St. Georgen (Hall)
St. Georgen, which is now used as a free church, is located on the southwestern edge of the city center of Halle (Saale) outside the former city fortifications in Glaucha , a suburb of Halle. The church was severely damaged in an American air raid on April 6, 1945 and by artillery fire on April 16. It was repaired in a simplified manner, prepared for demolition in 1985 and completely renovated from 1990 onwards.
history
The first written mention of the St. Georgen Church dates back to 1121, when it was placed under the Neuwerk monastery in Halle. From 1231 to 1557 the church belonged to the Cistercian monastery “St. Marien ” and was used jointly by the nuns of the monastery and the parish of Glaucha during this time. Thomas Müntzer's activity as a chaplain is documented for the year 1522 . In 1692 August Hermann Francke took over the pastorate at St. Georgen, which he held until 1715. During this time he founded the orphanage from which the Francke Foundations later emerged. Due to a charcoal pan that was forgotten after the early morning service, St. Georgen's church burned down to the ground on December 6, 1740. The current building was erected in its place from 1740 to 1744. St. George's floor plan follows a Greek cross. The simple tower stands on a square floor plan on the east side. From the height of the roof ridge of the nave, the tower was continued in an octagonal shape. It is closed by a French hood . The large interior of the church had both galleries over 3,000 seats and thus had the largest capacity of all Halle churches.
From October to December 1813 the church served as a hospital for the wounded in the Battle of Leipzig .
Shortly before the end of the war, during an American bombing raid on Halle on April 6, 1945, an explosive bomb fell right next to the church, causing severe cracks in the masonry, destroying windows and doors and covering the roofs of the nave and tower. On April 16, the church suffered further damage from artillery fire . Refurbished only with the bare essentials, St. Georgen was rededicated in 1948. In the 1970s, the large-scale redesign of the Glaucha district (demolition of the historical building fabric) noticeably reduced the size of the community of St. Georgen, which made the maintenance of the building more difficult.
With the beginning of the 1980s, the church was also increasingly in the way of the infrastructure plans of the socialist town planners. Preserved plans show a four-lane expressway running across the church property right next to the building. An unexplained arson attack on January 10, 1985 caused only minor damage to one of the galleries. On the basis of an expert opinion that called into question the statics of the building, the demolition was ordered and prepared in the autumn of the same year without informing the municipality. Literally at the last minute, the demolition could be prevented by removing the roof covering.
In the period that followed, the galleries were removed due to their desolate condition. Only the altar remains of the original interior of the church.
In 1989 the rectory was one of the central meeting places of the church opposition in Halle.
From 1990 the outer shell of the church was repaired. Economic considerations led to the installation of a low-maintenance copper roof instead of the original slate covering. The church is used by the free church gospel community .
literature
- Renate Kroll: Halle (Saale) . In: Fate of German Monuments in World War II. Edited by Götz Eckardt. Henschelverlag, Berlin 1978. Volume 2, pp. 325–328.
- Michael Pantenius: City Guide Halle. Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1995, ISBN 3-8112-0816-0 .
- Brülls / Dietzsch: Architectural Guide Halle on the Saale. Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-496-01202-1 .
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 28 ′ 41.9 ″ N , 11 ° 57 ′ 52.6 ″ E
- Evangeliumsgemeinde Halle Internet presence of the Evangeliumsgemeinde Halle