Gedächtniskirche Schönefeld (Schönefeld Memorial Church) is a

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 Schönefeld, now part of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, Saxony, Germany. The former village church was built in style from 1816, replacing a previous building destroyed by fire. It was named Gedächtniskirche in 1916 when it became a memorial to fallen soldiers.

History

The first church in Schönefeld was probably built in the early 14th century. It burned down in 1526, and was restored within a year. It was rebuilt and expanded from 1753 to 1776. On 18 October 1813, it was destroyed by fire during the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...

. In 1816, a new church was begun, by the Leipzig master carpenter Walter Friedrich and the Schönefeld master mason Carl Friedrich. From 1817, mason Wagner from Leipzig and Adam Gottlob Lindner from Seegeritz helped. The church was inaugurated on 16 April 1820; the tower was completed end of that year, and the bells were consecrated on 25 August 1839. Interior features were provided by 27 sponsors from Leipzig, mostly merchants, including a marble

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 ...

(no longer extant) and silver chandeliers and communion sets.

Clara Clara may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Clara'' (2018 film), a Canadian sci-fi drama * ''Clara'' (2019 film), a Ukrainian animated fantasy film * ''Clara'' (TV series), a German TV series * Clara the Cow, mascot of the Greek TV show '' P ...

and

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

were married at the church on 12 September 1840. donated a baptism table made in Jerusalem from olive tree wood, with a silver bowl, in 1870. In 1869 a steam heating and gas lighting were installed, and the chancel was moved from the centre to the south side, replaced by a high Cross. Gustav Jäger painted a cycle of four paintings, of

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

and

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

with four

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

s, 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

Christ the King Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where Christ is described as being seated at the right hand of God. Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one o ...

. A restoration in 1915/16, supervised by architect included an expansion of the organ balcony, with new staircases leading to it; the entrance hall was transformed to a memorial to soldiers fallen in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

and the

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

. It was reopened on 19 March 1916, now named Gedächtniskirche. In 2017 the parish invested in cleaning and tuning the Eule organ, installing a ramp for handicapped visitors, restoring the interior to the original colour plan, and modernising the lighting and heating to comply with current standards. The plans were realised from 2010 and completed in 2021.

References

External links

Gedächtniskirche Leipzig Schönefeld
Matthäusgemeinde Leipzig
Gedächtniskirche Schönefeld
kirche-leipzig.de
Ev. Gedächtniskirche Schönefeld (Stadt Leipzig)
architektur-blicklicht.de
Die Orgeln der Gedächtsniskirche Schönefeld
Matthäusgemeinde Leipzig {{DEFAULTSORT:Gedachtniskirche Schonefeld Lutheran churches in Leipzig Neoclassical church buildings in Germany Churches completed in 1820

History

References

Further reading

External links