The Sophienkirche (Saint Sophia's Church), Dresden stood on the northeast corner of the Postplatz, (post office square) in Dresden's old town, before its destruction in 1962 on resolution of the party and government of the GDR. It was the only Gothic Church in the city.
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In 1250 The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans, built a monastery and small church at the location of the future Sophienkirche — this was known as the Franziskanerkloster. Starting in 1331 the original structure was demolished and a larger church started construction with two identical choir areas included. At the southeast corner of the new church, a private chapel was built by the patrician Busmann family around 1400 to which the Dresden Mayor, at the time, Lorenz Busmann was a member and also later buried there.
The Franciscan monastery was abolished during the Reformation. The Sophienkirche stood empty for decades before for it was revived in 1610 and reopened by Sophie von Brandenburg as a Lutheran church. Starting in 1737 it served as an Evangelist Church; around the same time, the Sophienkirche also became Dresden (Evangelical) court church.
Between the years 1718 to 1720 famed pipe organ maker Gottfried Silbermann installed one of only 50 manufactured Silbermann pipe organs, known for their clear meantone temperament, into the Sophienkirche.
Bach's Kyrie and Gloria were composed in 1733, the former as a lament for the death of Elector Augustus the Strong (who had died on 1 Feb 1733) and the latter to celebrate the accession of his successor the Saxon Elector and later Polish King Augustus III of Poland, who converted to Catholicism in order to ascend the throne of Poland. Bach presented these as a Missa with a set of parts (Kyrie plus Gloria, BWV 232a) to Augustus with a note dates 27 July 1733, in the hope of obtaining the title, "Electoral Saxon Court Composer", complaining that he had "innocently suffered one injury or another" in Leipzig.[1] They were performed in 1733, most likely at the Sophienkirche in Dresden, where Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's son, had been organist since June,[2] though not in the presence of their dedicatees. However in 1734, Bach performed a secular cantata dramma per musica in honour of Augustus in the presence of the King and Queen, the first movement which was the same music as the Osanna.[3]
The Sophienkirche was redesigned in the mid-19th century, and took its final shape with its twin neogothic spires (replacing the old Baroque tower), aisles and a new façade, between 1864–1868. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Sophienkirche ceased to serve as a court church, and seven years later, was made seat of the bishop of the regional Lutheran church.
In 1933 the towers were simplified (gothic elements were removed and copper-covered spires were added) because they were quite sensitive regarding the weather, and there was the risk of things falling down from the spires. This was said to be a temporary solution, and that the neogothic spires would have been restored later.
The bombing of Dresden by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Force (USAAF) between February 13 and February 15, 1945, 12 weeks before the surrender of the German Wehrmacht, remains one of the most controversial Allied actions of [[World War II]. The raids saw 1,300 heavy bombers drop over 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices in under 15 hours, destroying 13 square miles (34 km2) of the city, the baroque capital of the German state of Saxony, and causing a firestorm that consumed the city centre.[4] Estimates of civilian casualties vary greatly, but recent publications place the figure between 24,000 and 40,000.[5] Destroyed in the bombing were the Sophienkirche, along with many other historical buildings. The Sophienkirche was gutted by the fire that resulted from the bombing, including the Silbermann pipe organ. However, the ceiling and walls remained intact until 1946, when the weight of the vaulted ceiling, without the reinforcement of the internal support columns, which were destroyed by the fire, collapsed leaving only the south spires standing until their intentional destruction in 1950.
Gradually the ruins around the destroyed church were cleared. A reconstruction would have been quite possible, however the SED, which was in charge of the reconstruction of Dresden starting in 1950, doomed the church with a comment by Walter Ulbricht, the party chief of the SED, "... a socialist city does not need Gothic churches".
Despite large protests by Dresden monument conservators, architects and citizens, the remains of the church were destroyed in 1962 on resolution of the party and government of the GDR, German Democratic Republic. Before that, the Nosseni and Sacristy altars had been salvaged, they can be seen now in the Loschwitzer Kirche (also in Dresden) and the Friedenskirche in Löbtau, respectively.
On May 1, 1963 the last parts of the oldest Dresden town church disappeared — up to a partial destroyed sandstone framework of church windows, which were stored in the catacombs under Brühl's Terrace.