A weathered weathervane. Its arrow points towards the heavens. It bears the date 1772. This is all that remains of the old Dorfkirche Willmersdorf. A silent testament to a church that once stood proudly.
The Dorfkirche Willmersdorf. It wasn’t just a building. It was the heart of this village. Records first mention a parish in 1293. A priest was named for the church in 1375. He also served the village of Lietzow. Sadly though there are no pictures of this original church. Most of the church records were lost. A surviving account from 1713 shows the church needed repairs. It was already in ruins.
Then disaster struck. In 1766 a devastating fire destroyed half the village. The church and parsonage burned to the ground. But the community rebuilt. By 1772 a new Dorfkirche Willmersdorf stood. A simple Baroque hall church. A tower clock was added in 1817. A memorial plaque commemorated those who fell in the Wars of Liberation.
The church’s history isn’t without its quirks. The then-pastor Ritter wanted an organ. His congregation refused to fund it. Undeterred he appealed to Frederick William III and Moritz August von Bethmann-Hollweg. They agreed. In 1845 Johann Christoph Schröthers from Sonnewalde delivered the new organ. It was completed in January 1846.
The organ’s triumphant melodies only echoed for about 50 years. In 1897 the new Auenkirche opened. The village grew rapidly. The old Dorfkirche was too small. Against the wishes of the villagers higher authorities ordered its demolition in 1898.
Today only the weathervane remains. It sits atop the Auenkirche’s parsonage. It silently reminds us of the Dorfkirche Willmersdorf. Its memory lives on. The altar the honor board and Ritter’s epitaph are in the Auenkirche. These precious artifacts speak of a past we can only imagine. The foundations of the Dorfkirche remain below. They are buried beneath the forecourt of the Auenkirche. A reminder of a simpler time. A time when the Dorfkirche Willmersdorf stood tall.