Church of the Redeemer (Jerusalem)

By the Editors of the Madain Project

The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (الكنيسة اللوثرية في القدس‎, German: Erlöserkirche) is the second Protestant church in Jerusalem.

See Subject Home > Middle East > Israel/Palestine > Jerusalem > Church of the Redeemer

Overview

The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer Jerusalem is located on the junction of Shuk Hatsaba'im and Muristan Street, south-east of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Masjid Omar.

Built on land given to King William I of Prussia (after 1870 Kaiser Wilhelm I) on the occasion of the latter's participation at the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869 by Sultan Abdülhamid of the Ottoman Empire, the church was constructed from 1892 to 1898.

Brief History

circa 1100 BCE

Church of the St. Mary of the Latins
First built circa 1070 CE and then rebuilt by the Crusaders about 1150 CE, it became the monastic church of the Hospitallers. The rest of the order’s compound — cloister, dormitories and refectory — stretched to the south of the church, together constituting the Hospitaller’s headquarters in the Holy Land until the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 CE.

In the post-Crusader period this church slowly fell into ruin, but this 1865 photograph shows some of its walls and apses still standing to a considerable height. It was this church, the medieval Saint Mary of the Latins, that the Prussians (later Germans) sought to recreate with the building of the Redeemer Church.

Architecture

circa 1900 BCE

Interior
The current Church of the Redeemer was indeed built on exactly the same spot, but with new foundations going down to bedrock (11 meters beneath the Crusader church) and its floor level standing 2 meters higher than the medieval floor.

Archaeological Excavations

circa 10 BCE

Through the Centuries Exhibition (Durch die Zeiten)
The archaeological excavations, conducted by Conrad Schick and Ute Wagner-Lux (the former director of German Protestant Institute of Archaeology in the Holy Land (GPIA)) in 1893 CE, and then Karl Vriezen from 1970 to 1974, have been prepared by the (GPIA) in 2009–2012 to present to visitors the different stages of development and building of Jerusalem.

Gallery

See Also

References

Let's bring some history to your inbox

Signup for our monthly newsletter / online magazine.
No spam, we promise.

Privacy Policy



Top