Martin Luther Church: A reopening with a "miracle of tiles"

Created: 11/29/2022, 10:02 am

The sanctuary with baptismal font, altar and pulpit, where the gray and blue of the first hour shines again.

© Alfred Schubert

The renovation of the Martin Luther Church of the Protestant community in Penzberg is – almost – complete.

Regional Bishop Christian Kopp came to celebrate the reopening on the first Sunday in Advent.

Penzberg – After a year outdoors, at Gut Hub and in other alternative quarters, the evangelical Christians now have their own church that can be used fully again.

The refurbishment is so far complete that services can be celebrated in the Martin Luther Church again without restrictions.

All that is missing is the cladding of the base, which has been postponed to next year due to the uncertain weather, and the setting of the tower clock.

Regional bishop: "Door and gate are open again"

"Door and gate are open again," said the regional bishop of Munich and Upper Bavaria, Christian Kopp, in his sermon on the reopening.

It is a reason for joy, despite all the problems that are currently there: "There is only peace without weapons," says Kopp.

Everyone should be happy, even the grumblers.

You can't smile away at problems, but they don't always have to "sit around in the living room"; they could also be put in the basement.

Small side door for latecomers

With "door and gate" the bishop referred to the large church portal in the middle and the small door on the side, which has been reopened in the course of the renovation.

The little door was always there, but had been closed during the previous renovation in the 1970s and filled with a shelf.

According to Pastor Julian Lademann, the door definitely has its function.

Latecomers would have a discreet opportunity to enter the church, since they would not have to open the clearly visible large portal.

The church had already been renovated almost 50 years ago - and was then green

After minor renovations in the 1920s and after the war, the church was extensively renovated almost fifty years ago.

According to Lademann, she also got the dark green.

Not only the pews, but everything in the sanctuary was painted green.

In the course of the renovation, the pulpit and altar were restored to their original blue and grey, which was still present under the pulpit.

A few benches were removed, the remaining ones shortened by a seat, creating a passageway along the walls.

According to Lademann, around 30 seats have been omitted, which is not a problem for normal church visits.

There wasn't enough seating at Christmas either, but now there's a lot more standing room.

Once people saved on tiles - a "tile miracle" helped now

With the dismantling of the benches, the wooden floor was also dismantled.

According to Lademann, a problem arose.

When the church was built in 1904, the congregation had to be economical with the material and therefore did not use tiles under the wooden floor.

The pastor describes it as a “miracle of tiles” that the manufacturing company could be located and there was a remaining 19 square meters of tiles from back then, which was sufficient to close the gaps.

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Thomas Dokter from the church council found the renovation "very successful".

His colleague Margot Süskind agreed and said that now only a place for the Easter candle had to be found.

Crack above the altar is closed again

Herbert and Elsa Elser also felt that their church now looks "very nice" again.

"And when the heating works again, I'll be happy," said Elsa Elser.

However, according to Lademann, the heating has to be economical, as the old heating was most likely responsible for the cracking above the chancel.

The crack is now closed and the churchgoers are heated with an electric heater under the pews.

In addition, the seats have received a felt pad.

Text: Alfred Schubert