Löbenicht Church (german: Löbenichtsche Kirche) was a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in the

Löbenicht View of Löbenicht from the Pregel, including its church and gymnasium, as well as the nearby Propsteikirche Löbenicht ( lt, Lyvenikė; pl, Lipnik) was a quarter of central Königsberg, Germany. During the Middle Ages it was the weakest of ...

quarter of

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

History

Originally a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church known as " St. Barbara auf dem Berge", the church was built from 1334 to 1352 and then expanded in 1474. The top of its steeple was destroyed in a storm in 1497 and was rebuilt with four turrets. It was converted to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

after the 1525 establishment of the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the Prussia (region), region of P ...

. In 1608 Pastor Christoph Mirau wrote his ''Lobspruch der Stadt Königsberg''. After a lightning strike destroyed the church's steeple in 1695, it was rebuilt in 1702 with a gallery and four turrets. Seven people died after the church's vault collapsed in 1717. The church was destroyed during the great fire of Löbenicht on 11 November 1764; the steeple fell upon Löbenicht's school, setting it ablaze. Johann Ernst Löckel led the church's reconstruction, which was completed in 1776. In 1818 a storm damaged the flag and adornment atop the bell tower. The church was decorated with bright colors in the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style. Its combined pulpit/altar (''Kanzelaltar'') was carved by Friedrich Suhse in 1776. The organ was built by Johann Preuss (1722–90) in 1782 and was decorated with Rococo carvings, music-playing angels, and the crowned Prussian eagle. The church was heavily damaged by the 1944

Bombing of Königsberg A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

and was not rebuilt by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

after the 1945 Battle of Königsberg. Pastor Link managed to bring a 1681 silver book cover from the church's collection with him to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1948. The church's remnants were demolished by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

administration in

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

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, in 1970.

Gallery

Image:Löbenichtschen Kirche 001.jpg, Postcard of the church Image:ID003564 A465 NeuerMarkt.jpg, View of the church from the Neuer Markt image:PartieAmPregelk.jpg, View from the Pregel, including the church, gymnasium, and Propsteikirche

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lobenicht Church Churches completed in 1352 1334 establishments in Europe 1944 disestablishments in Germany 14th-century churches in Germany Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II Christian organizations established in the 14th century Destroyed churches Former churches in Königsberg Lutheran churches in Königsberg Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism Rococo architecture in Germany