At the heart of the Weberviertel stands the Friedrichskirche. King Frederick II of Prussia commissioned the construction of the church for the Bohemian settlers on the square in the midst of the Weber colony of Nowawes, which had been established since 1751. Designed by the Amsterdam architect Jan Bouman, who also oversaw the creation of the Dutch Quarter, the octagonal, elongated church building with a steep hipped roof and a prominent west tower was constructed in 1752/53. Between 1850 and 1852, numerous modifications were made by Christian Heinrich Ziller, such as the redesign of the windows as Neo-Romanesque arches, the replacement of the wooden covering of the tower top with slate, and a redesign of the interior of the church. In 1911, a sacristy was added to the eastern side of the church.
Inside the nave, simple two-story wooden galleries line the hall. The galleries are supported by eight columns made from entire tree trunks. On the gallery above the entrance, there is a classicist-style organ front, created in 1852 by Carl Ludwig Gesell. The current organ, with 22 registers, was installed in 1913 by the Potsdam firm Alexander Schuke and was later renovated in 1953, also by the Schuke company.
Until 1809, the services for the Bohemian weavers were also held in Czech. In the years of transition, the opposition movement of the GDR met under the roof of the Friedrichskirche. It was here that the Neue Forum (New Forum) was founded in Potsdam.
In 2016, the interior was restored to reflect the color scheme from 1852.
You can watch a film about the Friedrichskirche in Potsdam Babelsberg on YouTube (in German):
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Die Friedrichskirche in Potsdam Babelsberg im Film auf YouTube.
Links
Address
Friedrichskirche
Weberplatz
14482 Potsdam
Germany
