Description of the attraction
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Catherine is located in the center of the city of Arkhangelsk. There is a full-height organ inside the building. At present it is a chamber hall of the Pomeranian State Philharmonic Society.
Since the middle of the 17th century, many foreign merchants, including the Dutch and Germans, have permanently lived in Arkhangelsk. Initially, a Reformed parish (called Dutch) was formed in the city, and by 1683 a Lutheran (Hamburg) one. At first, he was an integral part of the Evangelical-Reformed parish in Moscow, while retaining his characteristic confessional characteristics and the right to choose a pastor in Germany.
The first preacher of the community in Arkhangelsk was F. L. Schrader (from Hamburg). He worked in this position for 14 years. In 1687, Schrader built a wooden church. Divine services in it were held in German. Services in the church were organized only in the summer months, and in the winter - in the shepherd's house.
In 1710, a big fire broke out in Arkhangelsk, which destroyed a wooden church. But in the same year, a new church appeared. In 1766, local Lutherans began to bother to erect a stone church on the site of a dilapidated wooden church. With the blessing of the Holy Synod, the new church was founded in 1767 and built in 1768. It still stands in Arkhangelsk. The church was originally a 1-storey, 1-nave building with a bell tower in a style close to Western European Baroque. Above the bell tower there was a dome with a clock and a cross with a weather vane.
In 1774, the church under construction was damaged by a fire. Repairs were organized, after which the bell tower became higher, and the facades were made in the classicism style. In 1791, the church was attended by 269 parishioners of the evangelical confession. In 1817, the pastors of the Reformed (Dutch) and Lutheran (Hamburg) communities of Arkhangelsk began to ask to unite them into one Evangelical parish. With the permission of Emperor Alexander I, the church for these two communities turned into a common one. Divine services were organized in both buildings, and the celebrations were held mainly in the Church of St. Catherine. Johann Arnold Brunings was chosen as the pastor. In 1851 the church was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt after 2 years.
In 1896, after the next restoration of the bell tower, another level appeared for bell ringing (previously forbidden for the Reformed and Lutherans), and the middle level above the entrance was decorated with a window in the form of a quadrifolium, somewhat reminiscent of a rose window in the Gothic style. After the fire of 1908, a new project for the restoration of the building was approved, which provided for the renewal of the bell Gothic spire. But at the request of the German merchants, the spire was replaced with a dome. The last time the church was damaged by a fire was in 1909. After the reconstruction, the bell tower was decorated with a Gothic spire, from the west there was a large canopy over the entrance, and from the east - an altar apse, decorated in the Art Nouveau style.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the building of the church was nationalized and transferred to the Evangelical community. In 1929, due to lack of funds for the maintenance of the church, the community decides to transfer the building and all property to the executive committee under the governor, which provided it to various organizations.
In 1983, a project was developed for the reconstruction and adaptation of the former church into a chamber concert hall with an organ. The restoration was completed in 1987, and the opening of the Small Concert Hall of the Arkhangelsk Philharmonic took place in the church. In 1995, the church was handed over to the recovered Evangelical Lutheran community in Arkhangelsk. Here you can hear classical music, attend the service, which is held, as before, in German.
