The Dreikönigskirche (

Three Kings In Christianity, the Biblical Magi ( or ; singular: ), also known as the Three Wise Men, Three Kings, and Three Magi, are distinguished foreigners who visit Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in homage to hi ...

' Church) is a Lutheran church located in the Innere Neustadt of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Germany. It is the centre of a parish, and a community venue called Haus der Kirche. The church is a . A church has been documented as standing at the site of the Dreikönigskirche since the 15th century. The present church was built from 1732 to 1739 with designs by

Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann (1662–1736) was a German master builder and architect who helped to rebuild Dresden after the fire of 1685. His most famous work is the Zwinger (Dresden), Zwinger Palace. Life Pöppelmann was born in Herford ...

and with

George Bähr George Bähr (15 March 1666 – 16 March 1738) was a German architect. Life George Bähr was born into a poor family in Fürstenwalde (now a part of Geising, Saxony), the son of a weaver. The village priest, however, helped pay for his educatio ...

responsible for the interior features. The church was destroyed during the

bombing of Dresden in World War II The bombing of Dresden was a joint British and American Area bombardment, aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, during World War II. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 772 heavy ...

and not restored until the 1980s. It served as the seat of the state parliament of Saxony from 1990 to 1993.

History

The first Dreikönigskirche was built in 1404 about south of the site of the present church in , though the first mention of this church by that name comes from 1421. This placement put the church in what is now the , near the centre of Old Dresden. The structure was Gothic in style and had a flat roof over its

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 ...

that was topped with two

ridge turret A ridge turret is a turret or small tower constructed over the ridge or apex between two or more sloping roofs of a building. It is usually built either as an architectural ornament for purely decorative purposes or else for the practical housing ...

s. The church was named for its

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

, which depicted the Three Holy Kings. This church was first mentioned in 1421, when the feudal rights over it were passed to the following the death of its priest, who had been holding his services at the Erasmi Chapel of the . The first Dreikönigskirche was destroyed by the

Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...

around 1429 but it was rebuilt between 1514 and 1520, still in the Gothic style. During that reconstruction, the church was expanded into a three-

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

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 ...

with a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. The church was again destroyed with much of Old Dresden by fire in 1685. It was rebuilt three years later by master stonemason Johann Benedikt Knöffel and master carpenter Andreas Voigt. A tower was added by 1730. However, the church was demolished in 1731–32 as part of the process of building a for Duke

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

, as it stood on the new main thoroughfare, the Hauptstraße.

Baroque church

A new church was built from 1732 to 1739 at a different location to a plan by

in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

with interiors by

, builder of the Frauenkirche. Pöppelmann supervised construction, a role that passed to Bähr when Pöppelmann died in 1734. The church was consecrated on 29 September 1739 (

Michaelis Michaelis or Michelis is a surname. Notable people and characters with the surname include: * Adolf Michaelis, German classical scholar * Alice Michaelis, German painter * Anthony R. Michaelis, German science writer * Christian Friedrich Michael ...

) by Superintendent Valentin Ernst Löscher. There were insufficient funds for the new church's tower and it was only built to a height of . In the first half of the 19th century, a competition was held to decide the design for a new tower. Noted architect submitted plans, but the design selected was by architects and Frommherz Lobegott Marx. Construction of the tower, paid for by donations and public funding, lasted from 1854 to 1857. A water fountain was added in 1858 in the church's western

forecourt Forecourt may refer to: * a courtyard at the front of a building * in racket sports, the front part of the court * the area in a filling station containing the fuel pumps * chamber tomb forecourt This article describes several characteristic arch ...

. Later in the 19th century, the original, gabled roof was replaced with a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

and one of the galleries was removed. In 1887, the Dreikönigskirche's role as the seat of the Evangelical Lutheran Parish of Neustadt-Dresden was passed to the newly constructed . The Dreikönigskirche was restored in 1933–34 under the direction of local architect Rudolph Kolbe.

