Jurgaitschen Church

Jurgaitschen Church (Königskirch Church) Кирха Юргайтшена
Jurgaitschen Church
Construction year:	1841 to 1845
Inauguration:	July 1845
Style elements :	Brick construction , hall church
Client:	Evangelical Church Community Jurgaitschen ( Church Province East Prussia , Church of the Old Prussian Union )
Location:	54 ° 57 '21.4 "  N , 21 ° 49' 33.7"  E Coordinates: 54 ° 57 '21.4 "  N , 21 ° 49' 33.7"  E
Location:	Kanash Kaliningrad , Russia
Purpose:	Evangelical Lutheran Parish Church
Local community:	Not available anymore. The church building is now used for a purpose other than intended

The Jurgaitschen Church (1939 to 1946: Königskirch Church, Russian Кирха Юргайтшена ) is a brick hall (basilica) built between 1841 and 1845 without a tower and was a place of worship for the Protestant residents in the parish of the former East Prussian and now Kanasch village in the Russian Oblast Kaliningrad ( Koenigsberg Region [Prussia] ).

Geographical location

Today's Kanasch is located southwest of the district town of Neman (Ragnit) on a side road (27K-186), the Schilino (Szillen , 1936 to 1946 Schillen) with Nowokolchosnoje (Sandlauken , 1938 to 1946 Sandfelede) on the Russian trunk road A 216 (former German Reichsstraße 138 , today also Europastraße 77 ) connects. The next train station is Artjomowka (Argeningken-Graudszen , 1938 to 1946 Argenhof) on the - currently not operated - railway line Chernyakhovsk – Sovetsk (Insterburg – Tilsit) .

The church building is in the northwestern local area south of the road to Novokolchosnoje.

Church building

Already during the reign of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I , consideration was given to elevating Jurgaitschen to a church village in order to meet the requirements of better church support for the population. In a directory of plans for church buildings in Prussia 1723-1737 in which Ragnit Ambt under the name of loci and villages where the church to edify , the name was Jurgaitschen listed, which is said to be the branch of Zhillen (Szillen) , which from the Matre is a strong mile away . The king donated five Hufen land to the community for the building of the church.

However, it would be another hundred years before a church was founded: on June 1, 1841, the foundation stone was laid for the building of the church, in whose ceremony King Friedrich Wilhelm IV personally took part. In the following years, a towerless, basilica- shaped brick building with high windows on both sides was built. The consecration of the church took place in July 1845 .

The interior of the church seemed excessive, which was mainly due to the double side galleries. The niche-shaped sanctuary was rectangular and vaulted, while the rest of the ceilings were kept flat. The altar was plain and had no top. The pulpit was raised in the left corner of the altar niche. Above the sanctuary there was a lettering with the call of angels from the birth story of Jesus : Glory to God on high! .

The organ was a two-manual work with 16 parts . It came from the time of church building. The church bell consisted of two bells .

In the years 1933/1934 renovation work took place in and on the church.

Due to the Second World War , the church building came out unscathed - except for a damaged roof. Due to a lack of subsequent use for many years, the roof collapsed and the masonry as a whole began to deteriorate. When it was decided to use the building as a warehouse for agricultural products, the walls were removed down to the frieze and the building was given a new roof. The interior was cleared out and provided with two intermediate floors, the entrance portal bricked up.

The former church building is now a listed building. A church use is uncertain and not in sight. In 1995 - in the 150th year of the church's existence - only a silent remembrance of former parish residents could take place in front of “their” church.

Parish

The Jurgaitschen Church was originally planned as a subsidiary of the Szillen Church (1938 to 1946: Schillen, Russian: Schilino), but with the inauguration of the church in 1845, the decision was made to found its own parish Jurgaitschen. After all, the new parish already had around 6,000 parishioners when it was founded, 2,000 of whom were Lithuanian . The services were held in German and in Lithuanian on different dates. The parish of Jurgaitschen consisted of more than 50 villages, localities and residential areas, half of which belonged to the Szillen church, the rest to the Heinrichswalde church and the parish Tilsit-Land . There were twelve schools in the parish area.

The church patronage was incumbent on the Prussian king and was exercised by state authorities after 1920. In 1925 the parish Jurgaitschen had 5721 parishioners. In 1933 the last general church visit took place in the church district, including Jurgaitschen.

The parish of Jurgaitschen was part of the parish of Ragnit . With the establishment of the Tilsit-Ragnit district in 1920, the two church districts Tilsit and Ragnit were merged and the Church of the Old Prussian Union, with 14 parishes, was the largest church district in the church province of East Prussia . The church district has been divided into two superintendent districts (dioceses) for the purpose of more adequate church care . Jurgaitschen came to the Tilsit diocese in the Tilsit-Ragnit parish .

In 1938 the place Jurgaitschen and with it the church received the new name "Königskirch" for ideological and political reasons. With this renaming, reference was made to the presence of the king in 1841 when the foundation stone of the church was laid in 1841.

Flight and expulsion of the local population in connection with the Second World War and the subsequent anti-church religious policy of the Soviet Union brought church life to a standstill in what is now Kanasch.

