Paul Gerhardt Community Home Bohnsdorf
The Paul Gerhardt community center is located at Reihersteg 36 in the Berlin district of Bohnsdorf , Falkenhorst, in the Treptow-Köpenick district .
The community home, which also serves as a Protestant church , was named after Paul Gerhardt , a pastor from the 17th century who also wrote numerous hymns .
The building was built in 1937 based on a design by the architect Otto Risse .
prehistory
In the late 1920s, the Falkenhorst settlement was created in Bohnsdorf through increased parcelling for home construction. The village church of Bohnsdorf from 1757 turned out to be no longer sufficient for the increasing number of parishioners.
Therefore, church services began to be held for the Falkenhorst in a provisional community room at Waltersdorfer Straße 94 (now private property of a family, previously a Protestant day-care center). In 1928 a collection for the construction of a small church was started under the Falkenhorstern.
In the settlement of Falkenhorst, which is mostly inhabited by working-class families, this led to a bitter struggle between those who were loyal to the church and free thinkers . The latter, organized in the KPD- affiliated “ Community of Proletarian Freethinkers ”, vehemently called for people to leave the church in leaflets with slogans such as “Proletarians need no churches!”. The church building committee Bohnsdorf-Falkenhorst, however, referred to the varied, social offers of the church.
At the end of this dispute, the parishioners succeeded in acquiring a piece of land in the Reihersteg for church use.
Community home
April 1937 the festive laying of the foundation stone took place and on November 7, 1937 the " Church on Reihersteg " could be inaugurated.
The community home was given the name Paul Gerhardt. The building, built according to a design by the architect, government builder Otto Risse (who was also responsible for the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt community center in Altglienicke ), is divided into the main building with a large church hall and a side wing, which provides a room for meetings of smaller community groups and apartments for church employees (former district nurse and deacon contains, today church warden and kindergarten).
The separate bell tower connects both buildings.
Taking into account the village character, the design of the church hall corresponds: mighty wooden pillars support the ceiling, forged lamps illuminate the room. In 1952, the inauguration of a Sauer organ was also celebrated.
The old bronze bells had to be handed in for war purposes in 1942. In 1955, two new chilled cast iron bells (tones: f´, g´´) from Schilling & Lattermann ( Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz ) were acquired through a generous donation , each weighing 246 and 145 kilograms .
Their inscriptions read:
- "O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord"
- "Sing the lord a new song"
From 1942 the Catholic parish also celebrated its services in the " Church on Reihersteg " until 1995 they were able to inaugurate their own chapel in the Hedwigshöhe hospital .
After the Second World War , the area was also used as a refugee camp. Early 50s was also the nursery .
In 1962 the 25th anniversary of the Paul Gerhardt community center was celebrated with a festive ceremony. For the 50th anniversary there was a festival week with a trombone choir, slide lectures and an instrumental concert.
The community home is considered a meeting place for young and old, from confirmation classes to the weekly senior citizens' café - in addition to being the second preaching site in the district - most of the church activities are accommodated there. The sexton of the Protestant community Bohnsdorf is also based there.
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 23 ′ 41.4 " N , 13 ° 34 ′ 37.1" E