The Christ Church (or Christuskirche) is a historic landmark and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church in

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, belonging to the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. It was designed by architect Gottlieb Redecker.

Background

The church was built as a symbol of peace following the

wars War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

between the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, and the Herero and Nama. The foundation stone was laid on 11 August 1907, while on 16 October 1910 the church was officially dedicated. It was originally known as the ''Church of Peace''. The Christ Church was constructed from

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

mined from the vicinity of the Avis Dam. The architecture displays a mixture of neo-Romanesque,

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

and

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

influences. Its spire is high. The

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

was made from Carrara marble imported from Italy. The clock and part of the roof was shipped from Germany, as were the three bronze bells cast by Franz Schilling. They bear the inscriptions "Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe" (''Glory to God in the highest''), "Friede auf Erden" (''Peace on earth''), and "Den Menschen ein Wohlgefallen" (''Goodwill towards men''). During a confirmation service in the 1960 the clapper of the main bell came loose, smashed through the window and fell on the street. Window bars were installed after this misfortune. The colorful stained

lead glass Lead glass, commonly called crystal, is a variety of glass in which lead replaces the calcium content of a typical potash glass. Lead glass contains typically 18–40% (by mass) lead(II) oxide (PbO), while modern lead crystal, historically a ...

windows in the sanctuary were a gift from

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

. In the late 1990s a tourist noticed that all of them were installed with the sun protection shield on the inside. In the two years following this discovery, all window elements were restored and refitted for the protective shield to face the outside. The church is located on a

traffic island A traffic island is a solid or painted object in a road that channels traffic. It can also be a narrow strip of island between roads that intersect at an acute angle. If the island uses road markings only, without raised curbs or other physica ...

on Robert Mugabe Avenue, opposite the

Tintenpalast The Parliament Building, Windhoek, also known as the ''Tintenpalast'' ( German for ''Ink Palace''), is the seat of both houses of the Parliament of Namibia (the National Council and the National Assembly). It is located in the Namibian capital o ...

Gallery

File:Kirche denkmal nam.jpg, Christ Church and Reiterdenkmal

References

External links

{{Windhoek Windhoek ChristChurch Windhoek ChristChurch Buildings and structures in Windhoek German-Namibian culture Windhoek ChristChurch Windhoek ChristChurch Romanesque Revival church buildings in Namibia Gothic Revival church buildings in Namibia