Church of St. Nicholas (Hamburg)

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"Volumes in Sunlight": Friedhelm Grundmann's former Simeon Church with rectory (left) and kindergarten (right)
Information board of the cultural authority

The Church of St. Nicholas (Greek Agios Nikolaos ) is a Greek Orthodox church in Hamburg-Hamm . The listed building was originally built in 1965/66 as the Evangelical Simeon Church and sold in 2003 by the North Elbe Evangelical Lutheran Church .

history

There were already plans to establish a separate parish in the north-west of Hamm before the First World War. At that time, the Hammer community had grown to over 20,000 members, so that the old Trinity Church from the 17th century was no longer sufficient. In 1912, a second pastor's position was set up and around 27,000 Reichsmarks were collected for the planned church building. At the time, the planned location was a square-like extension at the corner of Sievekingsallee and Stoeckhardtstrasse. However, the First World War and the subsequent inflationary period ruined the plans. After the extensive destruction of Hamm in the Second World War, the project was only taken up again in the 1960s and implemented on the newly created western extension of Sievekingsallee.

In 1999 the four Hammer congregations of the Simeon, Paul, Trinity and Dankeskirche reunited to form one congregation due to falling membership numbers and church tax revenues . The building of the former Simeon parish was given up and sold in 2003 to the Greek Orthodox parish of Agios Nikolaos, which had existed since the 19th century. She had this consecrated to St. Nicholas ; as a result, some careful renovation work was carried out.

The Simeon Kindergarten remained with the Protestant community, and the Protestant children's services continue to take place in this building.

architecture

The then Simeon Church was built in 1965/66 according to plans by Friedhelm Grundmann , Herbert Kuhn and Friedhelm Zeuner . At the time, Grundmann built and restored numerous churches in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein in addition to underground stations for the Hamburger Hochbahn . He himself described the Simeon Church as his most important sacred building.

The asymmetrical cubes allow classic modernism of the 1920s and 1930s to live on. Powerfully structured exposed concrete elements such as ceiling beams and gargoyles show the influence of Le Corbusier on Grundmann's work. The architecture critic Paulhans Peters characterized the church with a quote originally referring to buildings by Le Corbusier as “volumes in sunlight”, Ralf Lange as “one of the most important sacred buildings in Hamburg after the Second World War”.

Inside the church is equipped with sculptural concrete work by Hans Kock . Every Saturday evening at 9.30 p.m., the church is staged in a light and sound installation.

literature

Web links

Commons : Church of St. Nicholas (formerly Simeon Church, Hamburg)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Adolf Diersen: From the history of the Hammer Dreifaltigkeitskirche , Hamburg 1957, p. 53.
  2. ↑ a b Katharina Kulke: Volumes in sunlight. Portrait of Friedhelm Grundmann (Hamburg Architecture Archive)

Coordinates: 53 ° 33 ′ 37.2 "  N , 10 ° 2 ′ 36.5"  E