Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rusnė

Rusnė Evangelical Lutheran Church (Rusnės evangelikų liuteronų bažnyčia)
The ev.-luth. Church Rusnė (soot) in 2007
Construction year:	1809
Inauguration:	1809; Rededication: August 21, 1994
Style elements :	Brick construction
Client:	Evangelical parish in Ruß ( church province East Prussia , Church of the Old Prussian Union )
Location:	55 ° 17 ′ 51.5 "  N , 21 ° 22 ′ 33"  E Coordinates: 55 ° 17 ′ 51.5 "  N , 21 ° 22 ′ 33"  E
Location:	Rusnė Klaipėda , Lithuania
Purpose:	Evangelical Lutheran parish church
Local community:	Evangelical Lutheran parish in Rusnė
Regional Church :	Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania
Website:	liuteronai.lt/Parapijos/Rusnes-parapija/Parapijos-istorija/Parapijos-istorija

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rusnė ( Lithuanian Rusnės evangelikų liuteronų bažnyčia ) is a church built in 1809 in the center of the town of Rusnė ( German  soot ) in the Lithuanian district of Klaipėda (Memel) .

Geographical location

Rusnė is located in the former East Prussia in the delta of the Memel River (Lithuanian: Nemunas) and belongs to the Rajongemeinde Šilutė (Heydekrug) . The KK 206 national road from Šilutė leads into the village . Šilutė is also the nearest train station and is on the Sowetsk – Klaipėda (Tilsit – Memel) line , which has not been in operation since 2011.

The church is located in the center of the village, east of Taikos gatvė and north of K. Donelaičio gatvė or Neringos gatvė.

Church building

The oldest church in the Heydekrug parish once stood in Ruß . During the time of the order , it was built in 1419 as the first church in the village. On May 23, 1774 (Whit Monday) it was destroyed by fire - together with the rectory and farm buildings, the office building and other properties. Church records and documents were also lost in the flames.

In the years that followed, church services and official acts took place in a wooden emergency church , which in turn also fell victim to fire in 1789.

In 1809 the current church was built in field stone and brick with a massive tower. The strong substructure of the tower, which still exists, and the vaulted entrance originate from the first religious church. Externally, the building looks very massive overall.

The interior of the church looked very dark until the time before 1945. The reason for this was the protruding gallery for the choir and organ. Altar and pulpit were connected to one another. From the two earlier churches, some furnishings have been preserved, including an altar candlestick.

In 1827 the church received an organ . It was replaced in 1898 by an instrument made by the master organ builder August Terletzki in Elbing (now in Polish: Elbląg). This organ no longer exists, the acquisition of a new instrument is intended.

Two bells ringed the church. They were from 1783.

The church survived the Second World War almost unscathed; in the years after 1945 it was also used for worship purposes. But then the state authorities ordered the building to be closed, which then fell into disrepair. The nave was given to the old and still operated deaf-mute institution as a gym .

After extensive repairs with the active participation of the population, the church was on 21 August 1994 with a solemn Mass in Lithuanian and German re- opened . The interior work was largely based on the historical model. In 1995 the exterior work on the church was also completed. The remaining moisture caused damage to the plaster, which was subsequently renovated.

Parish

The former evangelical rectory Ruß (Rusnė) in 2007

A parish in Ruß was founded around 1419. With the introduction of the Reformation , the pastor's position was filled with a Lutheran clergyman from 1541 , with a second pastor serving from the end of the 19th century. The Ruß Church, which initially belonged to the Memel Inspection (today: Klaipėda in Lithuanian), was the Karkeln branch church (now Russian: Myssowka ) until 1644 and the Schakuhnen branch church until 1711 (the place was called Schakendorf, now in Russian: Levobereschnoje between 1938 and 1946 ) assigned.

Until 1945, soot was part of the Heydekrug church district (Lithuanian: Šilutė), which belonged to the church province of East Prussia (between 1919 and 1939 the Synodal Association Memelland) of the Church of the Old Prussian Union .

After 1945 the church was closed. At the beginning of the 1990s it was transferred to the local parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania , which it has now - completely restored - as its place of worship.

Parish locations (until 1945)

For parish church soot belonged before 1945 except the vicarage villages and smaller towns, nor 16, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) today are in the territory of Lithuania as well:

Surname	Lithuanian name	Russian name		Surname	Lithuanian name	Russian name
Ackminge 1938–46: Ulrichswiese		Selenez		Sausgallen	Sausgalviai
Noble Brionishks		Seljony Mys		Skiwietell	Skirvytėlė
Atmath	Atmata			Skirwieth I 1938–46: Skirwiet		Borovoye
Bismarck, colony	Žalgiriai			Skirwieth II	Skirvyte
Bredszull 1936–38: Bredschull 1938–46: Kleinelchwinkel		Tschistoje		Sziesze 1938–46: Shoot	Šyša
Jodekrandt	Pelkininkai			Szieszkrandt 1938–46: Schießkrandt	Šyškrantė
Kuwertshof	Uostadvaris			Tattamishks	Tatamiškiai
Pokallna	Pakalnė			Carbon black	Vorusnė

Pastor (until 1945)

From the Reformation to 1945, Ruß served as Protestant clergy at the church:

Simon Alector, from 1541 Gregorius Vilnensis, 1558 Nicolaus Sautyll, 1586/1595 Lazarus Sengstock, 1595–1598 Peter Clocovius, 1598-1602 Theodor Clocovius, 1602-1629 Christoph Praetorius, 1629–1631 Johann Sperber, 1631–1656 Michael Gallus, 1656-1698 Bartholomäus Schultz, 1681-1710 Johann Jacob Sperber, 1711–1741 Johann Broscovius, 1741–1773 Theodor Gottlieb Thilo, 1767–1795 Daniel Wahl, 1796–1826 Wilhelm Theodor Schimmelpfennig, 1826–1831 Carl Eduard Ziegler, 1831–1851

David Peteaux, 1851-1857 Carl Eduard Schrader, 1857–1872 Otto Friedrich Hermann Krauss, 1873–1895 Emil Hermann Ewald Riel, 1893–1905 Carl Maximilian Uckermark, 1895–1900 Arthur Br. Hch. Pipirs, 1900-1903 Johann Ed. Ernst Christoleit, 1902 Franz Carl Hugo Gregor, 1903–1914 Fritz Moser, 1906–1911 Christoph Jurkschat , 1912–1915 Konrad Oloff, 1915-1932 Valentin Gailus, 1921-1924 Martin Schernus, from 1925 Michael Klumbies, from 1932 Walter Grops, 1937–1945

Church records

The parish registers of Ruß are almost only preserved as film versions of the Reichssippenamt , which are now stored in the Saxon State Archives in Leipzig . The films are available:

• Baptisms: 1774-1858
• Weddings: 1791 to 1835
• Burials: 1852 to 1863.

The originals are: Funerals from 1907 to 1944.

References

Commons : Evangelical Lutheran Church Rusnė  - collection of images

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Rusnė - soot at ostpreussen.net
2. ↑ Walther Hubatsch , History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia , Volume 2: Pictures of East Prussian Churches , Göttingen, 1968, p. 100, fig. 430
3. ↑ Jörg Naß on the organ in Rusnė ( Memento from July 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ ^{a b c} soot at wiki-de
5. ↑ ^{a b} Walther Hubatsch, History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia , Volume 3: Document , Göttingen, 1968, p. 510
6. ↑ Friedwald Moeller, Old Prussian Evangelical Pastors' Book from the Reformation to the Expulsion in 1945 , Hamburg, 1968, p. 124