St. Catherine's (Kiev)

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Exterior view

Coordinates: 50 ° 26 ′ 39 ″  N , 30 ° 31 ′ 33.9 ″  E

St. Katharinen is the church of the German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Kiev . It is on Ljuteranska Wulyzja (Lutheran Street).

prehistory

Today's church building is the sixth church service room in its history. The services took place since 1767 first in the private apartment of the German pharmacist Georg Friedrich Bunge , who promoted the establishment of a German Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Kiev, among other things, by being the tutor of his children, Christoph Leberecht Grahl (1744-1799) The pastor of the community. A first meeting room was then rented as a place of worship for the growing congregation, and in 1781 a second, larger one. All of this took place in the Kiev district of Podil , where the first wooden church was consecrated on November 12, 1794 .

This first church building was named after the then ruling sovereign, the Russian tsarina Catherine II . Since her name was derived from Saint Catherine of Alexandria , the name of today's church is related to this saint . The first church building fell victim to the fire in Podil in 1811 . With regard to the new building, the Germans, who traditionally lived in the Podil district, fought over the location with a relatively new majority, who now lived in the Pechersk district. The compromise was then the building site on a hill that was almost undeveloped at the time, Lipki, where the current church is located. But first a wooden church was built again in 1812. However, the construction was not of very high quality and it only offered 150 places to the growing community, so that from around 1840 a new building was considered again.

The stone church

However, it would take a long time before the new, stone church could be inaugurated. Obtaining the funds turned out to be the least of the obstacles. The struggle against the civil and military bureaucracy caused the greatest delays. In particular, the erection of such a large building within the firing range of the Kiev fortress posed a problem for the military. This may also be the reason why the church did not have a steeple . It was inaugurated on August 4, 1857.

Building description

The architects were Johann Waldemar Strom (1823–1887) and Paul Schleifer (1814–1879), both from the St. Petersburg Academy of Art . The outer walls and load-bearing walls of the church, built as a basilica , are made of bricks , the inner structure, columns , galleries and vaults were made of wood. Stylistically, the architects with examples from the leaning Italian Neo-Renaissance to: The exterior walls are largely smooth by the change and grooved determined horizontal bands and imitate so that from the Romanesque to the Renaissance in Italy used polychrome incrustation - facades . The cornices are made of stone and have a neo-Romanesque decor of small arcades . Instead of a bell tower, there is a raised bell house above the entrance . There is hardly any information - not even a photo - about the historical design of the interior.

Soviet Union

Due to the anti-religious policies of the Soviet Union , the church was confiscated and nationalized in 1919, but initially left to the community for worship. Services were held here until 1937. The Lutheran community was then destroyed by the repression of Stalinism and ceased to exist in April 1938.

The church building was subsequently used for various other purposes. At first it served as a clubhouse for the Club of Fighting Atheists , later the Ministry of Culture used the building as a store for fuel, fuel and lubricants. There was hardly any construction maintenance. The building fell into disrepair.

In 1972 it was assigned to the Museum of Folk Architecture and Customs of Ukraine , a large folklore museum, for the accommodation of its administration and as a depot. This use as a museum building now made maintenance work possible, which perhaps saved the building and which - for ideological reasons - would not have been possible for a church building. The building received a new roof covering in the 1970s. However, renovation work was also carried out: a false ceiling and partition walls were put in, a restoration workshop and a room for special exhibitions were set up and extensions were made. Due to the growing collection, there was insufficient space in the building since the late 1980s. Around 40,000 registered units were stored there. But it was not until 1996 that a replacement could be created.

Independent Ukraine

Return of the building to the German community

After the Lutheran congregation was re-established, church services were held again from 1991 onwards in the - windowless - room for the special exhibitions. The museum waived this room and special exhibitions and made it available to the community free of charge. Since 1991, the congregation has also tried to return the entire church.

