The Castle Church Congregation was founded in 1949. For quite some time, the wish for the Castle Church to have its own congregation had been growing. This was to strengthen Christian life within the church building and complement the already existing use of the church by the Protestant Seminary of Wittenberg.
Today, about 110 parishioners belong to the Castle Church Congregation. However, the congregation is kept vibrant by the many people from Wittenberg – Christians and non-Christians alike – who participate in the various activities such as choirs, bible study group, the senior circle or the weekly children’s services. Also, guests from all over the world regularly attend worship services (some of which are held in English), weekly prayer services as well as church music events.
The regular preachers in the Castle Church are: faculty members of the seminary, the director of the Wittenberg Institute of Preaching and Homiletics, and the director of the Wittenberg Protestant Academy.
If you have any questions or if you want to participate in the life of the congregation, can you go directly to the priest of the castle church.
75 years of the castle church congregation
The castle church congregation celebrated its 75th anniversary on August 25, 2024 with a celebratory service and a reception afterwards.
Superintendent Dr. Gabriele Metzner and Pastor Anne Brisgen led the service. A special feature of the service was that contemporary witness reports were read out that revolved around the founding of the castle church congregation. The reasons for the founding were discussed again and again later, as shown by a meeting protocol of the parish council from December 4, 1972, in which one reason was given: "The GKR knows that the castle church, which is visited from all over the world, needs a supporting local congregation as a place of worship." To this day, this reason is important to the castle church congregation and an obligation. However, this was not the first recorded meeting of the parish leadership - that was on September 5, 1949. In the same year, on October 6, the first parish meeting of the castle church congregation took place.
During the celebratory service, everyone was also given a puzzle piece - as a symbolic gesture that everyone is a piece of their community's puzzle. The puzzles were later put back together at the reception. After the service, everyone was invited to the Christine Bourbeck House. The motif of the puzzle is the antependium embroidered by the Danish Queen Magrethe II.
Among those who gave greetings at the reception were the mayor Torsten Zugehör, the regional bishop for Halle and Wittenberg Johann Schneider and Bettina Sender, pastor of the German community in the twin town of Haderslev (Denmark).
Photos: Jan-Niklas Behlen - Photo Design | Text: Andrea Schulze
Contact:
Dr. Gabriele Metzner
Superintendent and pastor of the castle church parish
06886 Lutherstadt Wittenberg
Jüdenstr. 35 - 37
03491 403200
0173 3737456
Anne Brisgen
Pastor of the EKD at the Castle Church in Wittenberg
06886 Lutherstadt Wittenberg
Markt 4 (Cranach-Haus)
03491 45 95 802
0175 175 18 79