St. Georg (Berlin-Pankow)

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View of the church building from the southwest, Sept. 2019

The Roman Catholic Church of St. George in Berlin district of Pankow was in 1909 benediziert and in 1910 to the patron saint of St. George ordained . The church belongs to the Archdiocese of Berlin . Starting in 2021, the St. George Congregation will be combined with other Catholic congregations and some places of Christian life from northeast Berlin to form the Pastoral Room of Saint Theresa of Avila .

location

The church of St. Georg is located in the Pankow district on Kissingenplatz on parish -owned property. Next to it is the rectory , which was built a little later . At the time of construction and until the beginning of the 1920s, the church building was largely detached, the houses to the east and north were not built until later. Development planning for the surrounding road network had already taken place from 1905, but Kissingenstrasse is still shown as undeveloped in the address book around 1905 .

history

Formation of the community and preparation for a church building

The Berlin suburb of Pankow belonged to the Reinickendorf / Oranienburg Parish Association until the 1900s, on whose behalf Kuratus Hubert Teubner and Kuratus Nowack looked after the Catholics in Pankow . At the beginning they were able to use a former garden house, acquired through a donation from Cardinal Georg von Kopp from Breslau in Parkstrasse and converted into the Chapel of the Heart of Jesus . Above all, Teubner worked intensively on building his own larger church , because the number of inhabitants in Pankow had doubled within 50 years in the 19th century and this development continued: in 1905 13,000 people were counted, in 1915 the township gave up already 56,000 inhabitants.

The parish also bought a plot of land in Kissingenstrasse for the construction of a church building. Teubner now campaigned all over Germany with begging letters for donations for the church building, which earned him the nickname “the beggar on the Panke”. After a sufficient financial basis was available, development work began in 1905, and on July 7, 1907 the foundation stone for a church "In honor of the dear Mother of God of Perpetual Help " was laid. On this day a strong thunderstorm had gathered and so Teubner noted: "pouring rain gave the blessing of heaven".

Construction and completion of the church

The church was built as a neo-Gothic brick building based on designs by the architect August Kaufhold from Friedenau and the Kassel- based church architect Hugo Schneider .

On November 6, 1910 , Georg von Kopp, who was responsible at the time and later named Archbishop of Breslau , consecrated the new church. The consecration ceremony that followed took place in the restaurant Schloss Schönholz in the later Grabbeallee .

The cost of building and equipping the church building, the rectory and the sister house (St. Georgs Stift) amounted to 420,000 marks (adjusted for purchasing power in today's currency: around 2.45 million euros). It was not until 1929/1930 that the houses to the east and north of the church were built.

In 1913, the communion bench manufactured by the Eller company from Weißensee could be installed. A bronze door was installed for the portal, which was manufactured by the M. Wehse company in Berlin. And in July of the same year the pair of angels for the altar was delivered, which had been carved out of Carrara marble in the Mayer Royal Art Institute for Church Works in Munich .

Choir apse, around 1918

First repairs and more

The first repair work had to be planned as early as 1923. The onset of inflation made this work difficult and also made purchases such as candles or altar wine almost impossible. In the prime of the inflationary period, 1923 , the pastor could not pay a salary and sextons and chaplains had to be financed through collections . The establishment of the fund for Catholic self-help , which was fed from monthly contributions, proved to be helpful here .

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the congregation (1935), Auxiliary Bishop Josef Deitmer held a solemn pontifical office in the church , and Bernhard Lichtenberg , now prelate , gave the festive sermon.

In 1926, the roof of the church tower was damaged and the roof tiles had fallen off. The community then had the roof replaced with copper cladding. At the same time, the interior walls and the chancel were repainted.

Foundation of two daughter churches

From 1911, under the parish of St. Georg, a curate was established in the Berlin district of Niederschönhausen , which had its own place of worship, the Church of St. Maria Magdalena, built there by 1930 . This became self-employed in 1942.

Another daughter of St. Georg was the parish of St. Johannes Evangelist in Berlin-French Buchholz , spun off in 1937.

Second World War

After the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, the Georgsgemeinde held a war prayer every Friday . The holding of church services was soon only possible to a very limited extent due to various government orders.

