The Church of St Peter () is a former

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

church located in the Innenstadt area of

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany. It has been known as jugend-kultur-kirche sankt peter since 2007, when it became a youth centre. The church built between 1891 and 1894 on a

neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

design by Hans Grisebach and .It was built on the site of the historic St Peter's Churchyard (), where most of Frankfurt's dead was buried until 1828.

History

There had been a smaller church in the Peterskirchhof since 1381. In August 1889, the Frankfurt municipality decided to tear down this church, although the building was not actually destroyed until 1895. In the meantime, the current Church was built to the north-west of the previous one. The Church of St Peter was designed by Hans Grisebach and Georg Dinklage, two architects from Berlin. They designed a

hall church A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

in the style of

eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories i ...

, a combination of different historical styles. The 68 metre-high spire of the church was the tallest building in the area at the time of its construction.

Reconstruction

On 22 March 1944, the church was damaged in a bombing raid of Frankfurt. The church was repaired by the architects

Theo Kellner Theo Kellner (13 April 1899 – 26 February 1969) was a German artist and architect active in Berlin, Erfurt and Frankfurt. After the end of the Second World War, Kellner was involved with the reconstruction of several buildings in Frankfurt, such ...

(who had led the reconstruction of the

Goethe House The Goethe House is a writer's house museum located in the Innenstadt district of Frankfurt, Germany. It is the birthplace and childhood home of German poet and playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It is also the place where Goethe wrote hi ...

) and between 1961 and 1965. It was rededicated on 6 June 1965.

Deconsecration

The church was used by the evangelical "Parish of St Peter" () until 2002, when the parish was merged with the neighbouring "Parish of the Epiphany" (). Church services for the parish have since been held exclusively in the . In June 2004, building work began at the church, to transform it into a youth and events centre. An event hall with 1000 seats replaced the former

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, and seminar rooms and a cafeteria were set up in the east wing. The building work was financed by the city government (the owners of the church) in partnership with the Evangelical Church. The church was reopened as jugend-kultur-kirche sankt peter in December 2007, two years later than originally planned and at a total cost of over five million euros.

Churchyard

Notable interments

Notable interments in the churchyard include: *

Christian Egenolff Christian Egenolff or Egenolph (26 July 1502 – 9 February 1555), also known as Christian Egenolff, the Elder, was the first important printer and publisher operating from Frankfurt-am-Main, and best known for his "Kräuterbuch", ''Herbarum, ...

(1502–1555), one of the first printers operating in Frankfurt *

Matthäus Merian the Elder Matthäus Merian ''der Ältere'' (or "Matthew", "the Elder", or "Sr."; 22 September 1593 – 19 June 1650) was a Swiss-born engraver who worked in Frankfurt, Germany for most of his career, where he also ran a publishing house. He was a me ...

(1593–1650), Swiss-born engraver and publisher *

Matthäus Merian the Younger Matthäus Merian (25 March 1621 – 15 February 1687) was a Swiss engraver and portrait painter. Biography He was born in Basel as the eldest son of Matthäus Merian the Elder and his first wife Maria Magdalena née de Bry; like his father h ...

(1621–1687), Swiss-born engraver and portrait painter *

Johann Friedrich Städel Johann Friedrich Städel (1728–1816) was a German banker and patron of the arts. He founded the Städel Art Institute in his will, donating his entire fortune, art collection and house to the institute. Life Städel was born to Johann Dani ...

(1728–1816), banker and founder of the

Städel Museum The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The museum is located at the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen (Frankfurt ...

Johann Caspar Goethe Johann Caspar Goethe (29 July 1710 – 25 May 1782) was a wealthy German jurist and royal councillor to the Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire. His son, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is considered one of the greatest German poets and authors of all ...

(1710–1782) and

Catharina Elisabeth Goethe Catharina Elisabeth Goethe, born Catharina Elisabeth Textor, (19 February 1731 – 13 September 1808) was the mother of German playwright and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and his sister Cornelia Schlosser. She was also known by the nickname Fr ...

(1731–1808), parents of the poet and playwright

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

References

External links

* {{coord, 50.1175, 8.6838, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title Churches in Frankfurt Buildings and structures in Frankfurt Eclectic architecture