St. Thomas, Berlin

The Protestant St. Thomas Church the church district of Berlin city center, located at the northern end of the Marianne place in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg, is a late classical church from the 19th century. St. Thomas was about the geographical center of the densely populated city of Berlin Luis. At the time of its construction, the church was with 3,000 seats the largest religious building in Berlin and the St. Thomas community with approximately 150,000 members, one of the largest evangelical churches in the world.

The floor plan has the form of a Latin cross. In the center stands a 56-meter high dome, located in the direction of Marianne place two 48 meter high towers.

The name of St. Thomas refers to the Apostle Thomas.

History

The St. Thomas Church was 1865-1869 by the architect Friedrich Adler, a student Friedrich August Stüler, built by order of the Berlin city council. Presented the building, which made ​​him known throughout Germany, the breakthrough for his career represents the great organ with 52 stops came from Wilhelm Sauer For the architect.

During the Second World War, an air raid destroyed on 22 November 1942, the stained glass windows and the eastern choir of the church. The interior was completely lost during the war and in the early postwar years. The reconstruction took place 1956-1963 by Werner Retzlaff and Ludolf von Waltenhausen. The exterior facade was reconstructed after this historical models, on the other hand, the interior underwent some changes.

After the church in 1985 had to be because of asbestos contamination and closed due to a re- restoration of the exterior façade in 1998, the church was reopened in 1999.

Parish

The parish of St. Thomas had to the severance of around Görlitz station around newly formed Emmaus community in 1887 about 150,000 parishioners and was thus one of the largest communities worldwide.

The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the community was divided and no longer lay beyond in the city center, but on the outskirts of West Berlin. The difficult social conditions in Kreuzberg also had an impact on the community, which played an active role in the squatting in the 1980s.

In 2006 the municipality had 1,800 members.