The order published in 1942 for the delivery of non-ferrous metals , declared as a metal donation by the German people , spared St. George's Church because the bells are made of cast steel and there were not enough organ pipes . Heavy Allied air raids on Berlin in 1943–1945, especially an American bomb with a delay detonator that exploded directly in front of the south aisle , caused war damage to and in the building: all colored glass windows were broken, part of the gable collapsed in the apse -Vault a long crack appeared. In addition, the walls and windows of the church tower were damaged by artillery fire. "On April 22, 1945, Russian troops reached Kissingenplatz and occupied the church and parsonage," says the anniversary publication; the war was over. The residents of the rectory had to vacate it and found accommodation with the Gray Sisters in Berlin-Weißensee . Only a week later did Pastor Feige receive permission to return. 120 men from the Georgsgemeinde died during this terrible time, Pastor Feige had memorial plaques erected in the aisle of the church in 1946 for the fallen.

1945–1977: New repairs, renovations and simplifications

After the end of the war , the church was restored by 1948, some windows in the transept were bricked up or the defective areas were repaired with unsuitable glass blocks and the pulpit was removed. The damaged part of the building was supported with a concrete seal and repaired. So the church was usable again for the Christians. The repair of the main damage cost 14,000  RM , of which the General Association of the Catholic Congregations of Greater Berlin took 12,385 RM.

Even in 1958, war damage and newly developed structural damage had to be repaired: the interior painting had to be renewed, large parts of the roof structure, damaged by anobia and dry rot, had to be replaced.

The building of the wall on August 13, 1961 did not have a particular impact on the community; the border with West Berlin ran at Pankow, but more in the western part.

On July 21, 1966, the pastor registered a break into the church and the sacristy. The silver baptismal jug, a silver-plated plate and two glass jugs were stolen. The thieves were never found.

Major construction work was required for the main house in 1972 because most of the roof tiles were damaged or loose. As a result of a lack of material, the roofers now used black-gray cement tiles ( double Romans ) instead of the traditional red glazed ones .

Altar table

According to the recommendations of the Second Vatican Council , 1977 and subsequent years

  • freed the altars of decorative elements,
  • the interior wall surfaces, which until then had been kept ornamentally in a dark shade, were painted white,
  • the warrior memorial plaques in the aisles removed.
  • The monumental high altar was divided, the lower part (the cafeteria ) with a biblical subject has since formed the altar table. A manufactured artificial stone decorated with a simple ornament band serves as the new cafeteria . The floor of the chancel received large, square slates of slate.

1977-2004

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the community lost several members who moved to the old federal states or to West Berlin. The number of parish members in the late summer of 1990 was 2,285. In contrast, new church connections with Catholic parishes emerged. a. The Reinickendorfer parish of St. Marien donated a loudspeaker system to the Pankow parish for Nicholas. The first “free” Christmas service in the church was well attended.

In 1992, a building report showed that the entire church tower had to be renovated. The Albertus Bauhütte company carried out this work for a sum of 49,000 DM, which was borne by the Episcopal Ordinariate.

2009–2019: Thorough renovations under monument protection conditions

The first renovation work on the exterior of the church building began in 2009. From spring 2015 to Palm Sunday 2016, St. George's Church had to be closed and renovated - possibly also as a late consequence of the damage of the Second World War - after major cracks were found in the vault. A renovation of the painting of the church was originally supposed to start in 2017 and take place in several stages. After long negotiations with the Lower Monument Protection Authority on many detailed questions, the work could be carried out in one go from June to August 2019. As part of this work, viewing windows of the earlier painting were created at individual points, which show the original ornamentation from the time the church was built. According to construction experts, there were even two paintings in succession, because the colors and the presentation methods are very different. Some of these windows can be found behind the altar, on gallery pillars, on the gallery balustrade and on other wall surfaces.

architecture

Exterior description: main building

Main portal of the church
Mosaic ribbon with St. George

The stately church building in the style of a brick basilica and in neo-Gothic forms has a cross-shaped floor plan and closes with a polygonal choir . It is 37.60 meters long, 23 meters wide and has a vault height of 15 meters.

The portal facade at Kissingen Square and the transept at the Kissingen street are by magnificent Cob gable - gable with white plaster mirrors and rich tracery and - Rosette jewelry emphasized. The facade is also structured in a varied way by means of slight wall recesses, the incorporation of jagged brick strips and a row of bricks laid diagonally in gray plaster .

In 2005 the parish created handicapped accessible access to the church.

The main portal is made of solid wood and decorated with narrow metal strips. The handles on all doors are made as metal ornaments, and the key plates are also shaped accordingly.

