Church of Sergius of Radonezh (Bad Kissingen)
The Church of Sergius von Radonesch in Bad Kissingen is a Russian Orthodox church.
history
As early as 1856, plans were made to give Tsar Alexander II a piece of land to build a Russian Orthodox church on the occasion of his visit to Bad Kissingen. However, these plans failed when the planned visit did not materialize.
The two spa stays of Tsar Alexander II and his family in 1864 and 1868, however, resulted in increasing numbers of Russians visiting what was then known as the Weltbad Kissingen in the following years and decades, which is why the construction of a Russian Orthodox church became necessary. This development was promoted by the connection of Bad Kissingen to the railway network in 1871.
But it was not until 1897, under the leadership of Archpriest Alexej Maltzew (1854–1915), head of the Russian embassy church in Berlin, that donations were collected to finance a church building. In the same year the property was purchased for 8,000 marks ; two years later the property was expanded for a further purchase price of 2,400 marks. The laying of the foundation stone on July 20, 1898 and the consecration of the church building on July 18, 1901 were carried out by the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Gheorgian and Archpriest Alexej Maltzew. The church was built in honor of the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II , which is commemorated by a plaque in the interior. Some members of the Russian royal family attended the church during their spa stays: 1903-11 Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich with his morganatic wife Princess Palej and his son Prince Vladimir Palej , 1910-13 Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich , 1909 and 1913 Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich , 1910 Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna with Her husband Grand Duke Alexander Michajlowitsch, 1933–34 Grand Duke Boris Wladimirowitsch , 1945 Grand Duchess Kira Kirillowna with her husband Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1907–1994) , 1951 the long-time chairwoman of the Vladimir Brotherhood Princess Vera Konstantinovna .
During the First World War 1914-18 the church was closed and was under administration. In June 1921 Archbishop Evlogij (Georgijewskij) celebrated the first service after the revolution. 1944–45 the rectory belonging to the church was overcrowded with Russian refugees, v. a. Priests with their families. The then head of the church, Archpriest Alexander Bogachev (1889–1946), himself marked by prisoners of war and Gestapo imprisonment, made a name for himself through his tireless help for the refugees. His grave is to this day in the park cemetery in Bad Kissingen.
Since the mid-1990s, a sizeable congregation has again emerged in the church, which consists mainly of ethnic repatriates . From a canonical point of view, the church is subordinate to the German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad and is the property and seat of the Society of the Holy Prince Vladimir . In 2009, the “ Friends of the Russian Church Bad Kissingen ” was founded by the citizens of Kissingen , which has since supported the brotherhood in maintaining the church, for example by organizing benefit concerts.
building
The church is dedicated to St. Sergius of Radonezh .
The church, designed in the neo-Byzantine style, was planned by the court architect Viktor Schröter (St. Petersburg) and built by the Kissingen architect Carl Krampf . It is modeled on the Cathedral of St. Vladimir in Kiev. The interior painting carried out in 1905 by the artists Dimitrij Kiplik, Alexander Blasnow and Ivan Popow also followed the example of the work of the artist Viktor Michailowitsch Wasnezow in that cathedral. The church houses icons and other inventory from the former Russian Orthodox house chapels of the brotherhood in Bad Brückenau (1908–1920), Schweinfurt (1945–1951) and Hamburg (1901–1995).
A portrait of the architect Viktor Schröter can be found in the assembly room, the so-called “conversation house”, in the northern part of the building . In the adjoining rooms there are pictures of the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh .
Head of the Church
- Archpriest Alexej Maltzew , 1901–1914
- Protopresbyter Terentij Teodorowitsch, 1929–1930
- Monk priest Andrei Lowchij (later Archbishop Alexander), 1938–1944
- Archpriest Alexander Bogachev, 1944–1946
- Archpriest Antonij Junak, 1946–1950
- Archpriest Mikhail Sagoryansky, 1951–1965
- Priest Ioann Rybtschinsky, 1965–1980
- Archpriest Nikolai Artemoff , 1981–1996
- Archpriest Ewstafi Strach, 1996–1998
- Priest Stefan Urbanowitsch, 1998–1999
- Priest Ioann Tscherwinski, 1999–2002
- Sergiy Kiselev, 2002
- Priest Alexander Zaitsev, 2002-2004
- Priest Valery Micheev, 2004–2011
- Priest Alexej Lemmer, since 2011 (February – March 2013 Priest Vladimir Kaschirin)
literature
- Gleb Rahr : The Russian Church in Bad Kissingen . Possev-Verlag, Frankfurt 1984.
- Gleb Rahr: One hundred years of the Russian Church in Bad Kissingen . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 1999.
- Michael Keul: The history of the Russian Orthodox St. Sergius Church in Bad Kissingen . Abitur thesis, Bad Kissingen 1982.
- Denis André Chevalley, Stefan Gerlach: City of Bad Kissingen (= Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria . Volume VI.75 / 2 ). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-87490-577-2 , p. 88 .
- Georg Dehio : Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Bavaria I: Franconia: The administrative districts of Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia: Vol. I. 2., revised and supplemented edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1999, p. 70.
- The Russian Church. In: Thomas Ahnert, Peter Weidisch (eds.): 1200 years Bad Kissingen, 801–2001, facets of a city's history . Festschrift for the anniversary year and accompanying volume for the exhibition of the same name. Special publication of the Bad Kissingen city archive. Verlag TA Schachenmayer, Bad Kissingen 2001, p. 311f.
Web links
- History of the Russian Church in Bad Kissingen
- 100th anniversary of the church in Bad Kissingen 2001 (archive.org) ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- Website of the church in Bad Kissingen
- Website of the Brotherhood of St. Prince Vladimir
Coordinates: 50 ° 12 '20.44 " N , 10 ° 4' 29.04" O