Evangelical Lutheran Church: Sunday Masses under the fascinating sounds of the organ
Back in the year 1885, the Evangelical Lutheran church district, or parish, was formed in Tashkent. Then the construction of the church was only in talks, though after 14 years it led to its long-awaited construction. Thus, on October 3, 1899, the first service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church took place.
Initially, the church was built for the Tashkent Lutheran Germans - soldiers, who served in the armies of Royal Russia. The construction was carried out at the expense of the funds of the outstanding physician, botanist and pharmacy owner Ieronim Ivanovich Krause. And the architect of the church was the famous Russian specialist Alexei Leontyevich Benois.
Since the beginning of the XX century, the church has ceased to be used for its intended purpose, and began to be used as storages, and later as a musical observatory. And only in 1991, when Uzbekistan gained its independence, the church was again transferred to the religious Lutheran community. For almost 120 years, the post of pastor (church priest) was held only by 2 people. At first it was Justus Justusovich Jurgenson, and at present the service is led by Bishop Cornelius Vibe. Sacred services in the Evangelical Lutheran Church are held every Sunday in Russian and German languages, and the number of parishioners hardly exceeds 200 people.
Lutheran church is located in Mirzo-Ulugbek district, on Sadyk Azimov street 37 and it is a traditional building of the Neo-Gothic architecture. From the yellow-brick building of the church, enveloped in tall, dense trees, on a sunny and cloudy Sunday morning, the organ music loudly sounds. In colored stained-glass windows, sun rays are playing fun, filling the church with light, and the parishioners with an ardent desire to live and do good deeds. Local residents and many visiting tourists very often visit this sacred church, hold worship services here, pray, listen to organ music and relax their soul. After all, where else, if not in the church, you can feel the purification of the soul and the feeling of inner grace?
