DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55691#0243
Архитектура католических храмов Калининградской области
239
Irina Belintseva
Architecture of the 19th-20th-century Catholic churches
in the Kaliningrad oblast' (a former North-Eastern part
of East Prussia)
The churches have been constructed on the territory of the Kaliningrad oblast’ (the Northern part of
the former East Prussia) for over 700 years. During the Middle Ages, numerous churches were built,
which, after the adoption of the teachings of M. Luther in the Duchy of Prussia, were adapted for Prot-
estant worship. Compared with Lutheran and Calvinistic ecclesiastical buildings, the churches where
the Catholic services were held were relatively scarce in the 16th - the lst half of the 20th centuries. The
oldest Catholic church of St. Nicholas in Kónigsberg (now Kaliningrad) no longer exists. Since the 16th
century, the Catholic churches have been extremely rarely erected, e.g. the Baroque church of St. John the
Baptist (architect Johann Samuel Lilienthal, 1765-1776, extinct). The Rococo, an architectural style of
the 18th century, was represented in the East Prussian Tilsit (modern Sovetsk) in the shape of the Lithu-
anian church (Litauische Kirche, later also - Landkirche, Christuskirche, architect Karl Ludwig Bergius,
1756-1763, destroyed) that initially might have been planned as a Catholic church.
The initiative to create in the late 19th - early 20th centuries the new Catholic churches belonged to the
well-known local architect Fritz Heitmann, who designed the Neo-Gothic-style St. Adalberts Catholic
chapel (1902-1903), the Church of the Holy Family (1904-1907, both in Kaliningrad), as well as the
Church of St. Bruno of Querfurt (1902-1904) in Insterburg (now Chernyakhovsk), which, sińce 1990,
has been serving Catholics again (preserved).
The St Josephs Church, founded in 1931 by the architect Georg Schónweiler, partially survived in
Kaliningrad. In 1930-1931 in the resort of Svetlogorsk (then Rauschen), a half-timbered chapel was built
dedicated to St. Mary Star of the Sea. The restored building now houses the organ hall. The architectural
appearance of the few Catholic churches, erected after the Middle Ages, followed the leading artistic
trends of its time, at the same timc being distinguished by the traditional planning and volume-spatial
Solutions.
239
Irina Belintseva
Architecture of the 19th-20th-century Catholic churches
in the Kaliningrad oblast' (a former North-Eastern part
of East Prussia)
The churches have been constructed on the territory of the Kaliningrad oblast’ (the Northern part of
the former East Prussia) for over 700 years. During the Middle Ages, numerous churches were built,
which, after the adoption of the teachings of M. Luther in the Duchy of Prussia, were adapted for Prot-
estant worship. Compared with Lutheran and Calvinistic ecclesiastical buildings, the churches where
the Catholic services were held were relatively scarce in the 16th - the lst half of the 20th centuries. The
oldest Catholic church of St. Nicholas in Kónigsberg (now Kaliningrad) no longer exists. Since the 16th
century, the Catholic churches have been extremely rarely erected, e.g. the Baroque church of St. John the
Baptist (architect Johann Samuel Lilienthal, 1765-1776, extinct). The Rococo, an architectural style of
the 18th century, was represented in the East Prussian Tilsit (modern Sovetsk) in the shape of the Lithu-
anian church (Litauische Kirche, later also - Landkirche, Christuskirche, architect Karl Ludwig Bergius,
1756-1763, destroyed) that initially might have been planned as a Catholic church.
The initiative to create in the late 19th - early 20th centuries the new Catholic churches belonged to the
well-known local architect Fritz Heitmann, who designed the Neo-Gothic-style St. Adalberts Catholic
chapel (1902-1903), the Church of the Holy Family (1904-1907, both in Kaliningrad), as well as the
Church of St. Bruno of Querfurt (1902-1904) in Insterburg (now Chernyakhovsk), which, sińce 1990,
has been serving Catholics again (preserved).
The St Josephs Church, founded in 1931 by the architect Georg Schónweiler, partially survived in
Kaliningrad. In 1930-1931 in the resort of Svetlogorsk (then Rauschen), a half-timbered chapel was built
dedicated to St. Mary Star of the Sea. The restored building now houses the organ hall. The architectural
appearance of the few Catholic churches, erected after the Middle Ages, followed the leading artistic
trends of its time, at the same timc being distinguished by the traditional planning and volume-spatial
Solutions.