, the church was finally destroyed, as was other areas of the southern Bachstrasse district. After the Second World War , the ruin was used for a short time as a material store until it was demolished. It thus shares the fate of some of the former churches in Leipzig .

Present: Forum Thomanum

Since the 2000s, the former church site, where a primary school specializing in languages, religion and music was built until 2015, has been integrated into the Forum Thomanum educational campus .

"Leipzig English Church" parish

Only after the fall of the Wall was a new congregation of English-speaking Christians founded again in 1995 with the help of the British Mission Society under the name Leipzig English Church (LEC), which belongs to the Church of England and is supported by the Intercontinental Church Society . She is also a member of the Anglican-Episcopal Congregations in Germany , the Christian Churches in Germany and the German Evangelical Alliance .

The church has been holding its services in the parish hall of the Andreaskirche since 2012. Since 2014, the English-speaking church service has also been held in German. The driving force behind this was Revd. Martin-Reakes Williams, who is still pastor of that ward. The Association of Friends of the Anglican Congregation in Leipzig eV is located at Shakespearestrasse 53, where the community office is also located.

literature

  • Ascension Church of the Anglo-American Parish in Leipzig, in: Wochenblatt für Baukunde 1885, p. 251 f.
  • Matthias Gretzschel , Hartmut Mai : Churches in Leipzig, Writings of the Leipzig History Association NF / Bd. 2, Sax-Verlag, Beucha 1993, p. 32 f.
  • Hartmut Mai with the participation of Matthias Gretzschel (edit.): Anglo-American Church, in: State Office for the Preservation of Monuments of Saxony (ed.): The architectural and art monuments of Saxony, part of the city of Leipzig, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1995, p. 783– 786
  • From 'All Saints to' Leipzig English Church ': Two Centuries of Anglican Tradition in Leipzig, ed. by Manfred Stedler on behalf of the Association of Friends of the Anglican Church in Leipzig eV, Mammendorf 2006. (German / English) ISBN 978-3-86611-150-9

Web links

Commons : Anglo-American Church  - collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoph Kühn: Bachstrasse district and music district: a historical and urban development study, published on behalf of the city planning office. by Pro Leipzig, Leipzig 1999, p. 14.
  2. ↑ The student and academic networks of Americans who studied in Leipzig continued to exist even after they left Leipzig. Charles Forster Smith: Reminiscences and Scetches, Nashville 1908.-Anja Becker: "Southern academic ambitions meet German scolarship: the Leipzig Networks of Vanderbilt University's James H. Kirkland in the late 19th century", in: Journal of Southern History from November 1st 2008. -Anja Becker: For the Sake of Old Leipzig Days .... Academic Networks of American Students at the German University, 1781-1914, Diss. Leipzig 2005. -Anja Werner: The Transatlandic World of Higher Education: Americans at German Universities, 1776-1916, Oxford-New York 2013.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Matthias Gretzschel , Hartmut Mai : Churches in Leipzig, writings of the Leipzig History Association NF / Bd. 2, Sax-Verlag, Beucha 1993, p. 32 f.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Cornelia Kästner: Leipzig English Church celebrates 10 years of community life and 120 years of existence on the Pleiße, in: Leipziger Volkszeitung of October 17, 2005, p. 16.
  5. ↑ Vera Denzer / Andreas Dix / Haik Thomas Porada (eds.): Leipzig: a regional history inventory, landscapes in Germany vol. 78, Böhlau, Cologne 2015, p. 188.
  6. ↑ Hartmut Mai with the participation of Matthias Gretzschel (edit.): Anglo-American Church, in: State Office for Monument Preservation Saxony (Ed.): The architectural and art monuments of Saxony, part of the city of Leipzig, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1995, p. 783 –786, contents of page 784.
  7. ↑ Maggie Humphreys / Robert Evans: Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland, Mansell, London 1997, p. 77.
  8. ↑ Christoph Kühn: Bachstrasse district and music district: a historical and urban development study, published on behalf of the city planning office. by Pro Leipzig, Leipzig 1999, p. 22.
  9. ↑ Who we are , www.leipzig-english-church.de, accessed on November 14, 2016.
  10. ^ Leipzig English Church (Anglican) , www.kirche-leipzig.de, accessed on November 14, 2016.
  11. ↑ Where we are , www.leipzig-english-church.de, accessed on November 14, 2016.
  12. ↑ From 'All Saints to' Leipzig English Church ': Two centuries of Anglican tradition in Leipzig, ed. by Manfred Stedler on behalf of the Association of Friends of the Anglican Congregation in Leipzig eV, Mammendorf 2006. (German / English) 9. 18. ff. ISBN 978-3-86611-150-9
  13. ↑ Imprint , www.leipzig-english-church.de, accessed on November 14, 2016.

Coordinates: 51 ° 20 ′ 12.7 ″  N , 12 ° 21 ′ 40.8 ″  E