In the stepped gable of the portal vestibule there is a mosaic of the church patron, St. George . It is around ten meters high and consists of thousands of colored mosaic stones, most of which date from the construction period 1909/1910. The community made it possible through donations. To the left and right of it, two smaller mosaics each with flower tendrils and a motto ( Hic est domus dei et porta coeli ; German: 'This is the house of God and the gate to heaven') decorate the gable.

A larger than life sandstone group with a depiction of a crucifixion group was attached to a buttress at the corner of Kissingenstrasse / Kissingenplatz . The figures were created in the workshop of the sculptor Peter Paul Müller . The sculptures of Mater Dolorosa and St. John, added only in 1942, were stolen in 1980 and never replaced.

Despite all the significant changes, the church building has been a listed building since the 1970s .

Exterior description: church tower

Tower seen from the southwest
Tower cross, September 2019

The south-west tower with a steep copper helmet adorned with corner turrets and a square floor plan with a side length of around seven meters is 62 meters high, including the tower ball and cross, it rises 70 meters in height.

The roof is clad with copper plates freshly renewed in the 2010s. The church tower had to be covered with copper as early as 1934.

Above the arched sound openings for the three bells is a tower clock with two dials facing the adjacent streets. In 1997, the earlier electromechanical clockwork was replaced by a radio-controlled clockwork mechanism and the hands were renewed. In 1993, a door collection for re-gilding the eight-meter-high tower cross resulted in a sum of 5,000  marks .

Weekday chapel

This small church service room was built in 1984 as a larger extension to the church building as a replacement for the chapel extension on the apse, which had been severely damaged in the war and had to be removed. Church services should be held here when it is cold or for smaller groups of believers. However, because access has to be through the large church space, this possibility of use turned out to be unsuitable. Changes are being considered. Four carved figures from the previous altar are attached to the rear whitewashed wall. They represent the four evangelists .

Inside description

Aisle
View of some parts of the vault from the roof structure

The interior of the church is spanned by a ribbed vault. All walls were extensively at the church consecration ornamented applied by the Berlin painter F. Busch. They have only been whitewashed since the end of the 2010s, only the emphasis on the ribs by the clinker was retained.

The crossing that dominates the space is characterized by a star vault . A simple round brass chandelier fitted with LED lamps hangs down from the middle of the crossing . There was no chandelier in the church.

The main nave is relatively short; it is separated from the choir by a two-part marble balustrade.

The aisles are pushed up .

Furnishing

Choir with altar

The five altar scenes
Church of St. Georg Pankow, 2019-09-02, Altarbild1, ama fec (99) .JPG
"Jesus who rose from the dead"
Church of St. Georg Pankow, 2019-09-02, Altarbild2, ama fec (100) .JPG
"Jesus who ascended to heaven"
Church of St. Georg Pankow, 2019-09-02, Altarbild3, ama fec (101) .JPG
"Jesus who sent us the Holy Spirit"
Church of St. Georg Pankow, 2019-09-02, Altarbild4, ama fec (102) .JPG
"Jesus who took you, O virgin [Mary], into heaven"
Church St. Georg Pankow, 2019-09-02, Altarbild5, ama fec (103) .JPG
"Jesus who crowned you, O Virgin [Mary], in heaven"

The high altar is on its five picture panels in the unfolded state are the five scenes from the New Testament, which are integral parts of the glorious Rosary. When closed, a story from the Old Testament (the sacrifice of Melchizedek , Genesis 14: 18-20  EU ) can be seen on the left wing, a scene from the New Testament on the right (Jesus appears to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus and they only recognize him when he breaks bread with them, Luke 24 : 13-35  EU ). The predella symbolizes the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) through a winged person, a lion, a bull and an eagle.

The winged altar originally stood on a sandstone base that was separated in 1977. It now forms the upper altar table. A slender canopy with a pinnacle adorned the altar until 1977 . Further figures of saints on the altar were placed elsewhere in the church after they were removed.

All altars are based on late Gothic forms and were acquired from the production program of the company W. Burg from Gelsenkirchen .

Ambo

The former pulpit was dismantled and an ambo made of artificial stone was installed to accommodate the design of the altar table.

Some of the original pieces of equipment that have been preserved are no longer in their original locations. For example, the pair of praying angels originally stood on the communion bench in front of the Lamentation of Christ and the figure of St. George in the parish hall, made by the Pankow sculptor Peter Paul Müller , initially adorned the high altar.

