3 The Concordia Church

3 The Concordia Church

The history of the town of Ruhla is marked by the division of the zusatown.

This division into three administrative districts not only led to a political fragmentation of the inhabitants, but also caused disputes and hostilities during the joint worship services in the church of the Thuringian district.

The Winkelkirche owes its existence to this church dispute.

In 1660, the princely architect Johann Moritz Richter from Weimar outlined the church’s floor plan in the shape of a right angle, adapted to the terrain, and thus set the later usage of the two church aisles—men on the right, women on the left.

It was an unusual architectural solution, which the pastor of St. Concordia described as follows: „Just as the swallow artfully nestles its nest against a wall, the princely architect built the church on a steep mountainside and, without concerning himself with conventional forms, gave it two wings, with which it, like with firm arms, clings to the mountain.“

St. Concordia was meant to be a temple of harmony and a place and source of peace.

In Germany, there are four other Winkelkirchen in Freudenstadt, Elsfleth, Rohrdorf, and Unterschüpf.

The Concordia Church in Ruhla is the only one that remains in its original construction state.

For more information:

Evangelical-Lutheran Church Community

Carl-Gareis-Straße 1

99842 Ruhla

Tel.: 036929 / 6 21 37