Brandenburger Vorstadt · Potsdam
From its founding in 1898 to the present day – the story of a church that has accompanied the life of its neighbourhood for more than 125 years.
The Erlöserkirche has stood in the Brandenburger Vorstadt since 1898. It was not built for the court but for the people of a growing quarter – and it has remained ever since: through years of war, rebuilding and four decades of the GDR, right up to the present day.
Anyone who knows its history understands why it is worth preserving. The following chapters tell that story – step by step, from the imperial era to the work of the friends' association today.
To the designs of church building councillor Gotthilf Ludwig Möckel, a neo-Gothic brick building takes shape – an octagonal central-plan structure with a slender 74-metre tower, visible from Sanssouci.
In May 1898 the church is consecrated. It is one of the roughly one hundred churches initiated by Empress Auguste Viktoria – built as a church for the growing middle-class quarter, not for the court. A Sauer organ with 43 stops is installed.
Two bells of the Erlöserkirche were melted down during the Second World War. The third bell (“Auguste Viktoria”) survived, served until the 1980s and can now be viewed in the tower room on special occasions. Two large bronze bells came to the tower in 1948 as a permanent loan from the former Garnisonkirche – having escaped being melted down for the armaments industry.
In the final days of the war in 1945 the church is severely damaged, while large parts of Potsdam lie in ruins.
By 1947 the most important repair work is carried out – the parish can use its church again.
In the early 1960s the interior is completely renovated. In 1964 the parish takes a new Schuke organ with 36 stops into service – the beginning of its role as a major venue for church music.
In the GDR era the Erlöserkirche becomes a refuge. Where the state exercises control, the parish offers space for conversations that are not possible elsewhere. A legacy that endures to this day.
With reunification a new chapter begins. The urgently needed renovation of the building's outer shell is tackled first.
Following Prof. Friedrich Meinel, the conductor Ud Joffe has led the Potsdamer Kantorei and the music at the Erlöserkirche since 1997 – choirs, orchestras and the International Organ Summer shape the house. Organist Tobias Scheetz and Sophie Malzo, who leads the choirs, are key contributors.
Step by step the historic interior design is being recovered, including the restoration of the chancel's painted decoration.
Further sections will follow. The before-and-after documentation shows: preservation pays off. The interior is regaining what time had taken from it.
The Verein zur Erhaltung der Erlöserkirche Potsdam aims to put the preservation of the church on a broader footing and to invite the neighbourhood to take part.
Moving Images
Recordings from the Potsdam International Organ Summer at the Erlöserkirche.