Seats

The pews, arranged in four parallel rows, have been preserved from the original equipment and were slightly refreshed in 2019. They offer around 360 seats. A maximum of 2000 people can visit the church. The side walls of the pews are decorated with ornamental carvings, some of which can be found in the frames of the altars. Since the 1970s, all benches have been heatable using electric radiators.

There is a carpet in the aisle.

Windows and candlesticks

Altar window

All of the colored windows are no longer preserved in the original, the Berlin art glasswork Peschel redesigned some based on old templates or created completely new ones. The large three-part altar window shows St. George in armor and folded hands, holding a lance loosely in his arm. At his feet a coiling snake symbolizes evil. In the lower parts of the stained-glass window there is the Latin saying Sancte Georg ora pro nobis ("St. George, please for us") in a modern font . In the left and right, two-section windows, floral motifs have been adapted, the upper curve ends in an oculus .

In the wall of the south aisle there is a pointed arched three-part window with the attributes of the four evangelists .

One of the numerous wrought iron sconces

Throughout the entire interior of the church, several similarly crafted wrought iron wall sconces , with one, two or three arms, ensure uniform lighting. They have been equipped with energy-saving lamps in accordance with the legal regulations that have been in force since 2000.

Entire gallery

Gallery

The gallery extends over the entire width of the church vestibule, on the north wall of which a crucifix made of colored plaster was placed, which comes from the church of St. Maria Magdalena in Niederschönhausen . It served there as an altar cross at the church consecration because the terracotta figure was broken on delivery. The organ is installed in the middle of the gallery .

floor

The floor in the main church area is completely covered with tiles from Villeroy and Boch , arranged in a regular pattern of dark gray, gray green and white tiles like a carpet. All but a few tiles have stood the test of time. The reproduction of the parts to be exchanged proved extremely difficult in the 2010s because of the strict monument protection, but it was successful. A coconut fiber runner protects the floor in the central aisle. On the other hand, slates of slate have been laid on the Chorestrade, which, due to incorrect treatment, have largely revealed greasy surfaces. Recently some slates of slate have started to be removed from this surface. The adjacent picture shows all three coverages.

Way of the Cross and other wall decorations

On the gable walls and on the western walls of the transept there are carved colored reliefs of the 14  stations of the cross , which come from the workshop of the Bogenheim company in Frankfurt am Main . The Way of the Cross was consecrated on March 22, 1912. All portraits are framed with massive arched brick frames, which were originally supposed to be dismantled after the liturgical reform. In the 2010s, the local sculptor Nikolaus Bode carefully cleaned up the reliefs.

  • Selection of some cross-path signs
  • Church of St. Georg Pankow, 2019-09-02 ama fec (87) .JPG
  • Church of St. Georg Pankow, 2019-09-02 ama fec (88) .JPG
  • Church of St. Georg Pankow, 2019-09-02 ama fec (96) .JPG
  • Church of St. Georg Pankow, 2019-09-02 ama fec (97) .JPG

On the wall between the south aisle and the crossing, a lively relief of the church patron can be seen on a wall projection. It shows the riding George in armor and with a lance for the fight against the dragon, made by the artist Peter Paul Müller from Pankow.

On the pillars of the gallery, the saints Elisabeth and Hedwig are placed as small statues on wall brackets . Hedwig holds the model of the church building in her hands, Elisabeth reminds of the rose miracle with a basket full of roses . The figures mentioned, including John the Baptist, who were also placed there, were originally part of the burst from the main altar.

Side altars / chapels

In the church there are four side altars, on the choir wall of the crossing there are the Marien and Joseph altars. Starting from the south aisle is the place of worship for the Lamentation of Christ and in the northeast area is the baptistery.

  • Views

  • Mary, Queen of Heaven

  • Joseph the worker

  • Lamentation of Christ

Mary and Joseph altar

The altar of Mary consists of the sculpture of Mary with the baby Jesus in her arms, who plays with the orb . Mary stands on a crescent moon and is trampling a snake with her other foot. This altar, too, had a heavily decorated canopy in the original; like the Joseph Altar, it was removed due to the liturgical reform in 1977. The panels arranged next to St. Joseph (Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt and Entombment of St. John) were considered lost for years. They were found in a side room of the church in the 2010s and, after a slight restoration, they were returned to their original location.

The two altar figures (Maria and Joseph) were created in the workshop of the sculptor Wilhelm Berg.

