The crib miracle from Ammersee: Wave of solidarity after a devastating fire in Utting

Created: 12/24/2021, 08:20 AM

From: Johannes Welte

The burned down wooden church of the Protestant community in Utting in summer.

© Utting fire department

It was a catastrophe that struck the Protestant parish in Utting am Ammersee on August 25th: In the middle of the night, their wooden church, built in 1927, burned down.

Utting - A charred nativity scene survived the fire in the wooden building, the straw was only singed - it is a small miracle and a sign of hope for the 4400 believers in the Protestant community on the west bank of the Ammersee. Pastor Alexandra Eberhardt (49) surprised the believers at the Advent service in the Catholic community center in Utting, where the homeless Protestants were given asylum.

It happened four months ago: “At first it was shocking,” the pastor remembers the summer day when she and her husband Jochen (55) - also a pastor - broke off their vacation in Italy and hurried home.

"At first we only worked," said the pastor.

A farewell service was held by the church in the ruins.

“That was balm for the soul,” the pastor remembers the moment of mutual mourning.

"At the same time, on the day of the fire, we left no doubt that we would rebuild the church, this perspective has helped us a lot," said the pastor.

Utting and the burned church: cause of fire still not determined

Since then, the community has experienced a wave of solidarity from the people on the Ammerseewestufer.

A great consolation for the pastor couple: "That saved my husband and I from falling into depression," recalls the clergyman.

How the fire started is still unclear *: "It could have been a technical defect, but negligent arson from outside is also an option." There have been reports that howling drunks rioted through Utting during the night of the fire.

The first services took place outdoors next to the church, later they found shelter with the Uttingen Catholics.

But it should go back to its own church as soon as possible, the planning for the new building is in full swing, the architects Lüps & Lüps from Schondorf have a new church, which is not a copy of the burned down church, but should remind of it.

Wolf-Eckart Lüps was responsible for the renovation and general renovation of the church in 1988.

“We will reuse the bell tower from the old church,” reveals the pastor.

In addition, the front door of the old church, which survived the fire, is to be recycled.

Alexandra Eberhardt shows the charred crib © Ralf Ruder

Church in Utting destroyed after fire: huge wave of helpfulness the result

But the Protestants from Ammersee still have one problem: Even if the fire protection insurance pays, the construction costs are not covered: “The new building has to meet completely different requirements than the old building, for example in terms of energy management,” explains the clergyman. In order to be able to cope with the additional costs, many helpers have collected donations with imaginative campaigns:

Peter Bauer from Uttingen, Germany, saved 30 kilos of pewter from the melted organ pipes that he poured into miniature Christ churches. These were sold for 100 euros each. 80 of 100 had already been sold at the beginning of December, so Bauer was considering a new edition. The Rotary Club Ammersee-Römerstraße sold charity postcards with a watercolor by the artist Claudia Mann, which shows the Christ Church in Advent, benefit concerts are held again and again, and a charity run by the local sports club is planned for April next year.

On Christmas Eve the parish celebrates devotions with nativity play pantomime, Christmas vespers and Christmas mass on the church meadow with lanterns and torches, some is broadcast in the live stream (evangelisch-am-ammersee.de, here also information about the church services).

Eberhardt: "Due to the corona pandemic *, we have to celebrate most of the time outdoors, because of the fire we are used to it." This should not detract from contemplation: "We are very confident that we will celebrate Christmas very beautifully and in an inspiring way can. “