Destruction and reconstruction

On 13 February 1945, the Dreikönigskirche was destroyed during an air raid on Dresden, leaving only its façade and the tower. Church services resumed in the ruins of the Dreikönigskirche when the rubble was removed, and plans for demolition were resisted by locals. Debate on the fate of the church lasted until 1977, when it was decided that it should be rebuilt. The cornerstone of the rebuilt church was laid on 31 October 1984 and lasted until the church was reconsecrated on 9 September 1990. The reconstruction retained the exterior, but created a modern complex inside with seating for 450 occupants instead of the original 3,000. Ten conference rooms are mostly used for lectures, meetings, courses, concerts and exhibitions. The centre was called Haus der Kirche. After the reconstruction, the Dreikönigskirche served again the centre of the parish. On 27 October 1990, the first meeting of the Sächsischer Landtag, the new state parliament formed after the Wende, took place in the Dreikönigskirche. It served as the interim seat of parliament until the new building was completed in October 1993. The tower was restored from 1993 to 1995. It has been open to visitors since 1999.

Architecture

The Dreikönigskirche was built on the west side of the Hauptstraße on top of what was the main cemetery, which was moved north to become the . As such, it was not oriented east–west as is usual for churches. Also unusual for church architecture, the altar adorns the west rather than east side of the church, as the main entrance was placed on the west. This break with traditional church architecture was cause for controversy between the parish leadership and Augustus II. The Dreikönigskirche's tower stands high. It was designed and built in the Baroque Revival style to match the existing church and decorated with sculptures of the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

and the Three Kings. A total of of sandstone was sourced from the

Saxon Switzerland Saxon Switzerland (, ) is a hilly climbing area and national park in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is located around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany, adjoining Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic. Toge ...

for the completion of the tower.

Interior

The

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

was carved in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style out of

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 ...

by in 1741. The

Parable of the Ten Virgins The Parable of the Ten Virgins, also known as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins or the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, is one of the parables of Jesus. According to , ten virgins await a bridegroom; five have brought enough oil fo ...

, bookended by images of the Apostles

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of ...

, is depicted in relief on the altar. Thomae's altar survived the destruction of the church during World War II, but it was damaged and has never been repaired. Organ builder

Zacharias Hildebrandt Zacharias Hildebrandt (1688, Münsterberg, Silesia – 11 October 1757, Dresden, Saxony) was a German organ builder. In 1714, his father Heinrich Hildebrandt, a cartwright master, apprenticed him to the famous organ builder Gottfried Silberma ...

built the Baroque church's organ between 1754 and 1757. It was the last organ he built before his death, and it was destroyed during World War II.

Dresden Totentanz

In 1990, during the final phase of the reconstruction of the Dreikönigskirche, the was installed below the organ loft. The Totentanz is a stone relief of the ''

danse macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...

.'' It was carved in 1534 by the German sculptor for

George, Duke of Saxony George the Bearded ( Meissen, 27 August 1471 – Dresden, 17 April 1539) was Duke of Saxony from 1500 to 1539 known for his opposition to the Reformation. While the Ernestine line embraced Lutheranism, the Albertines (headed by George) were ...

. The Totenkranz is long and high and depicts 27 figures – 24 humans and three representations of Death. Among the human figures are

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...

and Duke George, whose

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

faith is emphasized in the relief. The Totentanz originally was located in

Dresden Castle Dresden Castle or Royal Palace ( or ) is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden, Germany. For almost 400 years, it was the residence of the electors (1547–1806) and List of rulers of Saxony, kings (1806–1918) of Kingdom of Saxony, Saxony from ...

. When the castle was destroyed by fire in 1701, the Totentanz was donated to the parish of the Dreikönigskirche by Augustus II.

References

External links

*
Kirchspiel Dresden-Neustadt

Dreikönigskirche
(in German) Haus der Kirche
Dreikönigskirche
(in German) Stadtwiki Dresden {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreikönigskirche, Dresden Lutheran churches in Dresden Baroque architecture in Dresden Rebuilt buildings and structures in Dresden Churches completed in 1739 18th-century Lutheran churches in Germany 20th-century Lutheran churches in Germany