German Lutheran Church Consecrated in Kyiv

In late October an important and happy event took place in the life of the Kyiv community of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church, the consecration of St. Catherine’s Church (Katharinenkirche).

After blessing the bells, giving the keys to the congregation, and the church members and numerous guests solemnly entering the house of God, the altar was sanctified, as well as the Chair, the baptismal bowl, and a short time later also the organ in the choir. Magnificent chorales resounded, altar windows with sacred images gleamed in the rays of the sun generous on that day, and the faces of the faithful radiated happiness.

The temporal apogee of consecration was preceded by the long dramatic history of the church closely connected with no less dramatic history of the Germans in Ukraine. The first Lutheran Church in Kyiv was founded in 1767; sermons were held then at the house of chemist Friedrich Bunge in Podil (today this is the small Museum of Old Pharmacy near the Church of St. Nicholas). In the early nineteenth century the community of Germans in Kyiv bought for 175 rubles a plot of land in Lypky on a steep hill then completely uninhabited. At that place, which Kyivans henceforth called the Lutheran or German hill, a German spiritual center took shape in the nineteenth century that enjoyed outstanding respect in the city. Three-storied building of a gymnasium, poorhouse, parsonage, and the beautiful stone Church of St. Catherine designed by famous architect Strom were consecrated in 1857. That was this very building that we see today on vulytsia Luteranska (Lutheran Street). It is interesting that before World War I of 250,000 city residents 13,000 were German Lutherans (today only 300 remain).

The development, freedom and flourishing of the Evangelical Lutherans in Ukraine ended in 1919 after the Bolsheviks seized power in Kyiv. In that very 1919 the Ukrainian Soviet government issued its decree on the Separation of the Church from State, which signaled the beginning of total persecution of the church and its adherents. No exclusion was either for the German Evangelical Lutheran Church and its parish, the more that they as a rule belonged to the intelligentsia or were well-to-do farmers. The clergy suffered first, the pastors enduring exile, prison, and the camps, often without any court or investigation. In 1937 the last nine Evangelical Lutheran pastors were detained, and in 1938 the Lutheran synod decided to “voluntarily” dissolve the Kyiv congregation. Ahead lay the deportation of 1941, postwar persecution, and Khrushchev’s atheism campaign.

In 1938 the church was closed by the decision of Kyiv City Council, and it turned out to be for nearly sixty years. A worthwhile application was found for the beautiful house of God. At first a club for the League of the Godless, then a place for meetings, then it became a warehouse storing fuel and lubricants belonging to the Ministry of Culture (!), and in 1973 it became home of the State Museum of Folk Architecture and Everyday Life of the Ukrainian SSR. From the start the building was reconstructed in accordance with the popular Soviet style: the noble internal space filled with air and light was cut by horizontal and vertical directions into the miserable cells, most of which did not have windows and therefore were not appropriate either for expositions or offices. (This is the same way St. Alexander’s Cathedral was destroyed, as were a number of other beautiful old buildings — high halls were covered with ceilings, Italian windows bricked up, portal doors with lunettes or tympanums were cut with narrow and low holes, which a person could get through only by bending over.)

The Kyiv community of German Lutherans was revived in the early 1990s under the 1991 law On the Freedom of Conscience. The congregation was graciously given the chance to hold services at one of the catacomb premises of the State Museum of the Folk Architecture and Ethnography, for which purpose it was necessary each time to ask for permission, each time to bring in the chairs, books, candles etc. In addition, years of struggle began return of the church building, although the law mentioned provided for the order of returning churches their property. There exists the documentary chronology of this struggle initiated by pastor Achim Reis and continued by pastor Herald Koch; one of the most active participants in this epic was Mrs. Tetiana Terioshyna, a member of the community since 1991. The community’s efforts are reflected in voluminous folders of documents and correspondence with the government, whose attention to the problem quickened mainly before the visits of German officials. As a rule the latter tried to help Kyiv’s Germans get back their church. Thus this issue was touched upon by Chancellor Helmut Kohl in his conversation with President Kravchuk during his 1993 visit. And finally in 1998 the long-expected event took place: Oleksandr Omelchenko transferred to the German Evangelical Lutheran Community their old building under conditions of unlimited and free use. At that time the mayor said that “despite all economic hardships we have found the possibility for Kyiv’s national minorities to be able to satisfy their cultural, educational, and religious needs.” More time passed before the Museum of Folk Architecture and Ethnography could leave the church, after which its active restoration finally began. All the work has been done by the Arkus Ukrainian-German Joint Venture under the management of architect Yuri Doroshenko. Financial Assistance was provided by the German government and above all by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria. Also two bells have been brought from Germany, as well as the organ and altar crucifix. Thus the Kyiv German church has risen from the ashes to which it was reduced by Soviet Militant Atheists and now has a sunny spacious hall for services, with comfortable and beautiful pews along with premises for parish meetings and choir rehearsals.

Many guests came to the consecration: The Rev. Dr. Edmund Raz, Bishop of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine, famous political figures, government officials, scholars, managers from the Museum of Folk Architecture and Everyday Life (they presented the Church of St. Catherine a nineteenth century Orthodox icon of the Holy Virgin, which was accepted with great reverence), Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Germany in Ukraine Dr. Dietmar StЯdemann, former ambassadors Drs. Arno and Heiken, who in their day actively assisted to the parish of St. Catherine. Present also were the American, British, and Norwegian ambassadors. The ceremony was attended by the representatives of other Christian churches, most prominently the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic. Greetings were also read from the Presidents of Ukraine and Germany. Roman Catholic Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk in his speech emphasized that Catholics are sincerely happy to see the return of the church building to the Lutheran community; they are happy to see the resolution of a problem common for all the churches in Ukraine. Hierarch Vasyl Zayev (Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate) also spoke well, “We, Orthodox and Lutherans, have different histories, different traditions, but we are united by something more important, our love of Christ.”

Upon completion of the consecration ceremony Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anatoly Zlenko agreed to share his impressions with our readers: “I am glad to have seen what happened here today, in particular due to the fact that I myself was connected with the lengthy and far from simple process of returning the church to the Lutheran community. I am happy to see here the German ambassadors with whom we worked jointly to influence the course of restitution. I consider this event as one more indication of the fact that Ukraine stands firmly for the principles and the freedom of conscience and freedom of religion for all who live here, whatever is said about us and where. And look, a small community, but how many people came to greet it; the President of Ukraine also sent his greetings. This is not an isolated case in Kyiv: not long ago the Jewish community was returned the Brodsky Synagogue, the Muslims are building a mosque for themselves: so far we have not managed only to find a decent place of worship for the Greek Catholics in the capital. I would like to draw your attention to one circumstance: The German community today had its sermon in German and Ukrainian, the Catholics were also spoke in Ukrainian, while the representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate did so in Russian. This is unbelievable!”

Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, Nuncio of the Holy See in Ukraine, also expressed his idea: “Our relations with Lutheran churches have considerably improved after this year the Augsburg Agreement was signed concerning a complex problem of dogma that has divided the Catholic and the Protestant churches for centuries. The issue here is divine grace, that is, whether personal salvation comes through faith alone or that “faith is dead without deeds.” This is why I took special satisfaction in greeting Kyiv’s Lutherans in the restoration of their normal church life.”

During the divine service in the renovated church, Bach’s music was played. As we know, Bach was a Lutheran and wrote his music for German Protestant churches. Gradually, however, this music has become global and belongs today to all people, irrespective of their creed, nationality, or generation. Is this not an ethereal omen of what has and must be?