The legal basis for the return of the church building was created by the Law of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations of April 23, 1993. In practice, however, there were considerable difficulties. For one thing, the Museum of Folk Architecture and Customs of Ukraine did not have a replacement depot for the items stored in the church. On the other hand - since there was no property concept corresponding to the western legal systems in the Soviet Union - it was very controversial who was allowed to return the church to the community: the city of Kiev or the Ukrainian state. Then there was the Ukrainian bureaucracy, which is considered difficult anyway. Numerous German agencies intervened in favor of the return: The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria , in particular its dean's office in Munich , which is in a partnership relationship with the German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Kiev, the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl on a state visit to the Ukraine in 1993, the Lord Mayor of Munich , Christian Ude , the Bavarian State Minister for Education, Culture, Science and Art , Hans Zehetmair , Dr. Hans-Jochen Vogel , at that time Member of the Bundestag , the then Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel , President of the Bundestag Rita Süssmuth and finally Federal President Dr. Roman Herzog during his state visit to the Ukraine in 1998. The Federal President insisted on a prayer in the church.

So it finally came about due to the ordinance No. 351 of the Council of Ministers "On the handover of the cult building for use by the German Evangelical Lutheran community in the city of Kiev" from 1996 and the provision of 1 million hryvnia , that the museum prepare replacement rooms, move out of the church and give the building back to the German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Kiev on November 29, 1998 - on the 1st of Advent .

Redevelopment

View into the choir room

The community took on a cultural and historical monument and undertook under historic preservation edition , the church outwardly back to the state prior to their conversion to move. The building had a large backlog in its maintenance, which went as far as severe damage to load-bearing parts . In particular, the load-bearing inner parts made of wood and the roof structure were partially damaged by fungus and insect damage, and the pipes in the building were dilapidated. Numerous decorative elements were missing: the original three crosses that were attached to the outside, battlements and decorative elements of the facade.

Additions from the Soviet era, garbage bunkers, garages , transformer stations and an external fire escape were removed and the interior gutted. The renovation was based on the concept of a combined church and community center. In the front area of ​​the building, modern community rooms were designed, which take up about half of the former main nave . The new partition between the meeting center and the church service room also serves to brace the building. The load on the roof was completely transferred to the outer walls. The church service room offers space for 250 people. It includes three bays and the apse . He received a rear gallery , which is in the fourth yoke, above the community rooms. The room is bright. The five windows of the choir were given colored glazing by Tobias Kammerer .

The renovation was financed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria with grants from the Federal Ministry of the Interior . The architect of the design for the renovation was Alexander Oppermann , during the implementation phase the Ukrainian architect Jurij Vitalievich Dmitrewitsch, who is experienced in matters of monument preservation . In 2000 the renovation was completed and the church was used.

Furnishing

Sacrament window
Memorial to the victims of persecution and terror

The interior of the church is also modern. The abstractly designed stained glass windows represent:

  • Central window in the apse: Resurrection window
  • The left of the central window: a window that the sacrament of baptism is
  • The right of the central window, a window that the sacrament of the Supper represents
  • Left side window: Saint Catherine of Alexandria
  • Right side window: Martin Luther

The central crucifix was created by Karl Hemmeter in 1929/30 and is on loan from the Bavarian State Church and previously hung in the entrance hall of the State Church Office in Munich.

Altar and Easter candlesticks were also designed by Tobias Kammerer, as was the memorial to the victims of persecution and terror of the past decades (together with his wife Ela Kammerer), which is located at the head end of the east aisle.

The organ and the two steel bells are a donation from the abandoned Paul Gerhard Church in Rheine .

Euromaidan

From the end of November 2013 to the end of February 2014, the Euromaidan took place in Kiev , initially peaceful anti-government protests that turned into extreme violence on the part of the government and the opposition, killing around a hundred. St. Catherine's was particularly involved due to its proximity to the Kiev Maidan Square , the center of the conflict, and its proximity to the embattled parliament building . Regardless of what they belonged to, the congregation offered the fighters food and drink, the opportunity to warm up, rest and pray. In order to be able to help the increasingly numerous injured, a hospital was finally set up in the church building, where medical help and care was offered by volunteers according to the circumstances. A photo of the parish priest Ralf Haska standing between the fronts of the armed men and trying to de- escalate in his gown and interviews with him went through the international media. On the occasion of his visit to Kiev when President Poroshenko took office , German President Joachim Gauck paid a visit to St. Katharinen on June 7, 2014.

