Bombs fell. A church burned. This is the story of the Peter-Pauls-Kirche in Chemnitz. Not the church you see today. This is a story of what was lost.
The Peter-Pauls-Kirche in Chemnitz Mittelbach wasn’t always a Protestant church. Its history stretches back much further. In 1485 sixteen Franciscan brothers moved into a new monastery. This monastery included a church. The brothers worked hard. They gained the respect of the townspeople. Many joined their lay brotherhood.
However this peaceful coexistence ended. In 1540 during a Reformation visitation the Franciscan monks refused to accept Luther’s new teachings. They left Chemnitz. They went to a monastery in Halle an der Saale.
The Thirty Years’ War devastated the monastery buildings. What remained was rubble. Then between 1750 and 1756 something new rose from the ashes. A new church was built. It was called the Neue Johanniskirche. It was a simple rectangular baroque building. It had high windows. It lacked a steeple. It used part of the old city wall as its west wall.
This plain building was a far cry from what would come. The church was renovated extensively. A 61-meter-high Neo-Renaissance tower was added in 1887. A new Jehmlich organ replaced the old Silbermann organ. The church could now hold over 1800 people.
The church was damaged in World War II. It burned on March 5 1945. The congregation hoped to rebuild. They repaired the tower. They started work on a new roof. The congregation raised 60000 Marks. They completed the tower’s restoration in 1951. They added a new slate roof.
But the plans for a new church were dashed. Chemnitz was now Karl-Marx-Stadt. The socialist authorities had other plans. They wanted to rebuild the city center. The church was an obstacle. So the church was demolished in 1961. In its place rose a block of flats and a car park. The Peter-Pauls-Kirche is gone. But its story remains a stark reminder of the past. A testament to faith resilience and the power of political forces.