Kirchen mit Nutzung

There are 16 churches in the Nuremberg North Deanery, all of which have become too large for their current use. These churches are now only regularly used by a fraction of their residents. At the same time, they are historical testimonies that are closely connected to the founding histories of the city districts. They are neighbourhood centres. They are the largest public buildings in the districts. They have a significant impact on the city’s panorama. They are the heritage of all the people living in the district. That is why these buildings, which are too large for their shrinking parishes, must be re-appropriated by the general city population. They should once again become truly public buildings that do justice to their size and presence in the urban space. At the same time, there must also be room for classical church use. For this, rooms of appropriate size, adequate heatability and a sacred atmosphere are needed. A spatial concept must be developed that also takes into account the overcrowded services during Christmas and continues to make these and other large gatherings possible.

A holistic concept was developed for all 16 churches that complement each other. There are 3 categories:

1. churches that continue to be used purely as churches

2. church buildings that are no longer used as churches

3. churches that are given additional uses

On the basis of the data collected, a decision was made as to what use the building should be put to and to what extent the congregation can still use the churches. We clarified whether weekly services will continue to take place or whether religious use will be limited to major Christian holidays. We are convinced that secondary use does not weaken the church as an institution, but anchors it more firmly in the district.

An increasing number of congregations in Germany are confronted with the challenge of managing vacant or underutilized church buildings. Due to declining numbers of believers and parish staff cuts, more and more parishes are merging, leaving many places with unused churches. According to the Catholic Church, the Aachen diocese expects about 40 of its churches to undergo a process of change. Parishes in Essen expect to hold only 90 of the approximately 260 churches by 2030.[1] Leben, K. M. U. (2022, 23. Mai). Katholische Kirchen in Deutschland: 538 aufgegeben – 49 neu gebaut. Kirche+Leben. https://www.kirche-und-leben.de/artikel/katholische-kirchen-in-deutschland-538-aufgegeben-49-neu-gebaut Fewer and fewer people in Germany are members of a church "Between 1956 and 2019, the proportion of the Protestant population in Germany fell from 50.1 to 24.9 percent. The share of the Catholic population fell from 45.9 to 27.2 percent"[2] B.F.P. (2022, 12. Januar). Katholische und evangelische Kirche. bpb.de. https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/zahlen-und-fakten/soziale-situation-in-deutschland/61565/katholische-und-evangelische-kirche/ . Creative utilization strategies are essential to safeguard the architectural heritage, even in the face of inevitable congregation mergers. Church structures remain integral components of their respective villages, serving as cultural landmarks, deeply woven into the community fabric, and holding significance in architectural history. According to the German Catholic Bishops' Conference (DBK), there are around 24,000 sacred church buildings nationwide, of which around 22,800 are protected as historic monuments."[3] Süddeutsche Zeitung. (2021, 12. Dezember). Bislang nur wenige Kirchenschließungen in Bayern. Süddeutsche.de. https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/finanzen-muenchen-bislang-nur-wenige-kirchenschliessungen-in-bayern-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-211212-99-352203. Monuments thus account for 95% of sacred church buildings. "Churches compete with other old buildings, e.g. industrial monuments. Since the end of the 1990s, the financial resources of monument preservation have no longer been sufficient to save them from decay"[4] Wikipedia-Autoren. (2004, 5. Dezember). Kirchenschließung. Wikipedia.de. Abgerufen am 22. Mai 2022, von https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirchenschlie%C3%9Fung#Evangelische_Kirche_in_Deutschland .