Lamentation of Christ

This side altar in a side chapel shows the main figures (Christ and Mary) as well as St. John and St. Mary Magdalene. On both sides, at the feet of the group of sculptures, the earlier altar angels were placed. In this side chapel, daylight enters the room through a round quadrangular window.

Lid of the baptismal font
Baptistery

In the access area to the baptistery is the sculpture of the Apostle John with a book and writing implement in his hands. - The baptismal font is set up on the podium in front of the chapel. Its wooden, delicately carved lid is painted in bright colors and gold. The three-sided baptistery receives its daylight through three ornamented pointed arch windows.

Confessionals

On both sides of the main entrance to the church under the gallery there is a dark-stained confessional .

organ

Organ prospectus

The 1909 drawn up on the gallery harmonium (a single manual pressure wind instrument of the Swiss . Fa Johann Burger with four registers ) was a sour - organ replaced from 1890, the town of a Protestant Church of Saxony for 3000  Mark had bought used. The organ consecration took place on February 12, 1913 . This organ was consecrated again on August 27, 1939 after a complete overhaul and extension with parts from another old organ by the organ building company Hans Hammer from Berlin-Wedding . The instrument (Opus 1) has two manuals, seven registers and two couplers . The work caused expenses of 10,000 marks that the community had raised itself. The instrument has been played since then without any problems.

After the political change , the Pankow community member Hans-Joachim Eichberg carried out a proper general overhaul of the musical instrument. Martin Ludwig, an expert from the Diocese of Berlin, accepted the restored organ. His report confirms an “excellent overall impression of the work” and “that the organ, which is mediocre in substance, comes into its own and sounds in a way that should not have been the case even after the new installation. May the work be a blessing for the congregation and everyone involved. "

The organ has two manuals , a swell , a pedal , 24 registers, 1456 organ pipes and a mostly electro-pneumatic action . The organ is used regularly at church services and at public concerts in the church. She has the following disposition :

I (C – g 1 )
Tremulant
03 Sub bass 16 ′
04th Soft bass 16 ′
05 Violon 8th'
06th Choral bass 4 ′
07th Peasant flute 2 ′
08th trombone 16 ′
09 Principal 8th'
II main work (C – f 1 )
10 Flauto-Dolce 8th'
11 Octave 4 ′
12 recorder 4 ′
13 Gemshorn 1'
14th Forest flute 2 ′
15th mixture 4f ′
16 Trumpet 8th'
Tremulant
18th Harmony flute 8th'
III swell
19th Aeoline 8th'
20th Voc Coelestris 8th'
21st Reed flute 4 ′
22nd Gemshorn 2 ′
23 Octave 2 ′
24 Dumped 2 2 ⁄ 3 ′
25th third 1'
26th Cymbel 3f
27 Krummhorn 8th'
  • Coupling : II / I, II / P, I / P
  • Playing aids : Individual storage for reeds: trombone, trumpet, crumhorn

Bells

Inside the tower, 110 steps lead to the bell house. The floor of the bell chamber is about halfway up the tower. The stairs in the tower were initially made of wood and were replaced by sturdy steel stairs in 1981.

Three cast steel bells 1908 in Bochum club cast (such as the inscription on the shoulder shows), the three-part form of bells , on the c , it and ges is tuned. The construction of the bells with all accessories cost the community 5,740  marks .

In 1986 the iron clapper, which had become rusty and brittle, was replaced; one can be seen separately in the church tower. In addition, a repair of the bells turned out to be necessary in 1991, for which the community budgeted 7,000  marks. At the same time, the earlier manual operation of the bells was replaced by the installation of an electric bell; that cost another 23,000 marks. An inspection of the bell system in 2004 revealed that urgent repairs had to be carried out on two bells.

The middle and small bells are arranged one above the other; all have Latin prayer inscriptions.

Bell jar Chime Lower diameter (
mm)		 Weight
(kg)		 image inscription
big c ' 1673 1870
Church of St. Georg Pankow, big bell 2019-09-02 ama fec (83) stitch.jpg
 "Sacrosanctae et individuae / Trinitati, Crucifixi Domini nostri Jesu Christi humanitati, beatissimae et gloriossimae semperque Virginis Mariae faecondae integritati et omnium Sanctorum universitati / sit sempiterna laus, honor, virtus et gloria / ab omecula creatula infura, nobisque remissio sauna omnium saeculorum. Amen"

