Altstadt Church () was a medieval

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in the

Altstadt ''Altstadt'' () is the German language word for "old town", and generally refers to the historical town or city centre within the old town or city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. '' Neustadt'' (new town), the logical opposite of ...

quarter of

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was dismantled during the 1820s and replaced with

New Altstadt Church The New Altstadt Church (), also known simply as Altstadt Church, was a Protestant church in the Altstadt quarter of Königsberg, Germany. It was built as a replacement for the dismantled medieval Altstadt Church. History The original Altstadt ...

History

The originally

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church of

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

was built in Altstadt south of

Königsberg Castle Königsberg Castle (, ) was the seat of the grand masters of the Teutonic Order and of the dukes and kings of Prussia in the city of Königsberg (since 1946 Kaliningrad, Russia). The original fortress on the site was built by the Teutonic Knights ...

in 1264 and then rebuilt from 1504 to 1537. The Antonine monk Johann Amandus began preaching a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

sermon at the church in 1523, but was expelled the following year for being an agitating

iconoclast Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

. Johannes Poliander became pastor in 1526 following the creation of the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

and the parish's conversion to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Johann Funck Johann Funck, Funk or Funccius (7 February 1518 – 28 October 1566) was a German Lutheran theologian. He was beheaded after a court intrigue. Life Funck was born in Wöhrd, now part of Nuremberg. After obtaining an M.A. at the University of Witt ...

served as pastor before becoming court preacher in 1549.

Andreas Osiander Andreas Osiander (; 19 December 1498 – 17 October 1552) was a German Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer. Career Born at Gunzenhausen, Ansbach, in the region of Franconia, Osiander studied at the University of Ingolstadt before ...

was interred at the church in 1552, as was Hans Luther, Saxon privy councilor and son of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

, in 1575.

Paul Siefert Paul Siefert (variants: Syfert, Sivert, Sibert; 23 May 1586 – 6 May 1666) was a German composer and organist associated with the North German school. Biography He was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), Royal Prussia (a fief of the Crown of Poland) to ...

was organist at the church in 1611. Because of the growing size of Altstadt's parish, Neurossgarten Church was constructed in the 1640s to the northwest. Georg Riedel was a cantor at the church from 1709 to 1738. A new organ was designed for the Altstadt Church by Adam Gottlob Casparini in 1763. The church's nearby square, Altstädtischer Kirchenplatz, was developed in 1803. Because the church had begun to sink and crack, it was dismantled from 1826 to 1828. The last sermon was held there in 1824, with services temporarily moved to Neurossgarten Church. The replacement

built northwest of the castle was dedicated in 1845. Its pulpit, choir, and altar were transferred from or based on its predecessor. After the dismantling of the original church, the parish converted the Altstädtischer Kirchenplatz into an enclosed garden; the developing square was renamed Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz in 1897.

Gallery

Image:Altstadtkirche-1613.jpg, Altstadt Church during the Protestant Reformation, 1613 Image:Altstadtkirche-18.jpg, Altstadt Church, in background the original tower of Königsberg Castle's Schlosskirche Image:ID003780 B212 AltstaedtischeKirche.jpg, 1908 postcard depicting the original Altstadt Church, ca. 1826

References

* * *{{cite book, last=Mühlpfordt, first=Herbert Meinhard, author-link=Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt, title=Königsberg von A bis Z, year=1972, publisher=Aufstieg-Verlag, location=München, pages=168, isbn=3-7612-0092-7, language=de Buildings and structures completed in 1264 Churches completed in the 1260s Buildings and structures demolished in 1828 Destroyed churches in Germany Former churches in Königsberg Lutheran churches in Königsberg Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism ru:Альтштадтская кирха