This trend can also be seen in other countries in Europe. In Belgium, for example, this process is centrally monitored by the state institutionPARCUM. The focus here is to collaboratively devise solutions with local communities that honor the role of these buildings in the local culture and cityscape. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the "Baukultur NRW" association is actively involved in this field. They provide comprehensive lists of church conversions, including project descriptions and processes. However, many properties end up in private hands and may not fully tap into the potential of these structures. The church building type is distinguished by its urban location and iconic character. It was always conceived as a gathering space closely linked to the community. Therefore, we advocate for church buildings not to be sold simply as real estate but to remain as communal meeting points. Changes and repurposing of church buildings are already well underway in North Rhine-Westphalia. Yet, in other regions like Bavaria, inevitable changes are looming in the future. Between 2001 and 2020, the followers of the Catholic and Evangelical Churches in Bavaria declined by 18.2%. Among them, 13% were Catholics. Surprisingly, only 16 secularizations have taken place, despite 40% of Catholic church buildings being located in Bavarian dioceses.[5] Leben, K. M. U. (2022, 23. Mai). Katholische Kirchen in Deutschland: 538 aufgegeben – 49 neu gebaut. Kirche+Leben. https://www.kirche-und-leben.de/artikel/katholische-kirchen-in-deutschland-538-aufgegeben-49-neu-gebaut We asked ourselves why this development is still so hesitantly visible in Bavaria and whether the insights and approaches from other parts of Germany can be applied in Bavaria.

To prevent communities from losing central parts of their places, it is important to analyze these buildings and think about their possible future at an early stage. Only in this way can the communities be adequately involved in the transformation.

The 46 Protestant parishes of the Nuremberg deanery are divided into the prodeaneries Central, North, South, East and West. Despite the fact that the number of believers has been falling steadily for thirty years, church closures are still being avoided. As of 2026, 24% of the current pastorates in the deanery are to be eliminated.[6] Lechner, T. (2022, 24. Februar). Wie Kirchengemeinden im Nürnberger Dekanat schon jetzt mit Kürzungen kämpfen | Sonntagsblatt - 360 Grad evangelisch. Sonntagsblatt. Abgerufen am 30. Mai 2022, von https://www.sonntagsblatt.de/artikel/kirche/kirchengemeinden-nuernberger-dekanat-kuerzungen-kaempfen In numerous parishes, the existing pastors will continue their service, but with reduced hours. As an illustration, in the Heroldsberg congregation within the Nuremberg North deanery, three pastors will soon jointly oversee the pastorate. Through this collaborative effort, an attempt is made to manage the downsizing procedures.

We see this as a promising opportunity to demonstrate the positive aspects of church conversions.

In discussions with the deans of the Nuremberg deaneries, they agreed to share statistics and building data for the analysis and generally expressed great interest in the project. In recent years, there have been three conversion projects, with two of them still in the planning or construction stages. These projects aim to facilitate secondary uses within the respective church buildings. One such example is the transformation of the Gustav Adolf Memorial Church into a vesper church, which has already been successfully completed. This involved the removal of permanent pews and the installation of underfloor heating. The church space is now utilized as a meeting space during the week.

All contact persons continue to see a great need for sustainable concepts for dealing with the churches in the deaneries. In numerous regions, the decline in church memberships over the past few decades has resulted in diminished congregation sizes, compounded by demographic shifts.

The Protestant North Deanery was chosen as the analysis area rather by chance, since the 13 parish offices were brought on board at an early stage by the dean. The individual parishes were free to share their statistics with us and to enter into discussion with us. We succeeded in convincing all but three of the parish offices of our intention, which enabled us to generate projections for the missing data sets based on parishioner numbers (shown in gray in the graphic).

In the beginning, we were still skeptical whether our project was correctly located in this deanery, since the north of Nuremberg is more Christian/Protestant in relation to the rest of the city and, in comparison, has a higher level of commitment to the community.[6] Lechner, T. (2022, 24. Februar). Wie Kirchengemeinden im Nürnberger Dekanat schon jetzt mit Kürzungen kämpfen | Sonntagsblatt - 360 Grad evangelisch. Sonntagsblatt. Abgerufen am 30. Mai 2022, von https://www.sonntagsblatt.de/artikel/kirche/kirchengemeinden-nuernberger-dekanat-kuerzungen-kaempfen It became clear relatively quickly that these churches are also struggling with few worshipers and church buildings that are too large and difficult to heat. Job cuts and building maintenance costs are pushing all congregations to think about the future of their church.

The 16 churches within the deanery can be viewed as a test group that reflects the diversity of architectural treasures found in church buildings across Germany.

