Thüringen, 2.000 Kirchen

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.

Seven model projects emerged from the call: The ›MA‹ Martinskirche Apolda will become its own IBA project as a sociocultural meeting place. The four HER(R)BERGSKIRCHEN Thüringer Wald will be successfully rented out online as IBA project family hostels on the Rennsteig and are places of encounter. The Feuerorgel Kapelle Krobitz was transformed into an art chapel with a gas-powered organ in 2017 - and the first completed IBA project.

The Bienen-Garten-Kirche St. Peter and Paul in Roldisleben, a meditative playground in the Kirche St. Nicolai in Niedergebra, the Netzwerkkirche St. Johannis in Ellrich, and the Gesundheitskirche St. Severi in Blankenhain are also model churches that are in the process of being developed.

These seven churches demonstrate how a hybrid, public use of mostly listed sacred spaces is possible. The church conversions lead to a changed attitude of the church communities. The sense of community is strengthened by making a church for the people into a church with the people. To inspire other church communities, the EKM has launched the website kirchen-aufgeschlossen.de, where the IBA projects and other model churches from all over Central Germany can be found.