St. Peter and Paul Church

The church St. Peter und Paul in Weimar, also known as Herderkirche after Johann Gottfried Herder, is the most important church building of the town. The first church was built on the same location from 1245 to 1249, but destroyed by fire in 1299. Only the foundations remain. The second building was badly damaged in the 1424 town fire. The present building dates back to the a hall church in late Gothic style, built between 1498 and 1500. The choir served as the burial place of members of nobility of the House of Wettin in the Ernestine duchies. The church has been Lutheran since 1525, and Martin Luther gave sermons there.

Towards the end of the Second World War, the church was severely damaged by bombing on 9 February 1945. The pitched roof and the wooden vaults were largely destroyed, the remaining stone vaults in the eastern portions collapsed. The entire interior was badly affected. The church was opened again after reconstruction on 14 June 1953. The repair and restoration of the interior was performed until 1977. The church is part of the World Heritage Site Classical Weimar, together with eleven other sites.

Not much is left of the original Gothic interior, the baptismal font, the stairs to the pulpit and parts of a mural of St. Ursula. The remarkable triptych image of the city was begun by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1552/53, shortly before his death, and completed in 1555 by his son Lucas Cranach the Younger. It is regarded as a major work of art of the 16th century in Saxony and Thuringia.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Herderplatz 10, Weimar, Germany

Details

Founded: 1498-1500
Category: Religious sites in Germany
Historical period: Habsburg Dynasty (Germany)