Orthodox Church
St. Alexis Church-Monument of Russian Glory
St.-Alexi-Gedächtniskirche zur Russischen Ehre
51°19′26″ n. w. 12°23′49″ E d. HGIOL
A country	Germany
City	Leipzig, Philipp-Rosenthal-Straße 51 a
Confession	Orthodoxy
Diocese	Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church
Building type	Church
Architectural style	neo-Russian
Author of the project	V. A. Pokrovsky
Builder	Georg Weidenbach, Richard Tschammer
First mention	1751
Construction	- 1913
Side chapels	Upper - St. Alexis of Moscow; lower - Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon
Status	active temple
State	excellent
Website	russische-kirche-l.de
Media files on Wikimedia Commons

The temple belongs to the Eastern Deanery of the Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The rector is Archpriest Alexy Tomyuk (since 1996).

Story

The first temples

The first mention of an Orthodox church in Leipzig dates back to 1744. At that time, there was a Greek house Trinity Church in the city, the rector of which was a Greek bishop. The abbot intended to build a separate church, for which he turned to St. Petersburg. However, the Holy Synod refused to help him due to the small size of the Russian community in Leipzig.

The second house church was tripled in 1751. It was intended for Russian students, among whom was the illegitimate son of Catherine II A.G. Bobrinsky. The temple was closed in 1775.

Divine services continued in the Greek temple, which enjoyed Russian patronage, instead of which a new house Trinity Church was built by the local Greek consul in 1847.

Modern temple

The need to preserve the status of a memorial site for the place where the “Battle of the Nations” took place prompted Russia to erect a temple-monument here.

Donations have been collected since 1907 in both Russia and Germany. On April 21 (May 4), 1910, the Committee for the Construction of the Temple was formed, headed by Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. The city authorities of Leipzig provided a plot of land of 2.5 hectares, on the edge of the field where the battle took place.

Preparatory work began in 1911. The ceremonial laying of the temple took place on December 15 (28), 1912. The Russian Minister of War, Adjutant General V.A. Sukhomlinov, and the city authorities were present at the service.

The author of the temple project is academician of architecture V. A. Pokrovsky. The architect originally created a design that was considered too expensive, so it was redesigned. The construction was supervised by V.A. Pokrovsky himself (his assistants: artist-architects N.B. Baklanov and V.F. Solomovich; students of the Higher Women's Polytechnic Courses: L.N. Kutyreva, A.V. Kuzmenko-Gvozdevich, L.V. Ovchinnikova and N.L. Goman; students: Y.D. Tutorsky and A.P. Tikhanov; student of the Higher Art School at the IAH P.P. The stability calculation was made by the military. Eng. G.G. Krivoshein; calculation of the reinforced concrete frame of the tent - Otto Encke.

During the bombing of Leipzig during the Second World War, local residents took refuge in the lower rooms of the temple.

The height of the church is 55 meters.

The walls are white, plastered; decorated at the corners with blades, cut through by narrow high windows and completed with a reinforced concrete tent, lined with Venetian glass mosaic. The tent is crowned with a gilded dome with a cross supported by chains.

On the apse there is a mosaic icon “Lord Pantocrator” (based on cardboards by artist N.P. Pashkov; typed in the private mosaic workshop of V.A. Frolov), below is a commemorative bronze plaque with the history of the temple.

A two-flight staircase leads to the upper temple. The entrance to it is framed by a perspective portal made of light sandstone. Above the portal there is a belfry topped with a small dome. Above the forged entrance doors there is a mosaic image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which is framed by gilded figures of flying angels.

Eight bells were cast at the Olovyanishnikov factory in Yaroslavl from guns that took part in the battles of 1813.

The church is surrounded by a circular gallery with 8 tall faceted lanterns, symbolizing funeral candles.

Upper Church of St. Alexia

• Inside, the height of the upper temple is 39 meters, designed for 200 people. The interior of the church is not painted and is designed in light colors.

The seven-tier iconostasis made of dark oak (Partnership of I.P. Khlebnikov (director and managing director V.I. Pedashenko)) was donated to the temple by the Don Cossacks and has a height of 18 meters. The icons were painted in the style of the 17th century by peasant icon painters N.S. Emelyanov and his assistants - A.I. Antonov and D.V. Golikov. The wooden parts of the iconostasis, choir and other furniture were made by the Artistic Carpentry Workshop of the Moscow Provincial Zemstvo in Sergiev Posad (headed by artist V.I. Sokolov; his assistant - carpentry instructor, peasant I.P. Zaitsev).

Among the icons noteworthy:

• An icon of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious in a large carved icon case, presented as a gift by the Orenburg Cossacks.
• Altarpiece “Prayer for the Cup”, artist D.F. Bogoslovsky (copy of the famous painting by F. A. Bruni).
• Artist V.K. Zahl painted portraits of emperors for the museum.

