Steindamm Church Steindamm Church (; ), St Nicholas' Church (''Nikolaikirche'', or ''Nikolauskirche''; Polish: ''kościół św. Mikołaja''; Lithuanian: ''Šv. Mikalojaus bažnyčia už Karaliaučiaus miesto sienų''), or Polish Church, Old Lithuanian Church (''Polnische Kirche''; Polish: ''kościół polski'') was the oldest

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 city formerly known as

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 ...

, and today known as

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

History

The church's original form was a wooden

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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

chapel 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 ...

first documented in 1256. It was built at Königsberg's first German settlement, located northwest 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 ...

. After the original settlement was destroyed during the

Siege of Königsberg The siege of Königsberg was a siege laid upon Königsberg Castle, one of the main strongholds of the Teutonic Knights, by Prussians during the great Prussian uprising from 1262 possibly though 1265. History Background Pagan Prussians rose a ...

, the church was rebuilt in stone in 1263.Albinus, p. 304 The suburb of

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 ...

which developed around the church and replaced the first German settlement became known as Steindamm. The small cemetery church affiliated with Altstadt Church was converted 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 ...

in 1525 with 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 ...

. It was granted to non-German

Protestants 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 ...

with service in the vernacular; services for

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

had started in 1523. Most of the non-Germans were

Masurians The Masurians or Mazurs (; ; Masurian dialects, Masurian: ''Mazurÿ''), historically also known as Prussian Masurians (Polish language, Polish: ''Mazurzy pruscy''), are an ethnic group originating from the region of Masuria, within the Warmian- ...

and

Prussian Lithuanians The Prussian Lithuanians, or Lietuvininkai (singular: ''Lietuvininkas'', plural: ''Lietuvininkai''), are Lithuanians, originally Lithuanian language speakers, who formerly inhabited a territory in northeastern East Prussia called Prussian Lithuan ...

from ducal Prussia, while a minority were religious refugees from the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

and the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

.Gause I, p. 236 The church was renovated or rebuilt anew at a cost of 700

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

. It remained poor, however, not having its own parish or revenue. In 1529

Johannes Wnorowius Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...

(Jan Wnorowski) became the first Polish-speaking preacher at the Steindamm church. Seclucianus (

Jan Seklucjan Jan Seklucjan (born either in 1498 or around 1510, died 1578) (also known as ''Jan from Siekluki'', ''Seclucian'', ''Seclucianus'') was a Polish Lutheran theologian, an activist in the Protestant Reformation in Poland and Ducal Prussia (a Polish ...

) translated the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

into Polish there during the 1540s. Lithuanian-speaking preachers included Bartholomeus Willentius (Wilentis, died 1587) in 1554 and his successor, Johann Bretke. Sharing of the church caused disputes between the Poles and Lithuanians, however, and the pastors could sometimes not hear themselves over the din. After the death of Bretke in 1602, the Poles increased their efforts to control the church. In 1603 the Protestant Lithuanians received St. Elizabeth's Church in Sackheim for themselves, after the Catholic

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

had become interested in the situation. As St. Nicholas' Church in Steindamm had become predominantly Polish, it was nicknamed the ''Polish Church''. The

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

granted a second priest to the church in 1613 because of the size of the congregation. All new Polish-speaking pastors of the church were born in East Prussia and educated in Königsberg; none came from Poland. The church was used for

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

services during the occupation of Königsberg by the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

from 1758 to 1762 during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, after which Lutheran services resumed in Polish.

Otto Nicolai Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (9 June 1810 – 11 May 1849) was a German composer, conductor, and one of the founders of the Vienna Philharmonic. Nicolai is best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare's comedy ''The Merry Wives of Wi ...

was baptized in the church on 21 June 1810. During the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...

in 1812, it was used as a jail and field hospital. Because of declining demand, the church's Polish sermons stopped in 1874, with weekly Polish-language service continuing only for soldiers from

Masuria Masuria ( ; ; ) is an ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship (ad ...

.Gause II, p. 693 In 1880 a new parish for Steindamm separate from that of New Altstadt Church was created from parts of Altstadt,

Löbenicht View of Löbenicht from the Pregel, including its church and gymnasium, as well as the nearby Propsteikirche Löbenicht (; ) was a quarter of central Königsberg, Germany. During the Middle Ages it was the weakest of the three towns that com ...

Tragheim Tragheim was a Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of northern Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of Kaliningrad, Russia. History Tragheim was first documented in 1299, but probably already existed as an Old Prussians, Old Prussian f ...

, and

Neurossgarten Neurossgarten () was a quarter of northwestern Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of Kaliningrad, Russia. History The name ''Neuroßgarten'' means "new horse pasture" in German, with the eastern Königsberg suburb of Rossgarten (o ...

. Polish service for

ceased altogether in 1901 as the Masurian soldiers sufficiently understood German. In 1928 it was cleansed of defective plaster from the Baroque era. Although Steindamm Church survived the 1944

Bombing of Königsberg in World War II The bombing of Königsberg was a series of attacks made on the city of Königsberg in East Prussia during World War II. The Soviet Air Force had made several raids on the city since 1941. Extensive attacks carried out by RAF Bomber Command de ...

, it was destroyed by

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

artillery during the 1945

Battle of Königsberg The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet Union, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3 ...

. The remains were demolished by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

administration in

in 1950 to expand the thoroughfare Leninskiy Prospekt.

Design

By the first quarter of the 14th century, the church consisted of a large single-nave with three vaulted bays and a large wheel window on the southern entrance. Its steeple was built during the 15th century. After collapsing in 1559 without injury, its reconstructed spire was completed in 1710. By the 20th century the choir's three keystones depicted the coat of arms of Altstadt,

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

, and a no longer legible inscription. The church's

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

by Anton Möller in 1586 depicted

Judgement Day The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the ''Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus, Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God in Abrahamic religions, God of a ...

, while its framing was probably designed by Michael Doebel the Elder in 1690. A slender

Salvator Mundi , Latin for Saviour of the World, is a subject in iconography depicting Christ with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand holding an orb (frequently surmounted by a cross), known as a . The latter symbolizes the Earth, and the whol ...

from 1706 was located on the pulpit's wall. The pulpit was decorated in

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style in 1760.Mühlpfordt, p. 144

Gallery

image:SteindammKirche.jpg, Steindamm Church ca. 1908 image:SteindPolnKirche.jpg, Steindamm and its church, ca. 1908 image:Steindammkirche1930.JPG, Steindamm Church ca. 1930 image:Steindammer Kirche 001.jpg, Steindamm Church ca. 1940; a branch of Dresdner Bank AG is visible in the foreground

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{coord, 54, 42, 48, N, 20, 30, 27, E, region:RU-KGD_type:city_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title 1256 establishments in Europe 1945 disestablishments in Germany 13th-century churches in Russia Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II Demolished churches in the Soviet Union Former churches in Königsberg Lutheran churches in Königsberg Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism Churches completed in the 1250s 1950s disestablishments in Russia Places of worship used as prisons