Friedenskirche Frankfurt (Oder)

The Friedenskirche is a medieval brick building that received its current form in the 19th century. It is the oldest church in Frankfurt, which is already mentioned in the deed of the town charter. The start of construction was probably around 1230, when under the rule of the Silesian Piasts a merchant settlement was built here at a favorable point for crossing the Oder.

The Friedenskirche was dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of boatmen, fishermen and merchants. As the church of the later lower town, it lost its importance after the founding of the town and the construction of the Marienkirche. In the course of its very checkered history, St. Nikolai has had several names and various uses.

After the introduction of the Reformation in the Mark Brandenburg (1539/40), it was temporarily used to store grain and hay, to accommodate the sick and as a powder magazine. From 1656 it was the place of worship for the Reformed (Calvinist) community in the Oder city, and after 1686 also for the French Reformed community, which had been using an attached prayer hall since 1736. This church extension served as a theater and ballroom from 1817 to 1842. From 1852 it was the church of the united German and French Reformed Church. In the years 1881 to 1894 extensive structural changes were made and the construction of the western double tower front. Since January 1, 1929, the Reformed Church has been called the Friedenskirche.

Hardly destroyed in the course of the Second World War, the church was used less and less as a place for services over time due to a significant decline in parishioners, wanted and forced by the state. In 1985 it was leased to the city and temporarily converted into a storage room. The roof was re-covered and the ongoing step-by-step repair work, which has not yet been completed, began. However, the roof truss of the church dates back to the Middle Ages and is considered the oldest surviving work by Frankfurt carpenters.

Today the church building is managed by the Oekumenisches Europa-Centrum e. V. with the aim of creating an interdenominational meeting center.
eurob.org/item/friedenskirche_frankfurt-oder

The Friedenskirche (previously Nicolaikirche and Reformed Church) is a Protestant church and originally the oldest stone building in Frankfurt (Oder).

The Friedenskirche (formerly Nicolaikirche and Reformed Church) is a church and originally the oldest stone building in Frankfurt (Oder). It belongs to the Oderland-Spree church district of the Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia Evangelical Church.