In the 1990s, two new Evangelical Lutheran congregations emerged in the region , in whose catchment area the place is today: in Slavsk (Heinrichswalde) and in Bolschakowo (Groß Skaisgirren , Kreuzingen from 1938 to 1946 ) . They belong to the Kaliningrad provost of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia .

Parish places

From its foundation in 1845 until the end of the war in 1945, the parish of Jurgaitschen / Königskirch consisted of 52 villages, small towns and places to live in addition to the parish:

Surname	Change name from 1938 to 1946	Russian name		Surname	Change name from 1938 to 1946	Russian name
Alloningken	Allingen			Kluickschwethen	Smart bettors
Argeningken-Graudszen , 1936–1938: Argeneingken-Graudschen	Argenhof	Artyomovka		Pains	Krauden
Birch forest		Klyushino		Cool
Budupönen	Free yards			Lappienen, forest		Obruchevo
Freihof				Laugall	Martinsrode
Gaidwethen	Geidingen			* Lieparten		Loparjowo
* Giggarn	coo	Duminichi		Odaushöfchen
Giggarn-Skerswethen	Yarns			Osznaggern, 1936–1938: Oschnaggern	Aggern	Kamyshevka
Large board tailors	Board tailoring	Grusdewo		* Papu rails	Paschen
* Big dumbs	Groß Ostwalde	Shepetovka		Dolls	Dolls A
* Groß Ischdaggen	Großroden			Sandlauken	Sand fields	Nowokolchosnoye
Groß Oszkinnen, 1936–1938: Groß Oschkinnen	Great men	Ostaschewo		Schacken any will	Field height	Yermolovo
Groß Skattegirren, 1928–1938: Skattegirren	Groschenweide	natural boundary Otradnoje		Schaulwethen	Clear height	Shevelyovo
Big wing sneakers	Großwingen	Obruchevo		Schillgallen thimbles	Spruce end	Kashirino
Kaiserau				Schill booths	Auerfließ	Shepetovka
Kattenuppen	Kattensteig			* Schillupischken	Spruce flow	Shilovo
Kaukweth-Kludszen, 1936–1938: Kaukweth-Kludschen	Raunenwalde	Kitowo		* Seikwethen	Ulmental	Saizewo
Kaukwethen	Raunenhof			* Skambracken	Brakenau	Chochlowo
Cell lines	Kellen (East Pr.)	Obruchevo		* Skardupönen	Sharps	Scherstjowo
Kermuscheiten	Kermen			Skeppetschen	Ellerngrund
Small board tailoring				Sprouts	Rokingen
Small stupid	Klein Ostwalde			Taurothen	Tauren	Kroty
Klein Oszkinnen, 1936–1938: Klein Oschkinnen	Kleinossen			Thalsenzen, 1936–1938: Thalschenten	Green height	Vinogradovo
Little skateboarders	Small penny willow			Turks
Klipschen-Rödszen, 1936–1938: Klipschen-Rödschen	Clips	Skripachyovo		Wersmeninken	Angerbrunn
Clichés	Cliché field	Kaschino		Wittgirren	Berginswalde

Pastor

In the hundred years of the Parish's existence, five evangelical clergy were in office at the Jurgaitschen / Königskirch church:

• Hermann Albert Bernhard Herford, 1845–1873
• Richard Otto Rudolf Werner, 1873-1893
• Daniel Justus Görke, 1894–1925
• Emil Franz Theodor Pipirs, 1925–1930
• Kurt Hochleiter, 1930–1945

Church records

The last pastor maintained services until the end. In November 1944, the parish was cleared and Pastor Hochleiter had to leave the place. His daughter managed to take the church records with her and save them from destruction. Today they are kept in the Evangelical Central Archive in Berlin-Kreuzberg :

• Baptisms: 1845-1944
• Weddings: 1845 to 1944
• Funerals: 1845-1944
• Confirmations: 1905 to 1944
• Communicants: 1900 to 1914.

There are also lists of names of the baptized (1873 to 1898 and 1915 to 1942) and married (1876 to 1912), as well as lists of the fallen (1914 to 1918).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Walter Grubert: ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Königskirch (Jurgaitschen) )
2. ↑ ^{a b} Walter Grubert: ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: 150 years of Jurgaitschen-Königskirch church. )
3. ^ ^{A b} Walther Hubatsch : History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia. Volume 3: Documents. Göttingen, 1968, p. 228.
4. ↑ Walther Hubatsch: History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia. Volume 2: Pictures of East Prussian churches. Göttingen, 1968, p. 113, fig. 540 u. 505.
5. ↑ Кирха Юргайтшена at prussia39.ru (with historical pictures of the Jurgaitschen church and a photo of the building from 2013).
6. ↑ Walther Hubatsch: History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia. Volume 3: Documents. Göttingen, 1968, p. 487.
7. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Evangelical Lutheran Provosty Kaliningrad )
8. ↑ A * indicates a school location
9. ↑ Friedwald Moeller: Old Prussian Protestant Pastor's Book from the Reformation to the Expulsion in 1945. Hamburg 1968, p. 60.
10. ^ Christa Stache: Directory of the church records in the Evangelical Central Archives in Berlin. Part I: The eastern church provinces of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union. Berlin, 1992³, p. 56.