Community Center Albert Schweitzer
The Albert Schweitzer community center is part of the Protestant parish of Jena . Invitations to church services and devotions, to educational and discussion opportunities for children, young people and adults as well as to church music and other cultural events are held here on a regular basis. The community center is located in the eastern district of Wenigenjena , Am Steinborn 136. Together with the communities of the village churches of Jenaprießnitz , Großlöbichau and Kleinlöbichau , which are on the church cycle path Jena - Thalbürgel , it forms the pastoral care district of Gembdental . Its building history and the unusual choice of namesake Albert Schweitzer for a church building was shaped by the particularities of the situation of Christians and churches in the GDR .
history
In the 1930s, the Schlegelsberg residential area was built in Jena-Ost (Wenigenjena) , which was initially less ecclesiastical and more free- spirited . The small community in the residential area belonged to the Schiller Church “Our Lady” . After the end of World War II , it grew due to the influx of bombed-out people, refugees and returnees from captivity. This gave rise to the desire to build a community center here. First a wooden barrack, which is still preserved today, was built as the temporary church center of the residential area. Based on this, the new construction of a community center with a rectory was planned. “After overcoming various difficulties”, the first groundbreaking was done on July 1st, 1955 and the foundation stone was laid on November 6th, 1955 after the joyful and voluntary work of many helpers during the excavation work . The construction process was quite dramatic: after all the required excavation work had already been carried out by members of the community themselves, the "state organs" exerted a sensitive influence on the construction process by failing to provide construction material until the building license was withdrawn. A construction freeze led to damage, some of which can still be seen today. The pediatrician Dr. Hellmut Planer-Friedrich, a church elder from Jena, wrote to Albert Schweitzer whether he would give his name to the new community center to be built. In his letter of September 23, 1958, Albert Schweitzer gave his consent:
“Dear colleague, I am pleased to give my consent to the community center in Jena-Ost bearing my name. I am moved that the church has this wish. May the meetinghouse help ensure that the church has hours of blessed devotion. How frightened the world is at the time when I write these lines to you. But we must not give up hope that another time will come in which we will look back on what we experienced in this atomic age like a wild dream. Give my love to the congregation. Sincerely, Albert Schweitzer "
With this vote of the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize , who was also highly respected in the GDR , the “state bodies” could no longer avoid approving the further construction progress for the community center. The building was created in a reduced form: the planned rectory on the same property was not allowed to be built and the planned gallery became a small apartment. The building material wasn't the best. Nevertheless, community members guarded it at night to prevent theft of building materials.
On May 5, 1960, the parish with Pastor Ludwig Ehrhardt and Regional Bishop Moritz Mitzenheim was able to inaugurate the Albert Schweitzer parish center. Like the rectory, the construction of a bell tower was not approved by the state. One year after the completion of the community center, master bell founder Franz Schilling from Apolda donated three steel bells and also financed the construction of the bell cage. The bells are rung by hand.
Interior
The Jena artist Harry Franke designed the copper cross with the representation of the risen and blessing Christ as well as a round mosaic window behind it for the chancel. The golden yellow glass of the window shows a crown of rays behind the head of the figure of Christ, surrounded by infinitely reflecting rays of light that symbolize eternity.
The organ was built by the organ builder Alexander Schuke (Potsdam). The instrument has 6 registers on a manual and pedal . The playing actions are mechanical.
|
manual
|
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| Wooden dacked | 8th' |
| Principal | 4 ′ |
| Reed flute | 4 ′ |
| recorder | 2 ′ |
| Sharp | 3f. |
| Pommer | 16 ′ |
photos
Community Center Albert Schweitzer: Chancel
Community center Albert Schweitzer: organ
Community center Albert Schweitzer: bells
See also
List of sacred buildings erected in the GDR
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate for laying the foundation stone for the "Albert Schweitzer" community center on November 6, 1955
- ↑ Michael Groß: Roof for the Schlegelsberg Church . In: Thuringian regional newspaper . 11th August 2018.
- ↑ Gertrud Fischer: In the sense of the humanist. Regional Bishop D. Mitzenheim consecrated the "Albert Schweitzer" community center . In: Thuringian regional newspaper . June 9, 1960.
Coordinates: 50 ° 55 ′ 57.1 ″ N , 11 ° 37 ′ 8 ″ E