Tersteegenhaus
The Tersteegenhaus on Emmastraße in Cologne-Sülz is the second church of the Evangelical parish in Cologne-Klettenberg , next to the Johanneskirche . It was consecrated in 1928 and was last rebuilt and renovated inside in 2004. At first it was simply referred to as the “parish hall” and only after 1945 was named after Gerhard Tersteegen (1697–1769), a theologian and writer of Reformed Pietism .
history
Due to the population growth in the area of today's Cologne district of Lindenthal and the influx of Protestant Christians into the originally predominantly Catholic Cologne, new church rooms in the Sülz / Klettenberg area were urgently needed in the first third of the 20th century. Initially, they managed to rent a hall at Berrenrather Strasse 177. In autumn 1924 the community acquired a suitable building site on Emmastrasse, at the corner of Wittekindstrasse, and the foundation stone was laid on November 6, 1927. The new parish hall was inaugurated in October 1928.
Today's Tersteegenhaus was originally intended only as a community center to which a church was to be built. In the following years, the time of the Great Depression , the community no longer had enough money to build a church, which is why the community center had to be converted into a church. The services now took place in the great hall on the first floor, which was actually intended as a mere event room. Its stage on the north side became the chancel .
During the Second World War , the parish hall was badly damaged by bombs, but its structure remained intact. The rooms on the ground floor could still be used. The organ was also preserved. The windows in the church service hall were destroyed so that it could only be used temporarily with an open coke fire. After the restoration, the church service hall was inaugurated again on April 3, 1949.
In 1963, in the course of the further growth of the community, the Johanneskirche was built a little further out of town as the second church of the community.
In 1985, the plans for a renovation of the Tersteegenhaus began. These were carried out in 1988. Among other things, an elevator was added and the basement expanded.
The remaining land next to the Tersteegenhaus, on which the actual church was originally to be built, was used as a kindergarten playground for decades. From 2010 to 2011 the Friedrich-Lamerdin-Haus was built with apartments suitable for senior citizens.
present
Three community rooms, the large church hall and the foyer on the ground floor are available for groups and events. An elevator facilitates access to the first floor, where the hall for the services is located. A community office and a kindergarten are located on the ground floor.
The service usually takes place on Sundays and public holidays at 9:30 a.m. Occasional accent services, organized by groups or with a special focus, do not start until 10 a.m. The Lord's Supper is celebrated every Sunday.
layout
The Tersteegenhaus was built according to plans by the architectural office Mattar & Scheler and described by the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger in 1928 :
“In its external design, its simplicity and simplicity, to which architectural beauty has not been sacrificed, adapts itself completely to the purpose it is to serve in the future. It is built as a brick shell, while the rich, but not overloading architecture and sculptures are made of basalt lava stone. A small green lawn extends all around. "
In 1956, a small bell tower with three bells on the upper floor was added to the building to make it more clearly recognizable as a church from the outside. In 1958, some redesigns were made based on proposals from the architect Graebner. A wooden ceiling was installed in the hall, and five new stained glass windows based on designs by Elsa Schultz were installed. These symbolize the event of salvation with slightly abstract, but easily recognizable representations. So there is a "window of creation", a "window of law", a "window of Christ", a "window of the church" and a "window of the perfection of the heavenly Jerusalem".
The orientation of the worship room changed several times in the history of the Tersteegenhaus. Initially and until after the war the chancel was on the “stage” on the north side of the hall. For a short time the altar stood in a small adjoining room on the southern side, for which a wide passage was opened to this. Today the altar is placed in the middle of the room and the rows of chairs are arranged in a circle around it. A large, metal-colored coated plate with a cross-shaped recess stands today on the west wall, opposite the window front.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kölner Stadtanzeiger, November 7, 1927, No. 563
- ↑ Files of the evangelical parish Cologne-Klettenberg (in the parish office). “Tersteegenhaus. Photos and photocopies (for 1928) ”. File number: kgb 003, introduction
- ↑ Kölner Stadtanzeiger, morning edition, October 21, 1928, No. 536
- ↑ Files of the evangelical parish Cologne-Klettenberg (in the parish office). "Our community - its history - 1st part". File number: Dis 708, section dis708 / WL, typescript "preliminary version of the draft"
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 55 ′ 3.1 ″ N , 6 ° 55 ′ 38.2 ″ E