[German: "To the most holy and undivided Trinity , the humanity of our crucified Lord Jesus Christ , the fertile flawlessness of the most blessed, most glorious ever virgin Mary and the totality of all saints be eternal praise, honor, virtue and glory from every creature, but to us the forgiveness of all Sins, through infinite centuries. "]

medium it' 1430 1193
Church of St. Georg Pankow, medium and small bells 2019-09-02 ama fec (86) stitch.jpg
 “Ave maris stella, Dei mater alma / atque semper virgo, felix caeli porta. Ora pro nobis. "

[German: " Greetings from the sea ​​star , God's high mother, always pure virgin, blessed gate to heaven, pray for us."]

small ges' 1260 00831.5
Church of St. Georg Pankow, small bell 2019-09-02 ama fec (105) .JPG
 "Sanctus Georgius pro lege Dei cui certavit usque ad mortem et a verbis impiorum non timuit: fundatus enim erat super firmam petram"

[German: " Saint George fought for the law of his God to death and was not afraid of the words of the unbelievers, because he was founded on the strong rock."]

Pastoral care

Church work

Before the parish was established, a church choir was founded in 1898 , which first rehearsed in a Pankow restaurant before it first found its home in the St. George's Chapel. It was brought into being by the St. George's Association of Local Catholic Residents .

In addition, there was a kindergarten in St. George's monastery in 1909 , a mothers' association in 1911, a Borromeo Association in 1913, and further Christian, charitable and social associations were gradually founded in the St. George community. The community has had a Kolping family since 1922 .

From the 1980s onwards, diverse activities developed in cooperation with Protestant congregations, for example well-attended ecumenical evenings with the Hope Church (from Elsa-Brändström-Straße). This finally resulted in the regularly held Ecumenical Days in Pankow.

In 1999, the staff music corps of the Bundeswehr performed for the first time with an Advent concert in the church. It was a complete success and has meanwhile developed into a good tradition. Unfortunately, this tradition has now fallen asleep again.

In 2003, a loose connection was established with the St. Georgs community in Munich.

In the parish hall there is a statue of the church patron, St. George.

Church changes from 2004

Due to years of mismanagement of the Berlin Archdiocese and the corresponding austerity constraints, the parishes of St. Georg and St. Maria Magdalena were merged again in 2004. After the political change , this fate affected a large part of the Berlin communities and, at least in the case of the two communities mentioned, was not due to a decline in the number of community members. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the number of parish members has increased again in both parts of the parish and is 6900 (as of 2019).

Formation of the pastoral area Berlin-Nordost from 2016

Graphic overview of the parts of the Pastoral Room Theresa von Avila; Status: September 2019

According to the instructions of the Archdiocese of Berlin, Catholic parishes in Berlin are merged into pastoral rooms . The parish of St. Georg from Pankow, to which the former parish Maria Magdalena already belongs, is gradually being merged with the parish of St. Josef from Berlin-Weißensee , Ss. Corpus Christi from Prenzlauer Berg and Holy Cross from Hohenschönhausen merged. Numerous places of Christian (Catholic) life in the districts are also integrated, such as the Franciscan monastery (in Wollankstrasse 19) , the rope sisters (Mühlenstrasse), the St. Hedwig nurses' school, the Edith Stein Catholic school center (Greifswalder Strasse), the heart -Jesu monastery , the Bischof-Ketteler-Haus (Gartenstraße), the chapel in the Maria Heimsuchung hospital (Breite Straße), the administration of the St. Hedwig / St. Pius cemetery in Hohenschönhausen, the Catholic grammar school Theresa von Avila ( in short: Theresienschule ; from Weißensee) and numerous other Caritas institutions.

A pastoral committee and a steering group take care of the necessary preparations. The naming of the new community took some time. The requirement from the Archbishop's Ordinariate was that the new parishes should be given the name of the church where the future leading pastor would have his seat, in this case St. Josef, but on the one hand the name was already for the Köpenicker Allocated pastoral space and, on the other hand, the pastoral committee decided on a different, integrating solution based on the negative experiences with the wave of mergers that had just passed 15 years ago and the wounds that had not yet healed since then. So those responsible decided - also after questioning parishioners - to elect Theresa von Ávila as patroness , which the archdiocese approved. The changes should come into effect from January 2021 (currently - as of July 2020 - due to various delays, among other things because of the corona crisis ) into force; The headquarters for the new large community will be St. Josef in Weißensee . It is expected (as of September 2019) to include 20,900 Catholics.

