2000 churches

The church has been and still is the center of a village, but the social role of the church has been changing for a long time. In Thuringia, 99 percent of the approximately 2,000 Protestant church buildings are listed as historical monuments. They represent a special cultural and local value, but are also a particular challenge simply due to their number.

Not only is maintenance expensive, but churches are no longer regularly used everywhere. Due to low and shrinking membership numbers, church communities often cannot maintain their treasures. The result is the loss of important meeting places for the community.

Therefore, in 2014, the Evangelical Church in Central Germany (EKM) applied for the first open call for projects ›Zukunft StadtLand!‹ of the IBA Thuringia. This was a framework that was exactly right for their burning questions. They developed the theme ›Aufgabe, Abgabe, Wandel? Perspektiven für kirchliche Gebäude in Thüringen‹ and became one of the first IBA project sponsors.

After an intensive preparation phase with experts from all over Germany, the EKM, in cooperation with the IBA Thuringia, published an open call for ideas in 2016: StadtLand:Kirche. Future-oriented ideas for the use of church buildings were sought from all sections of the population, not just from people of the Christian faith. The results were exhibited in 2017 at the Kaufmannskirche Erfurt. At the vernissage on May 13, 2017, visitors were able to explore hundreds of ideas for dealing with church buildings themselves. The idea videos submitted in the call were played on the monitors. 

Seven model projects emerged from the call: The "MA" Martinskirche in Apolda is being transformed into a socio-cultural meeting point. The four HER(R)BERGSKIRCHEN in the Thuringian Forest are successfully rented out online as hostels along the Rennsteig and serve as places of encounter. The Fire Organ Chapel in Krobitz has been converted into an art chapel with a gas-powered organ. The Bee-Garden Church of St. Peter and Paul in Roldisleben, a meditative playground in the Church of St. Nicolai in Niedergebra, the Network Church of St. Johannis in Ellrich, and the Health Church of St. Severi in Blankenhain are also model churches that are currently in process.

The seven churches demonstrate how a hybrid, public use of these often heritage-protected sacred spaces is possible. The repurposing of the churches leads to a changed attitude within the church communities. The sense of community is strengthened as the church transitions from being for the people to being with the people. To inspire other church communities, the EKM launched the website kirchen-aufgeschlossen.de. Here, the IBA projects and other model churches from across Central Germany can be found.