Hephatha Church

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Hephatha Church

The Protestant Hephatha Church at Fritz-Reuter-Allee 130-136 in the Berlin district of Britz in the Neukölln district was built by Karl Streckebach from 1954 to 1955. 1963-1965 it was supplemented by a community center with day care center and rectory by Reinhold Barwich.

history

In the first few years after the Second World War , building activity in Berlin was limited to rebuilding the destroyed building fabric. Since the early 1950s, was with new buildings started so well in the former agricultural estate Britz. The settlement facilities , such as kindergartens , schools , public institutions and churches , were also planned at the same time. In the course of this new building planning, the parish council of the village church Britz decided to found a new parish in Britz-Süd. On June 30, 1954 the foundation stone was laid for the church of the daughter congregation. The topping-out ceremony was celebrated on October 16, 1954 . On June 3, 1955 , Bishop Otto Dibelius inaugurated the settlement church, as it was then called. Since October 1, 1956, the settlement community was independent. On March 29, 1957, the parish council decided the name " Hephatha " from the Gospel of Mark (7.31-37) from the healing report of a deaf and mute for the church . The new name was announced to the community on June 9, 1957 in a festive service.

Building description

The predominant shape of the floor plan in the 1950s is the rectangle that embodies the principle of the traditional Wegekirche . In the first half of the decade, many architects chose not only this traditional floor plan but also a conventional building construction and design . This applies in particular to Karl Streckebach, whose building plans show an asymmetrical arrangement of the galleries on only one side of the nave , which are supported by steel supports .

The hall church is a masonry structure faced with light brown clinker bricks , which supports a gently sloping gable roof . On both long sides there is a row of large lattice windows , the gable of the altar wall contains a small rose window .

The entrance to the church is in the bell tower on the side , a campanile connected to the anteroom to the church by a short corridor . It consists of two wall panels and is covered with a pent roof. The bell chamber received lamellas as a cover .

The bell has three bronze bells .

Pouring year Caster Chime Weight
(kg)		 Diameter (
cm)		 Height
(cm)		 inscription
1955 Friedrich Wilhelm Schilling g sharp ' 550 92 78 CHRIST REX.
1955 Friedrich Wilhelm Schilling cis " 210 71 60 VENI CREATOR SPIRIT.
1959 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock H' 310 80 66 + CREDO IN UNUM DEUM PATREM OMNIPOTENTEM!

There is a gallery above the anteroom to the church, on which the first organ was inaugurated on July 6, 1958. In 1973 the church received a larger organ from the Karl Schuke Berlin organ building workshop . On the altar wall is a metal sculpture depicting Christ with the disciples in the nave. The baptismal font was carved from a stone block from the destroyed Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Since the old pulpit was wobbly and did not match the interior of the church, a new one was made in 1991, which resembles the elements of the balustrade of the galleries.

literature

  • Christine Goetz and Matthias Hoffmann-Tauschwitz: Churches Berlin Potsdam. Berlin 2003.
  • Architects and Engineers Association of Berlin: Berlin and its buildings. Part VI. Sacred buildings. Berlin 1997.
  • Günther Kühne, Elisabeth Stephanie: Evangelical churches in Berlin. Berlin 1978.
  • Klaus-Dieter Wille: The bells of Berlin (West). History and inventory. Berlin 1987.
  • Eberhard Gutjahr: Chronicle for the 30th anniversary of the Hephatha parish Berlin-Britz. Berlin 1985.
  • Eberhard Gutjahr, Bernd Szymanski: Chronicle for the 40th anniversary of the Hephatha parish Berlin-Britz. Berlin 1995.

Web links

Commons : Hephatha Church (Britz)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 26 ′ 29.8 "  N , 13 ° 26 ′ 46.7"  E