Philip's Chapel (Berlin-Alt-Hohenschönhausen)

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Philip Chapel
Chapel, west view
address Berlin-Alt-Hohenschönhausen, Treffurter Strasse 10
Denomination evangelical
local community Regional church community
Current usage Chapel for church services
building
Year of construction (s) 1952-1954

The Philippus Chapel (also spelled: Philippuskapelle ) in the Berlin district of Alt-Hohenschönhausen is located at Treffurter Straße 10. The Protestant church was consecrated in 1954 and belongs to the Regional Church Community (LKG) Berlin-Hohenschönhausen within the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia .

description

The church building is a simple rectangular building with a white plastered facade (structured like shingles on the long sides - in a mannerist manner), a wooden porch facing the street and a pent roof covered with red tiles . It was named after the apostle Philip at the inauguration . Construction began in 1952 and at that time belonged to the Berlin-Weißensee church district .

A simple white wooden cross is attached to the ridge of the west gable above the porch, which protects an arched entrance with a double-leaf door.

With its size and simple appearance, the building blends in well with its surroundings, which are dominated by small single-family houses. The basic dimensions of the church are about 13 m × 8.5 m. Five simple achromatic church windows are let into the long sides. The chapel has no tower and no bell. A larger garden belongs to the building, bordered in the north by Allendorfer Weg, with trees and a small wooden arbor-like community room .

history

Building history

The Evangelical Parish and Religious Church Community in Lichtenberg had numerous new members after the war. It was planned to set up a church base in the Hohenschönhausen area , for which a property was planned in what was then Berliner Straße . This project did not progress for various reasons. The Christians therefore took the opportunity to purchase a piece of land offered to them in the garden colony around the cider pit . The 821 m² lot - located at 10 Treffurter Strasse at the corner of Allendorfer Weg 26 - had belonged to the pastor's widow Amanda Bergmann. For a small amount of 1476  marks plus taxes and costs for water and electricity connections, the parish became the owner of the building plot on November 13, 1952. On November 27th, the Evangelical Consistory Berlin-Brandenburg granted the (subsequent) approval to the purchase of the property with the following reason: “The lack of church bases in the border area between Marzahn and Berlin-Friedrichsfelde has been openly complained up to the last time. [...] Acquiring land is urgently required in the interests of all neighboring parishes. "

A wooden barrack from the manufacturer VEB Mibar from Saxony was planned as the parish hall , but its purchase and installation was not approved: a building police order for Berlin from 1951 forbade the installation of new barracks in the city. The interested parishioners and their managing pastor then commissioned the architect Paul Schulz to create a design for “a small community center in massive construction at the same cost as the construction of a wooden barracks”. In March 1953 the pastor wrote to the consistory: “Our congregation is trying to create a preaching position on this property this year.” The evangelical aid organization had promised financial help.

The company Wirtschaftsbau Berlin-Lichtenberg , Herzbergstrasse  94/9, received the order to build a small, simple chapel . The completion and inauguration took place on November 8, 1954 with a ceremony.

Financing the construction work, for which an invoice for 9,721.99  marks had been made, then caused the community a number of difficulties, because construction had started without prior approval from the church supervisory authority. The payment was regulated in retrospect via a loan with a ten-year term.

Another problem arose in 1955 when two visits (in April and May) by representatives of the city synod criticized both the building as a whole and details:

"The confirmation room appears extremely unfortunate in terms of location and design [...]." It is to be rebuilt and, above all, the parish is to "subsequently take an orderly building decision" and submit it to the consistory for approval. Because of the lack of approval from the church supervisory authority, “it could happen that some things about the community home, which was otherwise built with great love and willingness to make sacrifices, did not meet the requirements that we today have to and can make of such modest building projects from an architectural point of view. [...] Among other things, the exterior plaster was carried out in a completely superfluous, well-maintained form. A smooth trowel plaster, coated with white lime, would not only look a lot more dignified, it would also have been cheaper. The tube lighting installed in the reveal of the relatively flat altar niche also appears questionable in every way. "

Between June 1955 and June 1956, an outbuilding for the storage of fuel and additional furniture was built at the northeast corner of the chapel building according to the plans of the architect and by the same construction company for DM 2,217.01.

Church musical instrument

The initial equipment of the chapel included a harmonium , which after seven years was barely playable, and in 1961 the community's position as organist was refilled. Both of these factors led the congregation to consider buying and installing a small organ, a positive . For this purpose, offers (prices and delivery times) were obtained from the organ building companies Jehmlich from Dresden and Sauer from Frankfurt (Oder) : Sauer's estimate of 9400 marks was the cheapest. To this end, the congregation submitted a request for funding to the consistory for an amount of 4,600 marks, with the stipulation that the congregation itself would raise 1,300 marks; donations and collections would be used to collect 1,000 marks, and the district church district had promised a grant of 2,500 marks. After everything seemed to have been settled, there was a small problem because a small fan was required for the positive organ with four stops and a pedal , which was to be obtained from a West Berlin company - the import permit, initially only limited, was not granted. In consultation with the organ building company, the community decided to buy a small organ (portative) with three stops and without a pedal, which cost just under 3,000 marks and does not require a fan. Because it was a series production, the organ building department of the city synod did not have to have an acceptance carried out. Installation and inauguration took place in July 1963. The sums that had already been approved but not required were transferred to the organ project of the Tabor Church.

Church life

In addition to regular church services, the approximately 600 members organize Bible discussion groups, discussion groups for seekers and questions, life and career counseling. A gospel and a trombone choir are entertained.

In 1983, pastor Walter Hykel was one of the organizers of the “Peace Workshop”, in which several East Berlin evangelical parishes took part. Afterwards, he also offered his support to homosexual people. On the initiative of Christian Pulz , the working group gays in the church - working group homosexual self-help - was founded in this chapel , which later received new rooms in the Treptow-Köpenick district for its meetings.

The current pastor is Reiner Meise (status: end of 2017).

See also

literature

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ Archive plan in the Church Archive Center Berlin , accessed on December 29, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c d e file 35/8931 in the Evangelical State Archive Berlin.
  3. ↑ Schulz, Paul; Architect, Lichtenberg, Möllendorffstr. 43 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1943, I, p. 2759.
  4. ^ Official telephone directory Berlin 1952: Schulz, Paul, Architekt; Architectural office at Lichtenberger Rathausstrasse 6 , accessed on January 20, 2018.
  5. ↑ An invoice from the hostess of the Weisse Taube restaurant , Landsberger Chaussee 78, shows a celebratory meal for the parish with around 180  DM on the occasion of the inauguration.
  6. ^ Letter dated April 20, 1955
  7. ^ Letter dated May 1955
  8. ↑ The problems with deliveries and financing of services before and after August 13, 1961 are to be seen in connection with the building of the wall .
  9. ↑ Files 35/4311, 35/4611 and 35/8931 in the Evangelical State Archive Berlin.

Coordinates: 52 ° 32 ′ 11.5 ″  N , 13 ° 31 ′ 5 ″  E