Heilandskapelle Frankfurt (Oder)

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Front view

The Heilandskapelle Frankfurt (Oder) in the Heimkehrsiedlung (also settlement Klingetal), Eichenweg 40/41, 15234 Frankfurt (Oder) is a wooden church in the parish of Sankt Georg of the Evangelical parish Frankfurt (Oder) . It is used by both the church and a support association and is gradually being renovated.

history

South side (model)

During the First World War (1914–1918), in the area of ​​the current homecoming settlement under the direction of Rittmeister i. R. Alfred von Marré built a prisoner-of-war camp on the site of the "Fatherland Mine" from which lignite was mined underground until 1907 , in which 23,000 soldiers, mainly from Russia, but also English, French, Italians, Serbs and 500 civilian internees , including two children aged ten to twelve were held captive.

The Hague Land Warfare Regulations of 1899/1907 allowed prisoners of war to practice their religion and culture . That is why prisoners of war from the Russian Tsarist Army were allowed to build the church in 1915/16. The impetus for this was given by representatives of the Christian Association of Young Men, who gave the German authorities permission to build this, as well as many other multi-purpose buildings in POW camps. It was built with wood, which, among other things, had the International Red Cross procured from neutral Sweden . The chapel was later popularly called "Russian Church" after its builder.

Initially, church services by the Protestant and Catholic guards took place in the chapel. The church then served the interned Protestant and Catholic Christians , the Evangelical Christians , the Russian Orthodox and members of the Jewish faith separately as a prayer room until 1919 . Even today you can guess the place for another altar to the right of the Christian one. In addition, the building in the prison camp was a reading hall and a place for other gatherings. The stage and gallery enabled theater and other cultural performances to be performed. The POW camp orchestra consists of 40 people. They were released from labor service for their daily exercises.

With these functions, the Heilandskapelle formed the center of camp life.

After the prisoner-of-war camp was closed by 1921, the chapel fell into disrepair, so that the municipal magistrate wanted to demolish it. From 1921, however, the former prisoner barracks served as returnees and reception camps for emigrants ( optants ) and war refugees as well as for civilians from the Soviet Union who fled the Bolsheviks and later Stalin's terror. In 1923 the Heimkehrerbauverein was founded, which built up the free, civilian settlement. On August 9, 1925, the Association for the Promotion of Church Life in the Homecoming Camp was founded (registered association since December 14, 1926). The chapel gained new meaning and was restored by the city. The magistrate handed it over to the Protestant parish in 1928. At the inauguration on September 2, 1928, it was given the name Heilandskapelle by the general superintendent D. Vits .

The lower tower floor initially formed a stage and was later expanded into a winter church . Confirmation classes were held on the upper floor of the tower until the 1960s . It also served as a meeting room.

Renovation work took place in the mid-1970s and 1993/94. In 2005 the bell tower was renovated and in 2008 the new belfry was installed .

The Heilandskapelle is one of very few surviving multi-purpose buildings in prisoner-of-war camps from the First World War.

Construction work

Topping-out ceremony in 1915

  • North side with chimney for the remaining stove

  • Bell tower with dragon heads

  • Ornaments on the window and entablature inside

  • Nave inside

  • oven

  • Bank detail

  • Altarpiece in the Savior Chapel

  • Altar and pulpit (left)

The building was built entirely from wood with support timber in the Siberian style in 1915/16 . Since the outside is clad with round timber, the building gives the impression of a log house construction . The construction management was probably the Frankfurt sawmill owner Skomoda. After it was abandoned after the war to decay, it was 1927/28 a sand-lime brick - foundation . The first with cardboard -covered roof 1927 wood were shingles applied in 1975 by asphalt shingle were replaced.

The building consists of the nave, the wide two-storey tower with a bell cage and a small entrance porch. The basic construction is reminiscent of the barn construction at that time .

Opposite the altar in the east is a stage in the western part of the church with a gallery above, which was used as an orchestra room. For this reason the benches have no backrests. In the service the believers sat facing the altar. On the other hand, visitors were able to watch the events on the stage and loft facing west. The original benches have been preserved to this day.

Furnishing

In addition to the holistic wooden construction, the interior fittings, including the following works of art made by the camp inmates, are particularly striking:

  • the carved altar ;
  • the wooden relief figures of the 12 apostles
  • pictures painted by the prisoners themselves on and around the altar;
  • numerous dragon head patterns and dragon figures (also on the roof), the meaning of which can no longer be clearly understood today; the motifs could come from Nordic folk art or from Russian folklore, although dragons do not play a prominent role there;
  • the magnificently carved chandelier with its dragon heads;
  • four cannon ovens in the four corners, which heated the room evenly and which were replaced at the end of the 1920s by a single oven still standing to the left of the altar.

Support association

Symbol of the association

On April 4, 2001, the Förderverein Heilandskapelle Frankfurt (Oder) e. V. founded with the aim of maintaining and renovating the Heilandskapelle. The dragon pattern can also be found in the logo of the friends' association.

The unique church is filled with life again. As part of the annual "Summer in the Heilandskapelle" series, concerts, theater and ballet performances, book readings, lectures, etc. for the performance. The evenings are free, the association asks for donations for its above-mentioned goals.

Today, the association maintains a permanent exhibition on the history of the chapel and settlement on the second floor of the tower.

Guided tours are available on special order and during the Days of the Open Monument .

Current

The congregation in the Heimkehrsiedlung, which has always been part of the Georgen congregation, is looked after by its pastors today as it was then. In addition to the church services, there are also cultural events, just like when it was founded.

Annually on the Thanksgiving Festival , the Heilandskapelle is the place for short prayer and the starting point for the procession across the fields to the neighboring church in the northern district of Kliestow .

From September 2013 the nave will be restored. The parish and the association are supported by donations that could be received during church services and cultural events. The project is also supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Foundation, the German Foundation for Monument Protection, the KiBA Foundation and the regional church.

The “Summer in the Heilandskapelle” therefore ended with a concert on May 25th. The last festival service before the renovation was then celebrated on June 2, 2013.

The repairs should be completed after about a year of construction. The Heilandskapelle will reopen on August 3, 2014 after a liturgical devotion by the Protestant and Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Jewish community in the so-called Russian Cemetery for the prisoners of war who died in the camp. The mayor of the city of Frankfurt (Oder), representatives of the sponsors and the Russian embassy in Berlin were invited .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Flyer of the Heilandskapelle e. V. (display May 2013)
  2. ↑ a b c Amelie Seck: The Heilandskapelle in Frankfurt (Oder). Of suffering and humanity in the First World War . In: Monuments. Magazine for monument culture in Germany . 28th year, no. 5 . German Foundation for Monument Protection, October 2018, ISSN  0941-7125 , p. 58-62 .
  3. ↑ Heilandskapelle in Frankfurt on the Oder. In: denkmalschutz.de. August 1, 2014, accessed October 13, 2018 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 21 ′ 40.4 "  N , 14 ° 30 ′ 45.1"  E