On November 8, 2019, Pastor Haska was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by Ambassador Anka Feldhusen in the German Embassy in Kiev . A press release from the embassy states: “In the winter of 2013/2014, Pastor Haska campaigned intensively for the people on Independence Square and for their right to peaceful protests. He transformed the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kiev into a place of refuge and rest and prevented a violent clash between protesters and the police in an acute danger situation by standing between the two fronts. In addition, Pastor Haska is continuously committed to the people in Ukraine. He organizes aid transports to eastern Ukraine and, as an author for the magazine 'Ukraine Understanding', regularly informs the German public about current developments. "

Pastors

Pastors at St. Katharinen and their ministry:

  • 1767–1799: Christoph Leberecht Grahl from Saxony
  • 1799–1810: Wilhelm Ferdinand Bauerschmidt from Thuringia
  • 1812–1842: Justus Friedrich Eismann from Rodach near Coburg
  • 1842–1859: Johann Gottfried Abel from Livonia
  • 1859–1873: Alexander Fromhold Svenson from Courland
  • 1874–1908: Friedrich-Wilhelm Wasem
  • 1909–1920: Heinrich Junge from Riga
  • 1920–1932: Richard Königsfeld from Dorpot
  • 1930–1935 (?): Johann Göhring from Ukraine
  • 1992: Hans Martin Nägelsbach from Bavaria
  • 1992–1996: Dr. Achim Reis from Hessen
  • 1996–2000: Gerald Kotsch from Thuringia
  • 2000–2009: Peter Sachi from Bavaria
  • 2009–2015: Ralf Haska from Gransee
  • 2015–2016: Hans-Ulrich Schäfer from Usedom
  • 2016–: Vacancy representation Oberlandeskirchenrat Martin Lerchner from Saxony

On December 6, 2015, an attempt to replace Pastor Schäfer appointed by the EKD with one from the DELKU failed. Schäfer died of heart failure on March 30, 2016 during an EKD pastors' conference in Prague.

Partnerships

As part of the city ​​partnership between Munich and Kiev in 1989, the Kiev Committee of the Evangelical-Lutheran Dean's Office in Munich was founded, which maintains close contact with the St. Katharinen congregation and in particular promotes encounters and the community's diaconal commitment. There are direct partnerships with the deanery parishes Apostelkirche Solln, Himmelfahrtskirche Sendling and Kreuzkirche Schwabing. From July 2015 to October 2018, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria suspended its partnership with the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine (DELKU), but direct parish partnerships such as those mentioned were not affected.

