Protestant Church of Plötzensee
Encyclopedia
The Protestant Church of Plötzensee is situated in Berlin-Charlottenburg and was inaugurated in 1970 as the second church building of the Protestant Congregation in North-Charlottenburg
. As it is located close to the former Plötzensee Prison
, the church-building was designed as a memorial for the victims of National Socialism. The paintings Plötzenseer Totentanz (Dance of Death of Plötzensee) painted by the Viennese
artist Alfred Hrdlicka
are an important part of this church.
The church premises were designed as a place of memorial from the beginning. Alfred Hrdlicka created the Dance of Death of Plötzensee, which shows motifs similar to medieval dances of death on 16 boards. The paintings point at today’s threats by violence, power and arbitrary.
The architecture shows influences of ideas that came up during a reform-period of the Protestant church in Germany during the 1960s: the benches are arranged in a square (quadrangle) around the altar in the centre. This was meant to create a feeling of community among those who worship in here and to involve them more intensely in the service. Almost contradicting to this intention the architecture of the church refers to the prisons of Plötzensee: the cupola made of concrete reminds the worshiper of a prison cell; light comes only from a single window right above the altar.
and the Carmelite monastery adjunct to it. This cooperation is especially dedicated to remember the martyrs of Plötzensee. The most important ecumenical memorial events of these churches are the Ecumenical Plötzensee Days
every January and the annual anniversary of the assassination-attempt of 20 July 1944.
In summer 2009 the Ecumenical Memorial Centre Plötzensee - Christians and Resistance has been founded in the Protestant Church of Plötzensee.
Charlottenburg-Nord
Charlottenburg-Nord is a neighborhood in the northern part of the district Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany. As of 2008 its population was of 17,327...
. As it is located close to the former Plötzensee Prison
Plötzensee Prison
Plötzensee Prison was a Prussian institution built in Berlin between 1869 and 1879 near the lake Plötzensee, but in the neighbouring borough of Charlottenburg, on Hüttigpfad off Saatwinkler Damm. During Adolf Hitler's time in power from 1933 to 1945, more than 2,500 people were executed at...
, the church-building was designed as a memorial for the victims of National Socialism. The paintings Plötzenseer Totentanz (Dance of Death of Plötzensee) painted by the Viennese
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
artist Alfred Hrdlicka
Alfred Hrdlicka
Alfred Hrdlicka was an Austrian sculptor, draughtsman, painter and artist. His surname is sometimes written Hrdlička.After learning to be a dental technician from 1943 to 1945, Hrdlicka studied painting until 1952 at the Akademie der bildenden Künste under Albert Paris Gütersloh and Josef...
are an important part of this church.
Building and Architecture
The church and the church-centre were built in the years between 1968 and 1970 for congregants living in the recently built Paul-Hertz-settlement in this area. The architects Gerd Neumann, Dietmar Grötzebach and Günther Plessow created the buildings, which include a church, a day-care facility for children, a youth centre, apartments, offices and other rooms for congregational use.The church premises were designed as a place of memorial from the beginning. Alfred Hrdlicka created the Dance of Death of Plötzensee, which shows motifs similar to medieval dances of death on 16 boards. The paintings point at today’s threats by violence, power and arbitrary.
The architecture shows influences of ideas that came up during a reform-period of the Protestant church in Germany during the 1960s: the benches are arranged in a square (quadrangle) around the altar in the centre. This was meant to create a feeling of community among those who worship in here and to involve them more intensely in the service. Almost contradicting to this intention the architecture of the church refers to the prisons of Plötzensee: the cupola made of concrete reminds the worshiper of a prison cell; light comes only from a single window right above the altar.
Ecumenical Activities
There is a close Ecumenical cooperation with the nearby Roman Catholic memorial church Maria Regina MartyrumMaria Regina Martyrum
Maria Regina Martyrum is the Roman Catholic memorial church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin in Berlin, borough Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, in the locality of Charlottenburg-Nord. The church was built on behalf of the German Catholics to honour the Martyrs of Freedom of Belief and...
and the Carmelite monastery adjunct to it. This cooperation is especially dedicated to remember the martyrs of Plötzensee. The most important ecumenical memorial events of these churches are the Ecumenical Plötzensee Days
Ecumenical Plötzensee Days
The Ecumenical Plötzensee Days are an annual event, commemorating martyrs and victims of National Socialism. They take place at the catholic commemoration church Maria Regina Martyrum and at the Protestant Church of Plötzensee....
every January and the annual anniversary of the assassination-attempt of 20 July 1944.
In summer 2009 the Ecumenical Memorial Centre Plötzensee - Christians and Resistance has been founded in the Protestant Church of Plötzensee.
Literature
- Bringfried Naumann: Der Plötzenseer Totentanz im Evangelischen Gemeindezentrum Plötzensee. 2. Auflage 1993 (Verlag Schnell & Steiner, Reihe: Der Kleine Kunstführer), ISBN 978-3-7954-5026-7 (in German)
- Rüdiger von Voss and Gerhard Ringshausen: Die Predigten von Plötzensee. Zur Herausforderung des modernen Märtyrers. Lukas Verlag: Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86732-064-1 (in German)
- I. Mössinger/U. Saltin: Die ökumenische Gedenk-Region Charlottenburg-Nord/Plötzensee: Alfred Hrdlickas „Plötzenseer Totentanz“. In: Reiner Albert, Roland Hartung, Günther Saltin (Hg.): Alfred-Delp-Jahrbuch Band 3/2009. Alfred Delp und die Kunst, LIT Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-643-10148-8 (in German)