In Berlin-Spandau, the excavators move in – the refuge church in the district of Falkenhagener Feld is demolished. At the end of February 2023, the first work on the basement floor is due to take place, to which the toilets, water and electricity connections will fall victim – to the annoyance of architecture fans who now want to save the ensemble: here is the Tagesspiegel text.
In the spring of 2023 there is talk of “destruction of West Berlin architectural history”. And: The Berlin Chamber of Architects has been protesting “since the summer of 2022 against the destruction of a building that is particularly important for West Berlin architecture”.
Is the protest too late? And what else is planned there?
After years of debate and planning, the old refuge church on Berlin’s Westerwaldplatz, which has been there since 1965 with its 20-meter-high church tower and is considered to be quite draughty, is to be demolished.
It should have started as early as 2022. “The existing buildings (church, chapel, bell tower, offices and community hall) are to be demolished and the property built on with urgently needed social infrastructure facilities,” the plans say. which were presented in the Tagesspiegel in autumn 2021.
The neighborhood in the west of Berlin-Spandau (40,000 inhabitants) is characterized by its large housing estates and is considered to be socially difficult.
A lot of celebrities and the public were there: in 2019, for example, half the Berlin Senate came to look at the problems of the refugee church.
Here is my snapshot of pastor Karsten Dierks and ex-ruler Michael Müller, SPD, in the church – when the decision-makers were informed about the plans and wishes on the church grounds.
The then urban development senator Kathrin Lompscher, left, was there – here in conversation with the governing Müller, next to him district head Helmut Kleebank, SPD. In the background the church tower with the cross
“The place lacks the quality of stay,” the pastor said at the time. Appropriately, at the same time, the craftsmen were making noise in the next room and the TXL planes were booming from above. Please listen to the video in the tweet with sound!
“Unfortunately, we cannot keep the refuge church in the long term because it is in dire need of renovation. As a congregation, we cannot afford two churches and therefore had to sell the building,” said Pastor Axinia Schönfeld at the farewell service from the church. That was in June 2022.
Here is a mini excerpt from the plans for what is planned there for the people in the neighborhood: In the new district center / senior citizens’ club there will be advice, self-help, handicrafts and fitness offers, a low-threshold neighborhood café and event rooms. A day-care center with 120 places is also noted. Last cost plan for the entire project: almost 15 million euros. That’s what the estimate was.
And the well-known “Jugendtheaterwerkstatt” (founded in 1987) should finally find a new home on the site – including an 8 meter high hall – because their cultural building is nearby is a leaky botch building. “The roofs are impervious.” And: “Water is penetrating the interior.” Also: “The wooden windows are in a poor condition.” Also: “The walls are in need of renovation.” Or: “The toilets are from the 70s Years.” Other ideas for saving the youth culture facility had failed.
The demolition of the church was already certain in October 2017. At that time, the pastors had informed the parishioners and residents, as the daily mirror reported.
Because of the declining membership numbers, the Protestant parishes of Jeremiah and Refuge in Falkenhagener Feld would be merged for cost reasons, it was said five years ago. The Jeremiah Church and the Refugee Church on Westerwaldstraße on the other side of Falkenseer Chaussee are only 400 meters apart.
In 2023, after years of planning, the Church of Confidence in Staaken, 3,000 meters away, will also be demolished, where a new neighborhood center will also be built.
The excavators were also supposed to arrive there in 2021, but there were delays. Later, architecture experts worried about the artistic windows of the building: read more here in the Tagesspiegel.
Demolition of the Confidence Church is also approaching in 2023
The church has already expanded the sacred things and sold other building materials. According to the latest plans, the new neighborhood center should be built by 2025, but that will hardly be possible.
The location there, however, remains a church location, unlike at the refuge church. “We remain the owners of the property and the new building. An urgently needed multifunctional meeting place for the people around Brunsbütteler Damm is being created with a district center, family center, daycare center, large hall and a small church room for everyday community life. All of this is financed from church and state funds and operated by the church community, the Heerstraße-Nord community association and the Spandau church district,” said Stefan Pfeiffer from the community church council to the Tagesspiegel. This new construction project will also be a topic in the next Spandau newsletter.
Don’t miss: the Spandau newsletter from the Tagesspiegel
Lots of concrete district politics, neighborhood news, debates, dates, personal tips: once a week we send you the Tagesspiegel newsletter for Berlin-Spandau, which you can order free of charge at tagesspiegel.de/districts. I look forward to meeting you. Here are some of the current topics.
- Alarm in elementary school: Building material fell from the roof, school closed
- Hollywood, tree felling and underground parking: the new residential area in the Wasserstadt for 1000 new neighbors
- What would the newsletter be without its readers!? In an interview today: a Kladower about his favorite places in Spandau
- Plaque for Rabbis: finally repaired
- Gutspark Neukladow: Million expansion begins
- Demolition of the Refuge Church begins
- 30,000 Catholics2 new alliances in Spandau
- With the U7 to Hahneberg? New idea for the old parking lot at the GDR border crossing
- “The three ???” in Spandau: exhibition extended
- Discovered on the banks of the Havel: the telescope with a view of the Grunewald Tower
- Sharp lane: Reactions to the barrier on the cycle path
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