Pastors with their terms of office

  • (Kuratus) Bernhard Lichtenberg (1910–1913)
  • Teodor Kubina (1913-1917)
  • Franz Mischke (1918–1922)
  • Oscar Feige (1922–1962)
  • Gottfried Engemann (1962–1988), chaplain in the parish since 1954; died in office
  • Joachim Kucklick (1988–1994), since 1985 chaplain in the parish
  • (Father) Norbert Josef Just (1994-2004)
  • Jörg Wittig (2004-2017; parish administrator)
  • Olaf Polossek (since 2017; parish administrator)

Rectory

Rectory, view from Kissingenstrasse

The rectory next to the church at Kissingenstrasse 33 was built in neo-Gothic forms similar to the sacred building. There is a large Christian cross on top of an ornamental gable facing Kissingenstrasse.

The name or names of the architects have not been passed down. The brick structure shows fewer decorative elements than the church building and has 46 exterior windows. It is three-story and serves the pastor as living space; other rooms are used by the various church districts, the largest room has space for up to 50 people. Over the years the house has been adapted to the newer requirements outside and inside, so:

  • 1951 the loosely laid roof tiles completely renewed,
  • In 1958 structural damage to the chimney brickwork was removed and the basement windows bricked up after the war were reopened and
  • 1970 Installation and roofing work carried out

become.

  • In 1985 the heating ducts and the smoke vent had to be replaced, otherwise the system would have had to be shut down.

Between 1995 and 1998 the parish council agreed plans, dates and steps for the redesign and renovation of the parsonage with the episcopal building department and the building department of the Pankow district. The pastor's apartment was moved to the second floor of the old sister house (Kissingenplatz 7) for the duration of the construction work. The raised ground floor received u. a. a ramp as barrier-free access that does not necessarily embellish the ensemble. The installation of an elevator so that the parish secretariat and the offices and work rooms of the pastor could also be made accessible for disabled people was prohibited by the Lower Monument Protection Authority. The work was completed in May 2001 with the complete renovation of the rear wall of the rectory. The total costs were borne proportionally by the Archdiocese of Berlin, the Bonifatiuswerk of German Catholics and the parish; their amount was not quantified.

People associated with St. George's Church

  • Johannes Dyba , who later became Bishop of Fulda and grew up in Berlin's working-class district of Wedding , was baptized in this church.
  • Bernhard Lichtenberg's subsequent curate, Teodor Kubina (1913-1917) was from 1925 the first bishop of Czestochowa .
  • Peter Ehlen (* 1934), ordained as a priest in St. Georg on August 27, 1963
  • Bernhard Ehlen , (* 1939), ordained as a priest in St. Georg on July 12, 1968

literature

  • Editorial team: 100 years of St. George. Berlin-Pankow, 1910 to 2010. Festschrift on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the consecration of our church on November 6, 2010 . Published by the Catholic parish of St. Georg Berlin-Pankow.

