Ronde Lutherse Kerk

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The domed church on Amsterdam's Singel canal
Interior, Bätz organ with integrated pulpit

The Ronde Lutherse Kerk (Round Lutheran Church), also Nieuwe Lutherse Kerk (New Lutheran Church) or Koepelkerk (Dome Church), is a former church building on the northern Singel in Amsterdam . It was built from 1668 to 1671 by the Lutheran congregation of Amsterdam in the classicist Baroque style and was restored after a fire until 1826. In 1935 it was given up as a place of worship. It has been part of a hotel complex since 1975 and serves as a conference, concert and wedding hall.

history

In early modern Amsterdam , the Lutherans were a tolerated minority. After a provisional start, they were able to build their own church on the southern Singel in 1633, today called Oude Lutherse Kerk . During the Dutch Golden Age , the community grew so much through immigrants, especially from northern Germany, that after just a few decades the desire for a second, representative church was raised.

The architect of the new church was Adriaan Dortsman . He chose the shape of a domed round church, based on the Roman pantheon , of which there was no example in Amsterdam until then. On December 13, 1671, the new Lutheran church was ceremoniously taken into use.

On September 18, 1822, a fire broke out in the church during plumbing work, which almost completely destroyed it. The reconstruction was led by the city architect Jan de Greef , who provided the original building plan with classicist accents and enhanced the resemblance to the Pantheon by coffering the interior of the dome. The re-inauguration was exactly four years after the fire on September 18, 1826.

At the turn of the 20th century, the church was the scene of much acclaimed choir and organ concerts. At the same time, the number of active parishioners fell. It became clear that the community was no longer able to maintain the building, and the search for usage concepts began. The last service was held in the church on January 20, 1935. It was then rented out for various uses, but remained the property of the municipality. On September 25, 1955, another festival service was held in the church as part of an international congress for Lutheran church music.

At the beginning of the 1970s, a user agreement was concluded between the parish and the Sonesta hotel group. By 1975 the dome room was adapted to the new needs. The organ, pulpit and dome lettering have been preserved.

Structure and equipment

The church is a classicist central building . The coffered dome with lantern rests on Ionic columns. Half of the round domed hall is surrounded by a two-story gallery ring like a side aisle .

The line of sight of the otherwise unadorned white room is dominated by the wall-high organ that Jonathan Bätz built in 1830 after the fire disaster. The pulpit is part of the organ case designed by Tieleman Franciscus Suys . The middle of the prospectus is decorated with a golden swan as a symbol for Martin Luther ; a swan crowned, visible from afar, also the dome lantern.

Under the dome there is a writing tape with the words "Eenen grond nobody else can lay the occasion, withered is Jezus Christ" ( 1 Cor 3:11  LUT ).

literature

  • J. Happee, JLJ Meiners, M. Mostert (eds.): De Lutheranen in Amsterdam (1588–1988) . Hilversum 1988, pp. 56-61 ( partially digitized )

Web links

Commons : Ronde Lutherse Kerk  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Disposition
  2. De Lutheranen p. 59

Coordinates: 52 ° 22 ′ 40.6 ″  N , 4 ° 53 ′ 37.6 ″  E