The sample size allows for an intensive engagement with each individual building that goes beyond photos and plan material to personal conversations with the pastors or representatives of the church community.

The analysis of the 16 churches shows a great variance in size, age and shape.

The rather random collection that resulted from the selection of a single deanery thereby represents a great spectrum of church buildings, all of which have their architectural value and need their own place in the analysis. To reflect this, Part II introduces and describes the churches in the booklets individually. This serves to highlight their special features while ensuring comparability.

The focus is not only on the building in general, but also on its current use and status in the community. Subjective observations, such as particular architectural elements of the church and the experience of the space during tours of the buildings are also highlighted.

To the Atlases:

1.1 Friedenskirche, 1.2 St. Johannis, 2 Zum Guten Hirten, 3 Versöhnungskirche,

4 St. Matthäus Maxfeld, 5 St. Lukas, 6 St. Jobst , 7 Reformations-Gedächtnis-Kirche,

8.1 St. Georg, 8.2 Kirche Almoshof, 9 St. Bartholomäus, 10 St. Andreas ,

11.1 Melanchthonkirche, 11.2 Gnadenkirche, 12 Himmelfahrtskirche, 13 St. Matthäus Heroldsberg,

In considering potential conversions, we extended our scope beyond Nuremberg to regions such as North Rhine-Westphalia, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. These areas have witnessed numerous well-documented church building transformations. Through an analysis of these reference projects, we compiled a list of already completed conversions. Subsequently, we evaluated to what degree these conversions from the list align with the churches in terms of their architectural style, dimensions, location, and community context. The extent to which a continued religious use of the building can be guaranteed was also taken into account.

In this section, all conceivable uses are first listed for each church and then a final decision is formulated as a sketch.

It is important that the individual uses do not compete with each other. A master plan was drawn up taking into account all the churches and also considering the possibilities for cooperation between the congregations. It was also considered which alternative options are available for the congregation in the event that church buildings are completely converted.

A part of the Melanchthon Church is transformed into a second-hand shop and its drop-off point during the weekdays. Its location in a residential area, adjacent to a kindergarten, makes it particularly appealing for families with young children who quickly outgrow their clothes. The shop continues the tradition of the annual book flea market, which is already used to fund youth activities. Furthermore, the shop, equipped with a café, serves as a neighborhood meeting point and is available for parents waiting for their kindergarten children. The second-hand shop consists of wooden fixtures and some mobile shelves. They are separated from the rest of the church space by a tall curtain so that the church can still be visited by worshipers during the week. On Sundays, the fixtures can be closed, allowing for a regular church service. Additionally, the "café box" can be opened separately, so it can also be used by the congregation for church gatherings.

The church in Boxdorf is centrally located in the village between the pond, after-school care center and kindergarten. Since the parish is moving closer together with the neighboring parish of St. George, fewer services will be held in Boxdorf in the future. This raises the question of how the prominent church building can continue to serve the district. With only a few interventions, the building becomes a meeting center of the village. In the mornings it serves as an exercise room for the kindergarten, in the afternoons it can be used by after-school groups or the already existing library in the gallery can be visited. Existing community groups can meet there and in the evenings it can be rented by local clubs or private individuals as a venue for events. The old parish hall will be converted into a café and can be operated independently of the church hall. It generates additional income and gives the parents picking up their children a place to wait and socialize.

The Friedenskirche, as the second church of the Johannis parish, is too large for weekly use. After the Second World War, the nave was already shortened during reconstruction. Nevertheless, it is only well filled at Christmas. The church is a central element of the district, but at the moment it is not open to the public during the week. With the conversion into a cultural church, this will be possible again. The nave is opened up to the terrace via the south side and becomes a public foyer, enlivened by a café and art studio boxes, that are placed in the lover level. The focus of the Culture Church is the exhibition and creation of art. A set podium in the nave can be used as an exhibition space. It separates the exhibition area from the public foyer and at the same time manages to improve the proportions of the church. The Podium can still be used for big churchservices such as christmas.