Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saint Katarina

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saint Katarina (Russian: Евангелическо-лютеранская церковь Святой Екатерины) is an Evangelical Lutheran church located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Its building was built in 1885. Because it was built by the Swedish expatriots in Saint Petersburg, it is usually called the Swedish church.

1 General
2 History
3 Worship
4 In its neighborhood
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

General

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saint Katarina is an Evangelical Lutheran church located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Its building was built in 1885. Its address is: Malaya Konyushnaya Ulitsa 1.

Because it was built by the Swedish expatriots in Saint Petersburg, it is usually called the Swedish church. Next to this church is the Swedish General Consulate.

History

The church has a 300-year history since the beginning of Saint Petersburg.^[1]

From 1730, many Swedish and Finnish people worked in Peter the Great's construction of Saint Petersburg. Finland had been a part of Sweden from the early 13th century till 1809 when it became a Dutchess of Russia. The Swedish people not only worked as laborers, but also worked in the new Russian government, as Peter the Great is said to had modelled it after the Swedish government.

From 1703, a Swedish-Finnish Evangelical Lutheran church had been organized, and in 1730 a church was built on the land on Malaya Konyushnaya Street, which Anna Petrovna had donated, and was called the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saint Anna. Next to this land was the Swedish Embassy, now a Swedish General Consulate's office.

In 1745, the Finnish people left this church, became independent and completed a church building on Bolshaya Konyushnaya Street, which later became known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saint Mary. In 1789, the Swedish people built a new church building, which later came to be known as the "Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saint Catherine".

In 1885, the current church building was completed, designed by Carl Andersson (1826–88) who was born in Sweden, but worked in Saint Petersburg. The prominent Swedish families such as the Nobels belonged to this church. The church membership reached 7,000 at its peak and was 5,000 just before the Russian Revolution of 1907.

During the Soviet time, the church was closed completely in 1936 and was used for basketball and other sports activities.

After the Soviet power collapsed, the building was returned to the church in 1991.

Worship

The Sunday worship is held every second and fourth Sunday from 5:00 pm, in Swedish and Russian. Other church groups use this church for English (Anglican) and Korean (Presbyterian) services.