Martin Luther Church (Berlin-Neukölln)
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The Martin Luther Church in today's Berlin district of Neukölln was built in the neo-Gothic style by Fritz Gottlob . The foundation stone was laid on July 2, 1908. At the inauguration of the church on November 15, 1909, Prince August Wilhelm took part as a representative of the Imperial House . The church was destroyed in the Second World War , and reconstruction began in 1952 under the architect W. Rossa. The tower hood was restored in a shortened form. In 1953 the topping-out ceremony for the nave took place. On January 20, 1957, Bishop Otto Dibelius inaugurated the rebuilt church, which is now a listed building. In 1970, according to plans by the architect Günter Kohlhaus, a renovation began, which was provisionally completed with the inauguration on October 1, 1972.
history
What was then Deutsch-Rixdorf developed in the course of industrialization from a village community to a huge metropolitan community. The old village church on Richardplatz in Rixdorf had long since become too small for the Sunday service, but it wasn't until July 12, 1877 that the foundation stone was laid for another church, Magdalenenkirche , which was inaugurated on March 25, 1879. After the inauguration of the Galilee Church in 1905, a large domed church with 1200 seats was to be built on Reuterplatz for the north-eastern district of Rixdorf, which had meanwhile grown to around 15,000 Protestant Christians, against which the land registry raised an objection. Instead, two smaller churches were built in rows of streets. The construction costs of the Martin Luther Church in Fuldastraße, in which the church space was combined with the parish and rectory under one roof to save space and costs, amounted to 300,000 marks (adjusted for purchasing power in today's currency: around 1.91 million euros). The church originally had 1050 seats.
After the church was completely burned out on January 29, 1944, it was consecrated again on January 20, 1957 after difficult reconstruction. In the meantime, on April 1, 1948, the Neukölln parish was dissolved and the Martin Luther parish also became independent.
building
The short nave of the cross-shaped church consists of a central nave and two side aisles with short transepts with polygonal closure and a flat rectangular choir . This makes the church look almost like a central building. The rectangular tower transversely in front of the nave is flanked by two three-axis, four-storey parish and parish building wings in closed development . The nave extends, hidden behind, on the rear part of the property. On the street side, only the bell tower indicates the purpose of the building. The tower received three cast steel bells in 1909 , which were manufactured by the Bochumer Verein .
| Bell jar | Chime | Weight (kg) |
Diameter (cm) |
Height (cm) |
inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st bell | e ′ | 1150 | 139 | 110 | A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD! |
| 2nd bell | G' | 730 | 117 | 95 | THE WORD YOU SHOULD LET STAHN! |
| 3rd bell | b ′ | 360 | 96 | 78 | FAIR ALONE BY FAITH! |
The masonry is faced with red bricks. The base is made of field stones . In the tower axis there is a richly decorated porch and a balcony. The upper square tower shaft has arched arcades and pillars . The steep mansard helmet with clock gables had an octagonal lantern that was not rebuilt after the war for reasons of aviation security because of the neighboring Tempelhof airport.
In 1970, renovation work began according to plans by the architect Günter Kohlhaus.
The church space was reduced to 350 seats, creating a community hall and six community rooms. To improve the acoustics, the church room was given a suspended, flat wooden ceiling. The altar was now movably housed in the room. After the old stairwells were demolished, the tower was given a new staircase. This gained space for a day care center for the elderly, for children's rooms and a youth club. On October 1st 1972 the church was consecrated again with the mosaic picture of its namesake Martin Luther , made by the workshops Puhl & Wagner .
The inner
The brick architecture with neo-Romanesque and neo-Gothic elements not only shaped the exterior shape of the church, but also its interior. During the reconstruction, the church itself was expanded in a sober, clear style. In contrast to the original building, the interior walls and the ceiling were plastered. A new organ was inaugurated for the 50th anniversary of the church.
Under the direction of the architect G. Schlotter, the community had the ground floor expanded and rebuilt in 1995–2002 to make the house more inviting. New doors optically moved the church space more into the center.
literature
- Architects and Engineers Association of Berlin: Berlin and its buildings. Part 6: Sacred buildings. Ernst, Berlin a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-433-01016-1 .
- Günther Kühne, Elisabeth Stephanie: Evangelical churches in Berlin. CZV-Verlag, Berlin 1978, ISBN 3-7674-0158-4 .
- Parish Council of the Ev. Parish Berlin-Neukölln: 100 years of Martin Luther Church Neukölln. Berlin 2009.
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments . Berlin. 3rd edition, reviewed and supplemented by Michael Bollé. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin a. a. 2006, ISBN 3-422-03111-1 .
- Klaus-Dieter Wille: The bells of Berlin (West). History and inventory (= The buildings and art monuments of Berlin. Supplement 16). Mann, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-7861-1443-9 .
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 52 ° 29 '4 " N , 13 ° 26' 9.6" E