The Catholic Church of the Holy Family (russian: Кирха Святого Семейства; german: Kirche zur Heiligen Familie) is a

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

brick church in

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

. It was built in the Haberberg city district of

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...

, near the Pregel river, between 1904 and 1907. The church was designed by architect and was built for the Catholic immigrants that were arriving in Königsberg. The church remained largely unharmed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was used by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

as a lazaret immediately after the war, and then as a fertilizer depot. In the beginning of the 1980s the church underwent a minor restoration, and began to function as the concert hall of the Kaliningrad Philharmonic. This made possible the installation of a new organ, which with its 44 registers and 3,600 pipes became a favourite of even the best organists of the Saint Petersburg music academy. The clock of the

Kreuzkirche The Dresden Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross) is a Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany. It is the main church and seat of the '' Landesbischof'' of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony, and the largest church building in the Free State ...

church was placed in the tower. The Kaliningrad authorities have refused to return the church to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

community.

References

* Robert Albinus: ''Königsberg-Lexikon''. Würzburg 2002, * Richard Armstedt: ''Geschichte der königl. Haupt- und Residenzstadt Königsberg in Preußen''. Reprint of the original edition, Stuttgart 1899. * Fritz Gause: ''Die Geschichte der Stadt Königsberg in Preußen''. 3 Bände, Köln 1996, * Jürgen Manthey: ''Königsberg – Geschichte einer Weltbürgerrepublik''. Hanser 2005, * Gunnar Strunz: ''Königsberg entdecken'', Berlin 2006, * Baldur Köster: ''Königsberg: Architektur aus deutscher Zeit.'' Husum Druck, 2000, {{ISBN, 3-88042-923-5. 1904 establishments in Germany Roman Catholic churches in Kaliningrad Concert halls in Russia Churches in Kaliningrad Oblast Former churches in Königsberg Former Roman Catholic church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in Russia Holy F Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Kaliningrad Oblast