Church

Christ Church

A Protestant church of 1891 in Italian Renaissance style - striking for its green sandstone.

The Protestant Christ Church stands at Maienstraße 2, at the intersection of Turnsee- and Zasiusstraße in the Mittelwiehre, and was the second Protestant church in Freiburg after the Ludwigskirche. It was built between 1889 and 1891 to designs by the Karlsruhe architect Ludwig Diemer and consecrated on 31 May 1891. Stylistically it draws on Italian Renaissance forms; with its green sandstone it deliberately sets itself apart from the red sandstone of the Minster and the Gothic building tradition of the Old Town. Characteristic features are the southeast tower integrated into the body of the church and the statue of Christ by Julius Seitz from 1891 above the entrance portal, modeled on Bertel Thorvaldsen's figure in Copenhagen's Church of Our Lady.

From mid-2015 to the end of 2016 the interior was comprehensively renovated. The side galleries above the aisles of the cruciform building were partly removed, the ceiling and walls painted in light tones, the lighting renewed and new chairs installed; a new altarpiece and windows by Harald Herrmann were added. The organ on the rear gallery, built in 1980 by the Austrian firm Rieger, was thoroughly overhauled. The reopening took place on the first Sunday of Advent 2016, with a festival concert of Mendelssohn's Elijah.

Today the Christ Church belongs to the Freiburg Ost parish of the Protestant Regional Church in Baden and is used for services, concerts and events. It is a few minutes' walk from Wiehre station; tram lines 1 and 2 stop nearby at Johanniskirchplatz. Check current opening times and concert dates before visiting.

Address: Maienstraße 2, 79102 Freiburg