Twelve Apostles Church (Berlin)

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The Twelve Apostles Church in Berlin-Schöneberg

The Twelve Apostles Church is the church of the Evangelical Twelve Apostles Congregation in the Schöneberg district of Berlin . The church and parish belong to the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian-Upper Lusatia (EKBO) .

The church was built between 1871 and 1874 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler . It stands in the very north of Schöneberg, almost directly on Kurfürstenstrasse near Nollendorfplatz and faces south instead of east. In addition to the north of Schöneberg, the associated municipality also includes large parts of the zoo up to the Victory Column , the Federal Chancellery , the Kulturforum and Potsdamer Platz . Two culturally and historically significant cemeteries in Berlin also belong to the community, the Old Twelve Apostles Cemetery and the Old St. Matthew Cemetery . In addition, in 1883 the congregation founded the New Twelve Apostles Cemetery .

history

In May 1862, approved by the Church authorities of Berlin, in the area between today's Landwehr canal set up and the village Schöneberg a new church and community, on 6 April 1864 by Ordre of William I the name Twelve Apostles Church received. An interim church with 500 seats was put into operation as early as 1865. The construction of today's Twelve Apostles Church was ordered by Wilhelm I on July 25, 1870, the building permit was granted on April 22, 1871, and the foundation stone was laid on October 23 of the same year in the presence of the emperor. The plans for the building were drawn up by Stüler, who died in 1865, and Hermann Blankenstein was responsible for the execution . The building was completed in 1874 by Julius Emmerich . The first organ was supplied by the Dinse company .

As early as 1880, the congregation had grown so much that the church was no longer sufficient and the congregation leadership applied for another church to be built. In the fourth attempt, in 1887, this request was granted and finally the Luther Church on Dennewitzplatz was inaugurated in 1894 as a spin-off of the Twelve Apostles Church.

During the time of National Socialism , the church struggle raged also in this church, from 1922 to 1948 Adolf Kurtz was pastor to the Twelve Apostles and a member of the Confessing Church . The windows, which were destroyed in World War II, were initially bricked up with glass bottles, a donation from the Gilka spirits factory , after the war . These are still preserved in the gallery windows of the side aisles and in some other places and are now a listed building .

In the following years the church was gradually renovated and redesigned. In 1968 the historic Dinse organ, which was in great need of renovation, was demolished and replaced in the same year by a new building by the Schuke organ building workshop. In 1979, lead glass windows based on designs by the Berlin painter Alfred Kothe were initially installed in the three large windows in the apse , later also in the lower windows of the aisles and in the sacristy to the left of the chancel. Another renovation was carried out in 1991–1993.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall , the problems caused by the long-standing street prostitution on Kurfürstenstraße and the drug trafficking that went with it increased. Since 1991 the community has been involved with the Wednesday Initiative e. V. in AIDS prevention and offers syringe exchange and condom distribution for drug addicts and prostitutes .

In 2000, large parts of the former parish area and the historically important churchyard of St. Matthew's Church on the Kulturforum , which had been converted into the St. Matthew Cultural Foundation , were added to the Twelve Apostles congregation , so that the parish area now exceeds that Landwehr Canal extends to Potsdamer Platz , the Federal Chancellery and the Victory Column .

The ecumenical Rogate initiative, part of the high church movement, has been holding prayer and worship services in the church as a host congregation since 2008, sometimes on weekdays. The resulting Rogate Monastery of St. Michael was founded on September 29, 2010 in the Twelve Apostles Church. The church leadership of the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Oberlausitz-has the monastery on 14 June 2013 approved and recognized as a spiritual community.

Current situation

The Twelve Apostles Church is the center of a community in the area of ​​tension between the cultural forum, street prostitution on Kurfürstenstrasse and the rainbow neighborhood south of Nollendorfplatz . Activities range from homeless work and pastoral care to series of events such as the nationally acclaimed “Berlin Politician's Pulpit”. originated in cooperation between the municipality and the Rogate Initiative.

Church music is a focus of the community. The Twelve Apostles Choir , in which more than 50 singers take part, was expanded under the direction of Cantor Christoph Hagemann to include a course in sheet music reading and sightseeing, regular voice training and a beginner and a chamber choir. The ensemble recorded their first CD with Handel's Messiah in 2009 . As other ensembles, Männer-Minne , Berlin's first gay male choir, Der Straßenchor , a project by Stefan Schmidt accompanied by ZDFneo , and the chamber choir vocal-concertisten are guests for rehearsals and concerts in the Twelve Apostles community.

organ

The present organ of the church was built in 1968 by the Berlin organ building workshop Karl Schuke . With 40 registers on three manuals and pedal it is one of the great organs of this company in Berlin. is committed to the tradition of organ movement, but integrates elements of the French-Romantic organ building tradition. In connection with the church renovation from 1991–1993, the instrument was completely overhauled and expanded to include a register and a setting system .

I Swell C – a 3
1. Coupling flute 08th'
2. Black viola 08th'
3. Principal 04 ′
4th Flauto douce 04 ′
5. Fifth flute 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
6th Night horn 02 ′
7th third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′
8th. Fifth 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′
9. Mixture V 02 ′
10. Cor anglais 16 ′
11. oboe 08th'
Tremulant
II main work C – a 3
12. Reed flute 16 ′
13. Principal 08th'
14th Playing flute 08th'
15th Octaves 04 ′
16. Reed flute 04 ′
17th Nassat 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
18th octave 02 ′
19th Mixture IV-VI
20th Cornett III – V (from f 0 ) 08th'
21st Trumpet 08th'
III Upper structure C – a 3
22nd Wooden dacked 08th'
23. Principal 04 ′
24. Viol flute 04 ′
25th Pointed 04 ′
26th Principal 02 ′
27. Sesquialtera II 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
28. Sif flute 01'
29 Scharff III
30th musette 08th'
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
31. Principal 16 ′
32. Sub bass 16 ′
33. octave 08th'
34. Dumped 08th'
35. Hollow flute 04 ′
36. Night horn 02 ′
37. Backset V
38. trombone 16 ′
39. bassoon 08th'
40. Clarine 04 ′
  • Coupling : I / II, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
  • Playing aids : 32-fold electronic typesetting system

Web links

Commons : Twelve Apostles Church (Berlin-Schöneberg)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Uwe Kieling: Berlin building officials and state architects in the 19th century. Society for Local History and Monument Preservation in the Kulturbund der DDR, Berlin 1986, p. 21.
  2. ↑ History of the Protestant Lutheran Parish ( Memento from April 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Wednesday Initiative e. V. , accessed April 15, 2010
  4. ↑ Press release of October 16, 2009 , accessed April 15, 2010
  5. ^ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Press release of the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian-Upper Lusatia , accessed on April 15, 2010@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ekbo.de
  6. ↑ Tagesspiegel of October 23, 2008 , accessed on April 15, 2010
  7. ^ Website of the Twelve Apostles Choir , accessed April 15, 2010
  8. ^ CD Messiah of the Twelve Apostles Choir , accessed April 15, 2010
  9. ^ The Schuke organ in the Twelve Apostles Church , accessed on May 14, 2010
  10. ↑ Information on the organ of the Twelve Apostles Church

Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 1.9 ″  N , 13 ° 21 ′ 28.4 ″  E