Lutheran Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

The Lutheran Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul ( or in German: Lutherische Kirche der Heiligen Peter und Paul, also known as Petrikirche) is a Lutheran church in the center of St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospekt. Services are held in German and Russian. The rector of the parish is also the head of the North-West Probate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the European Part of Russia. Also in the church building is the office of the Archbishop of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

It is one of the oldest and largest Protestant churches in Russia. It is called the German church as its members were mostly German-speaking.

History of the building Beginning of existence By decree of 26 December 1727, Emperor Peter II allocated land to the German Lutheran community in a deserted area near a large promising road between the current Bolshaya and Malaya Konyushennaya streets. The site was donated 'for the construction of an evangelical church, a school and a parsonage'.Немцы в истории России: Документы высших органов власти и военного командования. 1652—1917 / Сост. В. Ф. Дизендорф — М., 2006. С. 21. The church building was founded on 29 June 1728, the day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.Die St. Petri-Gemeinde. I. Die Kirche. Стб. 19. On 25 June 1730, on the day of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, the church was solemnly consecrated in the name of the apostles Peter and Paul (later the name St. Peter was more often used in documents and everyday life).Евангелическо-лютеранская церковь Св. Петра и Павла в С.-Петербурге. С. 18. См. также: Архитектурные чертежи и планы Санкт-Петербурга (1730-е-1740-е гг.) из коллекции Фридриха Вильгельма Берхгольца. Шведский национальный музей изобразительного искусства: Комментарии. А. Ю. Краснолуцкий. СПб.: «КРИГА», 2017. С. 438. Stylistically, the new church building belonged to the examples of Petrine Baroque architecture characteristic of St. Petersburg in the first third of the 18th century. The building was made of brick, had a wooden turret and could accommodate 1,500 people (about a thousand below and five hundred in the choir).

The Baroque altar was decorated with a gilded sculpture and four paintings: 'The Last Supper', 'The Transfiguration of the Lord', 'The Resurrection of Christ' and 'Jesus with Thomas the Unbeliever' ("The Appearance of Christ to Thomas and Other Disciples'). The latter work has traditionally been attributed to the 16th-century German artist Hans Holbein the Younger.Die St. Petri-Gemeinde. I. Die Kirche. Стб. 44—45; Евангелическо-лютеранская церковь Св. Петра и Павла в С.-Петербурге. С. 20. The church interior also contained paintings depicting the apostles, made by the St. Petersburg Swiss painter Georg Gsell.Кириков Б. М. Золотой треугольник Петербурга. М., СПб.:, 2017. С. 177. См. также: On 27 December 1737, the solemn consecration of the organ, made by the master I. G. Joachim from Mitava, took place. The temple received its final internal and external decoration in 1738, ten years after its foundation.

In 1735, two wooden houses were built in front of the church building,Die St. Petri-Gemeinde. I. Die Kirche. Стб. 22—23; Евангелическо-лютеранская церковь Св. Петра и Павла в С.-Петербурге. С. 20. where the apartments of church ministers and the school were located. In 1740, by order of the 'Commission on St. Petersburg Buildings', all wooden buildings facing Nevsky Prospekt, the main street of the city, were demolished, including two houses that belonged to the Church of St. Peter. In their place, between 1747 and 1752, new stone buildings were built according to the design of the architect I. G. Kempf.Кириков Б. М. Золотой треугольник Петербурга. М., СПб.:, 2017. С. 211.

In 1762, on a plot belonging to the Lutheran community, behind the church, a two-story building of the Lutheran school Petrishule was built, which subsequently went through many reconstructions, but has survived to this day.

Architect A. P. Bryullov and the new church building

At the beginning of 1832, when the church building fell into disrepair, the community announced a competition to create a design for a new church. The best of the sevenЕвангелическо-лютеранская церковь Св. Петра и Павла в С.-Петербурге. С. 28. См. также: Die St. Petri-Gemeinde. I. Die Kirche. Стб. 53. works presented was the project of Alexander Bryullov, brother of the artist Karl Bryullov. In his project, the architect used motifs of Romanesque architecture in combination with techniques of Russian classicism.Пунин А. Л. Архитектура Петербурга середины и второй половины XIX века. Т. 1. 1830—1860-е годы. Ранняя эклектика. СПб.: Крига, 2009. С. 115.

In 1830–1832, the architect E. T. Zollikofer rebuilt both corner houses that belonged to the community. In place of the old buildings, three-story stone houses in the style of classicism appeared (later built on).

The old church building was demolished in the summer of 1833, and on 21 August the foundation stone for a new one took place.Die St. Petri-Gemeinde. I. Die Kirche. Стб. 54. The construction of the temple was basically completed in three years. Finishing work was carried out in 1836–1838.

The elder of the church, watchmaker Johann August Ditmar, made a solar clock for the western (left) tower and a mechanical striking clock for the eastern (right).К настоящему времени от механизма часов Дитмара сохранилось лишь два колокола в восточной башне (шесть колоколов утрачено). Именно эти колокола звучат каждое воскресенье перед началом богослужений, хотя исторически не были для этого предназначены. Большие колокола в западной башне, установленные в 1863 году, законсервированы. The copper dials of both watches were made by bronze craftsman Tegelstein. The boards themselves were painted black, and the numbers, hands and bronze decorations were gilded. The striking clock mechanism was mounted in a special glazed ash display case and was preserved until the mid-20th century.

