St. Elisabeth (Berlin-Mitte)
The Elisabeth Church is the largest of the four suburban churches in Berlin designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the 1830s. It is named after the biblical Elisabeth , is located in the Berlin district of Mitte at Invalidenstraße 4a and belongs to the Evangelical Church Congregation am Weinberg in the church district of Berlin Stadtmitte . After the severe damage suffered in the Second World War , it was renovated from 1990 to 2001. Since then it has mainly served cultural purposes.
history
The growth of Berlin in the early 19th century led to the need to constantly build more churches in the newly developed suburbs. On behalf of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Schinkel began in 1828 with the first drafts. Simple, inexpensive buildings without towers and without complex facades were required . All four suburban churches have a similar basic concept. The Elisabeth Church on Invalidenstraße with space for 1200 people became the largest and comparatively most demanding building in the series. The construction period lasted from 1832 to 1834, on June 28, 1835 the church was consecrated. The Crown Princess Elisabeth was present at the inauguration, presumably her person also played a role in the naming.
In 1881, the city planning director Hermann Mächtig laid out a city park around this church, which was less and less maintained in the course of development.
During an Allied air raid on the night of March 8th to 9th, 1945, the Elisabethkirche was hit by phosphorus incendiary bombs and burned out. The wooden interior gave the flames plenty of nourishment. It remained in ruins for the following decades, although there were plans to simplify rebuilding.
architecture
The single-aisled, rectangular plastered building was built in the typical ancient Greek style of Schinkel, with two floors and a floor area of 28 meters by 18 meters. The portico in front of the front facing Invalidenstrasse is supported by six Doric pillars; it shows the inscription “The word of the Lord remains in eternity” in capital serif font . Cornices divide the plastered outer wall into a base and two upper zones. The side walls are divided by two rows of rectangular windows. The choir has a retracted apse and is flanked by two semicircular extensions ( sacristy and baptistery), which were added in 1860. The spacious interior was originally lined with three-quarters of a two-storey wooden gallery . Just like the organ and the wooden coffered ceiling, the gallery was completely destroyed. Although there is no visible bell tower, the church received a three-part peal from cast steel bells, which were cast by the Bochum Association at the end of the 19th century . The community paid 1,814 marks for the bells and their accessories (clapper, axles, bearings and chime levers) .
| size | Chime | Weight (kg) |
lower diameter (mm) |
Height (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| greatest | as | 622 | 1125 | 1005 |
| middle | H | 367 | 940 | 840 |
| smallest | d | 232 | 800 | 730 |
Restoration of the listed building
After the fall of the Wall, renovation measures were carried out both on the church building and inside . It is not planned to use the building again as a sacred space, but rather the Sophiengemeinde , together with the cultural administration of the Senate, is organizing a variety of uses such as performances of ancient and contemporary music , theater performances as well as exhibitions of current art and, above all, experimental projects with a combination of different genres and Design forms. A new church organ is therefore not planned. On March 24, 2009, Federal President Horst Köhler gave his fourth Berlin speech in the unplastered interior of the church .
The renovations also included the surrounding park and were completed in 2001.
literature
- Wilhelm Lütkemann: German churches . tape 1 - The Protestant churches in Berlin (Old City) . Verlag für Volksliteratur, Berlin 1926, p. 87 ff .
- Günther Kühne, Elisabeth Stephani: Evangelical churches in Berlin. Christlicher Zeitschriftenverlag (CZV), Berlin 1978, ISBN 3-7674-0158-4 , pp. 17, 280, 384 f.
- Ernst Badstübner , Sibylle Badstübner-Gröger: Churches in Berlin - From St. Nikolai to the community center "Am Fennpfuhl" with photos by Martin Dettloff. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt , Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-374-00171-8 , p. 185 f. (Fig. P. 116 f.).
- Helga Nora Franz-Duhme, Ursula Röper-Vogt: Schinkel's Vorstadtkirchen - Church building and church planting under Friedrich Wilhelm III. in Berlin . Ed .: Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg. Wichern-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-88981-043-8 .
- Architects and Engineers Association of Berlin (ed.): Berlin and its buildings , part VI, sacred buildings . Verlag Ernst & Sohn, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-433-01016-1 , p. 50 ff., 359, fig. 106, 109 .
Web links
- Entries in the Berlin State Monument List
- An article about the restoration of the Elisabethkirche at Monumente Online
- St. Elisabeth (Berlin-Mitte). In: arch INFORM .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b compilation of the bells delivered to Berlin and the surrounding area ; Bochum Association, around 1900. In the archive of the Köpenick Church of St. Josef, viewed on August 6, 2019.
- ↑ St. Elisabeth, profile. Kulturbüro Elisabeth, accessed on August 7, 2019 .
- ↑ The church is used by the community as well as culturally ( Memento from January 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Senate Department for Urban Development: A gem in the redevelopment area "Rosenthaler Vorstadt" has been restored , published on June 29, 2001.
Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '59 " N , 13 ° 23' 50" E