Description of the attraction
Located in the Kiev region of Lipki, the Lutheran Church of St. Catherine was erected in 1855-1857. The project was prepared by the architect Ivan Shtrom, the construction itself was carried out by Pavel Shleifer. Earlier on the site of the church there was already another one, only a wooden one. She bore the same name and was built in 1812. For the construction of the church, the church elders were even forced to mortgage their houses, but even after that the building turned out to be more than modest - the only decorations of the church were the image of the Apostle Paul, as well as the portrait of the founder of Lutheranism, Martin Luther.
The new building was erected in the tradition of simplified Gothic, characterized by elegance and convenience. The magnificent acoustics gave a special charm to the temple. Next to the church, consecrated at the end of the construction, a school was built for young people wishing to master the German language.
After the events of 1917, the church began to decline. First, a club of militant atheists was located here, later Lutheran pastors were arrested, then a warehouse was equipped there. Only in the 70s, people who were directly close to art began to engage in the church - after the reconstruction then carried out, a museum of folk architecture and life began to work here. However, even in this case, the interior of the church changed significantly, since it was divided into small rooms. Only with the beginning of the 90s and the revival of the state's interest in protecting the religious beliefs and views of its citizens, the Lutheran Church of St. Catherine had the opportunity to return to its origins. In 1998, the Lutheran community obtained the return of the church from the state and carried out its reconstruction. Upon completion of the reconstruction in 2000, the Church of St. Catherine was again able to open its doors to the faithful and become a functioning temple.