In front of the church, marble figures of the apostles Peter and Paul were installed - copies of sculptures by the famous Danish and Icelandic sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, created by the Italian master Triscorni. Four high reliefs with images of the evangelists, made from cement mass by the sculptor T. N. Jacques, were placed on the arcades of the loggia. The sculptural decoration of the front facade was completed by the figure of a kneeling angel with a cross, placed above the attic between the towers. The sculpture was carved from sandstone by sculptor I. German.

The altar of the church was decorated with a large painting by Karl Bryullov depicting the crucifixion. At the bottom of the altar there was a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger "Jesus with Doubting Thomas" (the only painting taken from the altar of the previous church), and on both sides there were round images of Saints Peter and Paul, also the creations of Bryullov.Die St. Petri-Gemeinde. I. Die Kirche. Стб. 60. В настоящее время эти медальоны находятся в собрании Ростовского областного музея изобразительных искусств () и Новосибирского государственного художественного музея (). См. также: Куликова С. М. Лютеранская церковь Св. апостолов Петра и Павла в Петербурге // Россия – Германия. Пространство общения. Материалы X Царскосельской научной конференции. СПб., 2004. С. 269. The painter I. Drollinger painted the walls. The sculptor P. Cretan was responsible for the carvings, creating the wooden frame of the altar painting and the preaching pulpit. The pulpit was carved from oak and shaped like an octagonal open box supported by the figures of the four evangelists.Подробнее о скульпторе Пьере Кретане и истории создания кафедры см.: Проповеднические кафедры в Петрикирхе // / Отв. ред. А.И. Чепель. СПб., 2019. С. 59—69.

On the day of the Reformation, 31 October 1838, the new church was consecrated.

In 1840, a large organ from the Walcker company (Ludwigsburg, Kingdom of Württemberg) was installed in the temple. In 1851, oak doors were installed in the central portal, and the open porch became a vestibule.Первоначально центральный портал церкви не имел дверного заполнения. С улицы прихожане попадали в открытый вестибюль и затем проходили в церковный зал через тяжелые дубовые двери с резными фигурами апостолов Петра и Павла. В 1904 году эти двери были подарены немецкому приходу в Лахте (см.: Die St. Petri-Gemeinde. I. Die Kirche. Стб. 60). The carved doors were made according to the drawings of the architect Y.K. Hofer (or G.A. Bosse).Кириков Б. М. Золотой треугольник Петербурга. М., СПб.:, 2017. С. 190. К вопросу об авторстве дверей см. также: История одной двери. О портале Петрикирхе на Невском проспекте // СПб., 2019. С. 37—54.

In 1863, bells made in Bochum (Westphalia) appeared in the western tower of the church.

In 1864, 2 stained glass windows based on the famous works of Albrecht Dürer "St. Peter and St. John" and "St. Mark and St. Paul". Originally, stained glass windows were located on either side of the organ. Later, in 1866, at the request of the donors, they were moved downstairs, decorating the two windows closest to the main entrance. Stained glass windows "Moses in the Desert with the Serpent" and "Jesus on the Mount of Olives" appeared in the vacant places near the organ. In the same 1866, the church received another stained glass window as a gift, this time on the subject of "Jesus Preaching to the Disciples." This stained glass window occupied the middle part of the side arched window opening on the side of the pulpit. Finally, in 1871, a stained glass window with the image of the Holy Family and a shepherd kneeling before Christ appeared opposite.Иванов Е. Ю., Севастьянов К. К. Витражи Петрикирхе. Der Bote/Вестник. 1999. №3. С. 18—19.

Reconstructions of the 1880–1890s

Meanwhile, the church building fell into disrepair, as the soil was too soft and the difference in pressure on it led to settlement of the walls and the appearance of cracks in them. In 1881, the church council turned to Professor Rudolf Bernhard, a well-known expert in church building technology, for help. He was one of the first to develop a method for mathematically calculating the stability of church buildings. In the summer of 1883, Bernhard partially corrected the situation with the help of steel ties (which are still clearly visible in the building's interior), and over time the condition of the structure stabilized. During this same period, the wooden roof rafters were replaced with metal trusses.Кириков Б. М. Золотой треугольник Петербурга. М., СПб.:, 2017. С. 192.

In 1895–1897, the interior of the church was radically changed according to the design of Professor Maximilian Messmacher, the largest architect of the late 19th century, a leading representative of late historicism architecture. Messmacher saw the goal of the reconstruction in bringing the interior elements to a certain stylistic unity ('... the interior of the church should have been decorated more uniformly, while Renaissance and Greek motifs should have received free and equal expression').Евангелическо-лютеранская церковь Св. Петра и Павла в С.-Петербурге. С. 60. According to Messmacher's design, a new painting of the walls and vaults was created: all the architectural elements of the interior were divided into separate geometrically regular sections - panels and were maximally saturated with decor. In addition, two side entrances were installed on the sides of the main entrance to the church hall, electric lighting was installed, instead of cast iron fences, carved oak fences appeared on all tiers of galleries, and the organ choir was expanded.