Old Evangelical-Augsburg Church of the Good Shepherd (Ger. Kirche des Guten Hirten)

Historical Monuments

Objektbeschreibung

The old Evangelical-Augsburg Church of the Good Shepherd is Guben’s flag building with elements of the Neo-Romanesque style, early neo-gothic, secession, and the German reform architecture (Ger. Reformarchitektur). It is a one-hall church on an irregular plan, covered with a two-and-a-half-span rib vault. The building consists of several vertically shifted buildings elements, partially closed with a gable roof and partially with a hip roof. The intricate interior has been preserved almost in its entirety. They consist of a wooden pulpit, a baptismal font with brass inserts, an altar, three large stained-glass windows by artist Werner Juza from 1983, a painting of the Good Shepherd by historian Paul Thumann, a wooden choir on strong pillars with organs from the Sauer company.

Historical background

The Church of the Good Shepherd was commissioned by the hat maker and city councilor Friedrich Wilke in memory of his deceased son. For the design work, he employed a pair of Berlin architects Alfred Grenander and Otto Spalding, who were already known to Wilke from cooperation on Naemi-Wilke-Stift hospital and Max Wilke's villa. The building with the surrounding landscape architecture was built in the years 1900-1903. Wilke himself was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran congregation of the Good Shepherd in Guben, established in 1836. The construction of the church he funded meant a lot to the community as for the first time the 200.member community had its own temple.
Although the church survived World War II, it was heavily destroyed during that time - it was only in the 1970s that its comprehensive renovation was possible. During the revitalization and conservation works, which took place in the years 1980-1983, the interior of the church was redesigned and supplemented, among others, by for the colorful stained-glass windows crafted by artist Werner Juza.