Frohbotschaftskirche

The Frohbotschaftskirche stands at the centre of Hamburg-Dulsberg on Straßburger Platz. It is an evangelical Lutheran church built between 1935 and 1937 by architects Friedrich Dyrssen and Peter Averhoff. The building combines a large nave with a side tower topped by an unusual onion dome. Its brick façades show neoclassical lines, while inside the roof rests on modern parabola-shaped concrete pillars. In 1943 the church was badly damaged by bombing but rebuilt by 1953 in nearly its original form. The only major change was a flat ceiling added later. The church is worth visiting for its architecture and its history. The architects planned the entire Dulsberg district, and the onion dome of the tower remains a local landmark. During the war the building lost its three larger bells, which were replaced in 1958 by new ones cast by Friedrich Wilhelm Schilling. After a long debate about demolition, the church was saved and transformed between 2015 and 2018. The conversion added two cubic structures inside for community rooms and a nursery. Inside, the visitor finds the original nave with its modern concrete supports and the flat ceiling added after the war. On the south wall hangs a large wooden altarpiece carved by Otto Flath. The tower now contains four bells, all swinging on straight wooden yokes after recent restoration. Plans call for a small mechanical organ to be installed, completing the blend of modern and traditional elements that makes the church unusual.