The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Catherine is located in
the center of the city of Arkhangelsk. There is a full-height organ
inside the building. At present it is a chamber hall of the Pomor
State Philharmonic Society.
Since the middle of the 17th
century, many foreign merchants, including Dutch and Germans, have
constantly lived in Arkhangelsk. Initially, a Reformed parish
(called Dutch) was formed in the city, and by 1683 a Lutheran
(Hamburg) one. At first, he was an integral part of the
Evangelical-Reformed parish in Moscow, while retaining his
characteristic confessional characteristics and the right to choose
a pastor in Germany.
The first preacher of the community in
Arkhangelsk was F.L. Schrader (from Hamburg). He worked in this
position for 14 years. In 1687, Schrader built a wooden church.
Divine services in it were held in German. Services in the church
were organized only in the summer months, and in the winter - in the
pastoral house.
In 1710, a large fire broke out in Arkhangelsk, which destroyed a
wooden church. But in the same year, a new church appeared. In 1766,
local Lutherans began to bother to build a stone church on the site
of a dilapidated wooden church. With the blessing of the Holy Synod,
the new church was founded in 1767 and built in 1768. It still
stands in Arkhangelsk. The church was originally a 1-storey, 1-nave
building with a bell tower in a style close to Western European
Baroque. Above the bell tower there was a dome with a clock and a
cross with a weather vane.
In 1774, the church under
construction was damaged by a fire. Repairs were organized, after
which the bell tower became higher, and the facades were made in the
classicism style. In 1791, the church was attended by 269
parishioners of the evangelical confession. In 1817, the pastors of
the Reformed (Dutch) and Lutheran (Hamburg) communities of
Arkhangelsk began to ask to unite them into one Evangelical parish.
With the permission of Emperor Alexander I, the church for these two
communities became a common one. Divine services were organized in
both buildings, and the celebrations were held mainly in the Church
of St. Catherine. Johann Arnold Brunings was chosen as the pastor.
In 1851 a fire destroyed the church. It was rebuilt after 2 years.
In 1896, after the next restoration of the bell tower, another
level appeared for bell ringing (previously forbidden for the
Reforms and Lutherans), and the middle level above the entrance was
decorated with a window in the form of a quadrifolium, somewhat
reminiscent of a rose window in the Gothic style. After a fire in
1908, a new project for the restoration of the building was
approved, which included the renewal of the bell Gothic spire. But
at the request of the German merchants, the spire was replaced with
a dome. The last time the church was damaged by fire was in 1909.
After the reconstruction, the bell tower was decorated with a Gothic
spire, from the west there was a large canopy over the entrance, and
from the east - an altar apse, decorated in the Art Nouveau style.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the building of the church
was nationalized and transferred to the Evangelical community. In
1929, due to lack of funds for the maintenance of the church, the
community decides to transfer the building and all property to the
executive committee under the governor, which provided it to various
organizations.
In 1983, a project was developed for the
reconstruction and adaptation of the former church into a chamber
concert hall with an organ. The restoration was completed in 1987,
and the opening of the Small Concert Hall of the Arkhangelsk
Philharmonic took place in the church. In 1995, the church was
handed over to the recovered Evangelical Lutheran community in
Arkhangelsk. Here you can hear classical music, attend the service,
which is held, as before, in German.
In 1991, a modern organ of the famous Alexander Shuke company was
installed here. As part of the Praise to the Organ festival, the world's
leading performers regularly tour, chamber ensembles of classical music
perform.
The wedding ceremony in the chamber hall is gaining more
and more popularity. The march of Mendelssohn, performed on the organ,
sounds completely new, and the majestic Ave Maria invariably moves
everyone to tears. Children are invited to the quest "Kirkha's
Treasure", using musical prompts they will have to find a treasure
hidden a long time ago.
By agreement with the Lutheran community of
Arkhangelsk, divine services are regularly held in the premises in
German.
Franz Loretz Frader (1686-1695)
Ulrich Thomas Rollof (1696-1699)
Philip Michaelis (1710-1717)
Friedrich Peter Lange (1718-1727)
Ludwig Samuel Siegmann (1727-1740)
Samuel Conradi (1740-1747)
Georg Ehrenfried Raupach (1748-1772)
Peter Heinrich Klug (1772-1781)
Johann Georg Lampe (1781-1783)
Johann Heinrich Lindes (1783-1795)
Franz Zukas - (1795-1817)
Johann Arnold Brüning (1817-1820)
Carl
Friedrich August Brehme (1820-1860)
Wilhelm Bruckner (1860-1862)
Claus Hansen (1862-1892)
Emil Ewald Wegener (1892-1893)
Friedrich
Wilgel Bock (1893-1910)
F. Feerman (1911)
Wilhelm Hugo Franz
Krause (1911-1914)
Friedrich Barnel (1915-1920)
Address: Arkhangelsk, st. Karl Marx, 3. Website.
How to get
there: by buses No. 1, 6, 9, 42, 43, 44, 61 to the stop. Pavlin
Vinogradov Square/Mir Cinema.
Concerts start on weekends at
16:00, on weekdays at 18:30. Ticket price 500-650 RUB.