Web links and sources

Commons : St. Georgskirche (Berlin-Pankow)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to information from the editorial team of the anniversary publication and after the signatures on the construction drawing in 1908, it follows that Schneider was not officially involved in the construction design. It can therefore be assumed that, according to the previous sources (all publications about the church up to and including 2019) and the customs at the time, he was more likely to be entrusted with the detailed planning and construction management. See: 100 Years of St. George , p. 13: Facsimile of the architectural drawing. In addition to this evidence, other facts speak in favor of Kaufhold's authorship: he belonged to the same church district and in the corresponding years he had become known with around a dozen church building plans in the outskirts of Berlin.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kissingenstrasse . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1905, V, p. 216.
  2. ↑ Overview plan in Pankow . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1908, V (overview plan of Pankow in the Kissingenviertel area , streets already marked; the church is - without an address - registered as under construction ).
  3. ^ Suburb of Pankow> Catholic Church> St. Georgs Chapel . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1905, V.
  4. ↑ a b c 100 years of St. George: The history of the church and its community , year 1923; P. 41/42.
  5. ↑ a b Chronicle of the community of Maria Magdalena, p. 3.
  6. ^ Kaufhold, August; Architect; Friedenau, Bismarckstrasse 9 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1907, I, p. 1086.
  7. ↑ 100 years of St. George: The history of the church and its community , year 1910; P. 38.
  8. ↑ 100 years of St. George ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: Building history ; P. 18.
  9. ↑ 100 years of St. George: The history of the church and its community , year 1926; P. 42.
  10. ↑ 100 years of St. George: The history of the church and its community , year 1942; P. 46.
  11. ↑ 100 years of St. Georg: 1943 , picture of the war damage to the tower, p. 47.
  12. ↑ 100 years of St. George ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: Building history ; P. 19.
  13. ↑ a b 100 years of St. George: The history of the church and its community , Between the end of the war and the building of the wall - 1945/61 ; P. 52/53.
  14. ↑ a b c d 100 years of St. Georg ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: Building history ; Pp. 20/21.
  15. ↑ 100 years of St. George; 1977 ; P. 22/23.
  16. ↑ 100 years of St. George ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: Building History , p. 23.
  17. ↑ Homepage St. Georg: Note on the end of the painting work, accessed on August 26, 2019.
  18. ↑ a b c d 100 years of St. Georg , From the merger to the anniversary - 2004/09 , pp. 78–86.
  19. ↑ 100 years of St. Georg , year 1942; P. 19.
  20. ^ Dehio: Handbook of German Art Monuments. Berlin ; Deutscher Kunstverlag 2006, ISBN 3-422-03111-1 ; P. 357.
  21. ↑ a b website of the parish . Accessed December 30, 2018.
  22. ↑ Church of St. Georg, Kissingenstrasse
  23. ↑ Church data sheet , accessed on April 12, 2017.
  24. ↑ 100 years of St. George ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: From the building history , p. 19.
  25. ↑ 100 years of St. Georg , 1997; P. 24.
  26. ↑ 100 years of St. Georg , 1993; P. 23/24.
  27. ↑ 100 years of St. George; 1977 ; P. 16.
  28. ↑ Information from the State Monuments Office on the Church of St. Georg.
  29. ↑ Chronicle of the community of Maria Magdalena; P. 45–50: The equipment .
  30. ↑ 100 years of St. Georg - A tour through St. Georg , p. 35.
  31. ↑ 100 Years of St. George, A Tour of St. George , p. 32.
  32. ^ Hammer, Hans; Organ builder, Antwerpener Strasse 4 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1940, I, p. 989.
  33. ↑ 100 years of St. Georg: The hammer organ ; P. 27 f. It was the first organ made in this newly founded organ building company.
  34. ↑ a b 100 years of St. Georg ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: From the building history , p. 23.
  35. ^ Homepage Berlin Bells , accessed on December 30, 2011.
  36. ↑ 100 years of St. George ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: Building history of the church; Details about the bells: p. 17/18.
  37. ↑ 100 years of St. George ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: From the building history , p. 25.
  38. ↑ 100 years of St. Georg, pp. 106–110: History of the St. Georg choir.
  39. ↑ 100 years of St. George: The community library; P. 89
  40. ↑ 100 years of St. George; Illustration of the program for the Advent concert of the 'Leadership Support Brigade 4' , p. 73.
  41. ↑ Diocese of Berlin has even more debts. Another twelve million are missing. In: Der Tagesspiegel . Retrieved March 7, 2018 .
  42. ^ Letter from Georg Cardinal Sterzinsky to the parishes of St. Maria Magdalena and St. Georg, dated March 31, 2004, file number J.-No .: B / A-244/04, WW / Ku.
  43. ^ Hospice cordage. Retrieved September 4, 2019 .
  44. ^ Caritas-Klinik Pankow 'Maria Heimsuchung'. Retrieved September 4, 2019 .
  45. ↑ a b Congregational Letter of the Catholic Church Community of St. Georg, Issue 4/2019, insert after p. 10: Pastoral area in northeast Berlin .
  46. ↑ Information posted in the church on the pastoral room including an overview of the situation, photographed in September 2019; see image.
  47. ↑ Number of members added from the documents mentioned above.
  48. ^ The architectural and art monuments in the GDR, capital Berlin , Vol. II, ed. from the Institute for Monument Preservation, in the area of ​​documentation and publication, headed by Host Vyšek, edited by Horst Büttner, Joachim Fait, Helmut Spielmann, Heinrich Trost, entire editorship Heinrich Trost, 1st edition, Berlin 1987, pp. 54–55.
  49. ↑ 100 years of St. George ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: Building history ; P. 23.
  50. ↑ 100 years of St. George ; Wilhelm Braun, Wolfgang Klose, Heinz Wienert: Building history ; Pp. 24/25.
  51. ↑ a b 100 years of St. George , primaries , religious of the parish of St. George , p. 102.

Coordinates: 52 ° 34 ′ 3.6 ″  N , 13 ° 25 ′ 20.1 ″  E