literature

  • Thomas Urban : Bureaucracy-clutter or sabotage. The return of the Lutheran Church in Kiev is postponed. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . dated August 1, 1997.
  • Jurij Witaljewitsch Dmitrewitsch: The St. Katharinenkirche as a monument. In: Tatjana Terjoschina, Claus-Jürgen Roepke (ed.): Kiew, St. Katharinen. Church, parish, faith. Festschrift for the rededication of the church. Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-583-33108-7 , pp. 40-44.
  • Ela Kammerer: A symphony of colors - the choir windows of St. Katharinen. In: Tatjana Terjoschina, Claus-Jürgen Roepke (ed.): Kiew, St. Katharinen. Church, parish, faith. Festschrift for the rededication of the church. Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-583-33108-7 , pp. 109–117.
  • Nikolaj Trofimowitsch Parchomenko: A Treasury of Ukrainian Folk Art. In: Tatjana Terjoschina, Claus-Jürgen Roepke (ed.): Kiew, St. Katharinen. Church, parish, faith. Festschrift for the rededication of the church. Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-583-33108-7 , pp. 24-28.
  • Klaus-Jürgen Röpke: From the living room to the stone church. In: Tatjana Terjoschina, Claus-Jürgen Roepke (ed.): Kiew, St. Katharinen. Church, parish, faith. Festschrift for the rededication of the church. Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-583-33108-7 , pp. 11-23.
  • Klaus-Jürgen Röpke: A modern church and meeting center. In: Festschrift for the rededication of the church. Munich 2000, ISBN 3-583-33108-7 , pp. 49-62.
  • Eugen Teise: The re-establishment of the community - the work of strong women. In: Tatjana Terjoschina, Claus-Jürgen Roepke (ed.): Kiew, St. Katharinen. Church, parish, faith. Festschrift for the rededication of the church. Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-583-33108-7 , pp. 93-95.
  • Tatjana Terjoschina: Do not be afraid, you little flock. The history of the Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Kiev. In: Tatjana Terjoschina, Claus-Jürgen Roepke (ed.): Kiew, St. Katharinen. Church, parish, faith. Festschrift for the rededication of the church. Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-583-33108-7 , pp. 63–91.
  • Tatjana Terjoschina: The seven-year struggle for the return of the church. In: Tatjana Terjoschina, Claus-Jürgen Roepke (ed.): Kiew, St. Katharinen. Church, parish, faith. Festschrift for the rededication of the church. Evangelical Press Association for Bavaria, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-583-33108-7 , pp. 29-29.
  • Charis Haska: The house trembles at night: Experiences on the Maidan 2013/14. Manuela Kinzel Verlag, Dessau 2014, ISBN 978-3-95544-029-9 .

Web links

Commons : St. Catherine's (Kiev)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Teise (bibliography) speaks of the wonderful ability of the Ukrainian bureaucracy to turn any mere formality into a long paper war with running from room to room .
  2. ↑ Ralf Haska: Revolution of Dignity 2013/2014. (No longer available online.) St. Katharinen, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; Retrieved June 10, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.katharina.kiev.ua
  3. ↑ z. B. Martin Zagatta: Unrest in Ukraine: "Only action can help here". Deutschlandfunk, February 19, 2014, accessed June 10, 2014 .
  4. ^ Ralf Haska: Visit of the Federal President. St. Katharinen, June 8, 2014, accessed June 10, 2014 . (With photos)
  5. ^ Roman Goncharenko: Federal Cross of Merit - The courageous pastor of Kiev. Deutsche Welle, November 7, 2019, accessed November 8, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Tatjana Terjoschina and Claus-Jürgen Roepke: Festschrift for re-consecration of the church . Ed .: Parish Council St. Katharinen in Kiev. epvprint, Munich 2000.
  7. ↑ Harald Krille: A community in the storm. Mitteldeutsche-kirchenzeitungen.de, December 20, 2016, accessed on December 21, 2016 .
  8. ^ Parishes Abroad - Ukraine - Kiev. (No longer available online.) Evangelical Church in Germany, archived from the original on December 22, 2015 ; Retrieved December 12, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ekd.de
  9. ^ German pastor in Kiev defends himself against bishop. evangelisch.de (epd), December 11, 2012, accessed on December 12, 2012 .
  10. ↑ The EKD is looking for a successor for the late pastor abroad in Kiev. Evangelical Church in Germany, April 4, 2016, accessed on April 22, 2016 .
  11. ^ Sister cities - Kiev. State capital Munich, accessed on December 12, 2015 (see also reference to non-urban cooperation projects).
  12. ↑ International partnerships - Kiev. (No longer available online.) Evangelical Lutheran Dean's Office, Munich, archived from the original on December 22, 2015 ; Retrieved December 12, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.muenchen-evangelisch.de
  13. ↑ Kiev very close - Our partner church St. Katharina. (PDF) Evang.-Luth. Parish Kreuzkirche Munich, 2015, accessed on December 12, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Ukraine / Germany: Bavarian regional church ends partnership. Gustav-Adolf-Werk e. V. - Diaspora work of the Evangelical Church in Germany, July 2, 2015, accessed on December 12, 2015 .
  15. ↑ Ukrainians are happy about new partnership with Bavarian regional church. Evangelisches Sonntagsblatt für Bayern, October 30, 2018, accessed on January 9, 2019 .