JANUARY 29, 2018

Presentation of the book about the Saratov Lutherans

- PRESS SERVICE OF THE SARATOV PROPATHY OF THE ECLR 

January 28 in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Mary of Saratov, a presentation of the book by Olga Lizenberger, Alexander Deriugin and Nikolai Kolomiytsev about the Saratov church community of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia was held. The publication is timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the church community, the main celebrations of which will be held in 2020.

The book is called "Evangelichesko-Lutheran Church of St. Mary in Saratov (on the 250th anniversary of its foundation)." The publication was the continuation of the first book about the Church of St. Mary, published 22 years ago, in 1995. It is addressed to historians, local lore specialists and a wide range of readers, as it is dedicated to the 250-year history of the Saratov Lutherans, their contribution to the development of their native city. In the center of the narrative is a rich history of the Church of St. Mary: the inner life of the community, the relationship with the authorities, the difficult fate of the clergy in the 20th century, and the formation of the community today.

The presentation opened the year of the celebration of two other anniversaries, also related to the history of the Saratov Lutherans. October 6, 2018 marks the 225th anniversary of the consecration of the first church, named after St. Mary, and on November 22, there will be 25 years of revival of the church community. Unfortunately, the first wooden church lasted only 83 years (1793-1876) and was badly damaged during the fire. The second church of St. Mary of the community appeared in three years (1879-1970), but was destroyed in the period of persecution and atheism (she was 91 years old). It was located on the central street of the city - German (now Kirov Avenue), was built according to the project of the world-famous Berlin architect Johann-Eduard Jakobsthal.

The logo of the jubilee shows three crosses. The black and purple cross symbolizes the tragic fate of the first building, the red symbolizes the second church that suffered during the persecutions and atheism, the white one symbolizes the modern church building, which is 11 years old, and the hope for many years of the triumph of love, goodness and spiritual peace in Saratov land and in the country as a whole. Significant value is attached to the book, prepared on the basis of archival materials, as well as rare photographs presented there.

The meeting was chaired by the President of the General Synod of the ECRC, the prologue of the Saratov Procession, Andrei Dzhamgarov. The representative of the publisher, the regional coordinator of the Interregional Coordination Council of the Volga and South-West of the International Union of German Culture, the chairman of the public organization "National Cultural autonomy of the Russian Germans of the Markovskiy district" Elena Geydt congratulated those present on the commemorative year on her own behalf, and also on behalf of the First Deputy Chairman of IGNC Olga Martens, reading out the welcome address.

Then the community and guests heard the message of the main author of two books, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Olga Licender. "On this significant day, on behalf of all of you personally and on behalf of all the members of the authors' team, I express to you, dear pastors, dear members of the church council, dear community, my gratitude for your many years of impeccable work and I congratulate you all with the publication of a new book about the Saratov community, the letter said.

After that, the co-authors of the second book - the member of the Church Council Alexander Deriugin and the participant of the Saratov community, journalist and linguist Nikolai Kolomiytsev told about how this literary work was created, what work was done, and what the readers tell the three most interesting chapters of this book and its application .

After that, a copy of the book and a letter of thanks were solemnly presented to all those who actively collaborated with the authors. Also, the community donated two copies of the book to the regional studies funds of the two largest libraries of the city and the region: the Regional Universal Scientific Library and the Centralized Library System of the city.

Representatives of the government also attended the presentation. Welcoming remarks were made by Deputy Minister of Internal Policy and Public Relations of the Saratov Region Dmitry Konusov. Elena Poznyakova, the Head of the Department for Cooperation with Cultural Institutions of the Ministry of Culture of the Saratov Region, also greeted the community and guests of the event.

Representatives of other Christian denominations of the region were also invited. The rector of the Roman Catholic parish of St. Clement in Saratov, Father Andrey Slavik, heartily congratulated everyone on the publication of the second book about Saratov's Lutherans and a double jubilee in the community.

After that, those present could ask questions to the authors of the book and get autographs for their copies. The celebration ended with a traditional tea buffet.

Translated from russian via Google

Source: http://rusdeutsch.ru/Nachrichten/10302