Melanchthon Church (Berlin-Wilhelmstadt)

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Melanchthon Church

The Protestant Melanchthon Church , consecrated on December 15, 1893 , is located on Melanchthonplatz in the Wilhelmstadt district of the Berlin district of Spandau . Architect was the royal building officer Heinrich von Lancizolle , who in his style on historicist forms the north German brick Gothic resorted. The church is a listed building .

history

Initially, only a small half-timbered church was to be built for the Potsdam suburb of Spandau to relieve St. Nikolai ; only later was the chapel to be replaced by a larger building. The building plot on Potsdamer Chaussee - the street section was only given the name Wilhelmstraße in 1897 - for the planned massive construction with around 400 spaces, the city of Spandau had given for a small rent . The construction of the church cost around 50,000  marks (adjusted for purchasing power in today's currency: around 348,000 euros). The foundation stone was laid on May 2, 1893. On December 15 of the same year, the Church was dedicated. As patron was Philipp Melanchthon chosen in memory of his stay of several weeks in Spandau.

Initially, the church was only a branch church of St. Nikolai, but on April 1, 1916, the Melanchthon Church was elevated to an independent parish church . In the time of National Socialism , the Melanchthong community was a "stronghold" of the regime-loyal German Christians . All three parish priests were close to this direction in the evangelical church, especially pastor Luntowski was regarded as "unteachable" even by the church leadership. However, there was also a minority of lay people from the opposition Confessing Church under the leadership of Edith Mertin and foreman Johannes Wiesner, supported by Vicar Peukert. The group insisted on a minority right and was seldom given over to the Melanchthon Church "on a trial basis"; the church leadership took the position that the Confessing Congregation in Spandau was “adequately supplied” overall. In particular, the wish to hold a church service in the Melanchthon Church on Christmas and New Year's Eve was only fulfilled by the Oberkirchenrat on New Year's Eve 1937; the parish council had also rejected this.

The church was damaged during World War II . It was restored by Emil Fangmeyer in 1954–56 . The historicist painting was omitted and the associated furnishings were removed. Instead, the chancel was simply designed in the style of the 1950s and supplemented with an altar cross made of light oak by Gerhard Schreiter behind the wooden table altar ; Schreiter also created the baptismal font and the altar candlesticks. From 1988 the original interior design was partially reconstructed . The whitewashed paintings above the chancel arch to the chancel , on the parapet of the gallery , on the ceiling construction and on the long sides of the nave were exposed and partially renewed.

Building description

The building looks traditional for the time it was built. The masonry building , faced with red clinker bricks, with dimensions of 28 meters long and 12 meters wide, is based on a square in terms of urban planning . The hall church has four bays , a recessed polygonal choir in the east and a western building in front as a bell tower . The tower is divided horizontally by a frieze and cornice , its four gables are decorated with panels . An octagonal roof turret rises above its intersecting gable roofs , broken through with ogival openings. He repeats the motif of the gable triangles at the foot of his high copper-clad tent roof . It ends at the top with a tower ball and a gold-plated cross. A tower clock was never installed in the opening provided for it on the gable facing the street.

The nave has a slate-covered gable roof with two dormers covered with pyramid roofs on each side . In the interior, the roof structure of the gable roof is visible over the nave. The walls of the nave each have four large, pointed arches with simple tracery windows . In the vault of the chorus are dark red ribs painted. On the side of the choir, the sacristy and an equipment room are connected, which are also accessible from the outside.

Above the entrance door of the portal , a cross and a snake are depicted in a round glass window , the herald image of Philipp Melanchthon. The stylized Christian symbol for the Holy Spirit , a dove, is depicted above the glazed entrance door to the church hall .

In 1938 the old organ from 1894 was replaced by a new one with 28 registers and 1746 pipes on two manuals and pedal , built by GF Steinmeyer & Co.

The pews were renewed in 1967. Since 1991, portraits of Philipp Melanchthon and Martin Luther , which were acquired in the art trade, have been on the long sides of the nave . An altar has been part of the furnishings since 1994 and has been removed from the Luther Church . The glass painting of the three windows of the choir is by Claus Peter Koch. Klaus Müller-Rabe designed the windows of the nave from cathedral glass .

Bells

Two cast steel bells, cast in 1919, hang in the bell room . They were funded from the proceeds of the sale of a bronze bell that escaped confiscation for armaments purposes during World War I.

Chime Weight
(kg)		 Diameter (
cm)		 Height
(cm)		 Bell caster
d ' 1650 160 135 GEBR. ULRICH, APOLDA.
e ' 1150 140 110 ULRICH & WEULE , APOLDA-BOCKENEM.

literature

Web links

Commons : Melanchthonkirche (Berlin-Wilhelmstadt)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans-Rainer Sandvoss : Resistance in Spandau (= German Resistance Memorial Center : Resistance in Berlin from 1933 to 1945 ). Berlin 1988, ISSN  0175-3592 , pp. 101, 133.

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 ′ 16.4 "  N , 13 ° 11 ′ 20.2"  E