Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Friedenskirche (German Lutheran Church) Johannesburg, Gauteng Theophile SCHAERER: Architect Elly HOLM: Artist

Date: 1912 Type: Lutheran Church Status: Extant Street: Twist Street   Click to view map Coordinates: 26°11'32.98" S 28°02'50.75" E Alt: 1777m

(Afr Archt Aug 1912: xviii; The Star 19 Nov 1984) Built for the Lutheran community. For some history of the church visit Evangelical Lutheran Church website. The church is still used for weekly services in English and German, even though the congregation is much smaller now than in the past. The above links and information was sent to us by Joachim Schubert. (September 2011) Elly HOLM did extensive work at the Friedenskirche in the 1960's. Her stained glass windows are particularly noteworthy as is the large esgraffico work in the transept and the painting of the dome in the east entrance. _____________________________ A short history by Konrad Voges, March 2017: The second church of the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, Johannesburg was built in 1912. The building was designed by the architect Theophile Schaerer in the Neo-Romanesque style, with details of other periods added. The building originally was to be erected entirely in sandstone. Financial considerations changed that to sandstone for the main features and Tyrolean plaster to the brick panels in between. In 1958 the building received a major overhaul including some alterations. Subsequently the multi-talented artist Elly Holm designed and installed stained glass panels to the ten windows along the aisles depicting biblical scenes. Early this century much needed repairs were effected which included redoing the roof coverings and replacing weathered sandstone. In addition the tower's plaster was redone [with disastrous effect though]. The church, nowadays, is over-shadowed by high-rise flat buildings yet it remains a striking feature in the townscape. _____________________________ Transcription of Blue Plaque: JOHANNESBURG CITY HERITAGE FRIEDENSKIRCHE LUTHERAN CHURCH The Friedenskirche ("Church of Peace") dates from 1912, built to house a German congregation formed in Johannesburg in 1888. Designed by Theodore Schaerer and built of the stone from the ridge on which it rises, the Church remains an important landmark. Its distinctive Bavarian bell-tower was familiar to the German immigrants, many of them living in cosmopolitan Hillbrow. The site was declared a National Monument in 1986. The Heritage Portal. _____________________________ Related buildings: Deutsche Schule - German School Deutsche Friedenskirche, Parsonage - First Deutsche Friedenskirche, Parsonage - Second Books that reference Friedenskirche (German Lutheran Church) Chipkin, Clive M. 1993. Johannesburg Style - Architecture & Society 1880s - 1960s. Cape Town: David Phillip. pg 50