The banners in front of the iconostasis are made in the form of Cossack battle banners.

The mosaic floor is made of pieces of white and black marble.

The bronze five-tier chandelier of the temple weighs 800 kilograms. The mother-of-pearl bowls of the lamps are welded from smalt in the workshop of V.A. Frolova. The chandelier was donated to the temple by State Duma deputies and Moscow merchants.

Along the walls there are 8 bronze plaques with a list of regiments and units that took part in the battle.

Lower Temple

The lower church, on the site originally allocated for the museum, was consecrated in 1927 in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon. It contains ancient Russian banners.

Nearby there is a crypt where Lieutenant General I.E. Shevich, Major General N.D. Kudashev, Lieutenant Colonel A. Yurgenev, as well as (in niches) unknown soldiers are buried. Above the graves there is a small icon case with an icon of the Resurrection of Christ, and on the sides there are banners and portraits of the heroes of the battle, Emperor Alexander I and Prince M. I. Kutuzov-Smolensky.

On the walls and pillars of the lower gallery there are 20 stone plaques with the names of the regiments that took part in the battle, the names of the dead officers and the number of killed soldiers. At the main entrance to the lower temple there are two marble plaques, which in Russian and German remind of the number of fallen.

Archival

• RGIA, ff. 796, 797, 1278.

Literature

• "Russian Antiquity". Monthly historical publication. 1913 Volume 156. Page. 5, 6a-6c.
• "Russian pilgrim". 1913 No. 43. Page. 679-693. "Russian celebrations in Leipzig."
• Temple-monument on the battlefield near Leipzig. Voronov P. N. S.-Petersburg. 1913
• "Architectural World". Issue 3. 1914. Page. 128-132.
• Antonov V.V., Kobak A.V. Russian churches and monasteries in Europe. - St. Petersburg: “Faces of Russia”, 2005. - P. 88-91. - 3000 copies.
• - ISBN 5-87417-208-4.

The need to preserve the memory of the place where the “Battle of the Nations” took place near Leipzig prompted Russia to erect a memorial temple here. Donations have been collected since 1907, both in Russia and Germany. On April 21, 1910, the Committee for the Construction of the Temple was formed, headed by Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. The city authorities of Leipzig provided a plot of land of 2.5 hectares, on the edge of the field where the battle took place. Preparatory work began in 1911. The ceremonial laying of the temple took place on December 15, 1912. The Russian Minister of War, Adjutant General V.A., was present at the service. Sukhomlinov, as well as city authorities. The author of the temple project was Russian academician V.A. Pokrovsky, who supervised the construction together with German architects Georg Weidenbach and Richard Tschammer. The consecration of the temple on October 4, 1913 was performed by Protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy Georgy Shavelsky in the presence of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich and the Russian diplomatic corps in Germany. The next day, military delegations from the Allied countries, including the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, attended the celebrations. The Russian Empire was represented by Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, as well as numerous delegations from Russian regiments. The guests of honor were presented with commemorative silver medals with the image of the memorial temple. On October 16, 1913, the remains of Russian soldiers and officers who died in the “Battle of the Nations” were transferred to the crypt of the temple with military honors. The temple was built in the style of stone hipped Russian churches of the 17th century. For the sample V.A. Pokrovsky took the Ascension Church in Kolomenskoye. The height of the temple is 65 m. The walls are white, plastered; decorated at the corners with blades, cut through by narrow high windows and completed with a reinforced concrete tent, lined with Venetian glass mosaic. The tent is crowned with a gilded dome with a cross supported by chains. On the apse there is a mosaic icon of “Lord Pantocrator”, below is a commemorative bronze plaque with the history of the temple. A two-flight staircase leads to the temple. The entrance to the upper temple is framed by a perspective portal made of light sandstone. Above the portal there is a belfry topped with a small dome. Above the forged entrance doors there is a mosaic image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which is framed by gilded figures of flying angels. Seven bells were cast from guns that took part in the battles of 1813. The temple is surrounded by a circular gallery with 8 tall faceted lanterns, symbolizing funeral candles. The upper church was consecrated in the name of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, and was designed for 200 people. The interior is not painted and is designed in light colors. The seven-tier iconostasis made of dark oak was donated to the temple by the Don Cossacks and has a height of 18 meters. The icons were painted in the style of the 17th century. artists L.M. Emelyanov. Along the walls there are 8 bronze steles with a list of regiments and units that took part in the battle. The lower church was consecrated in 1927 in honor of the holy great martyr Panteleimon. It contains ancient Russian battle banners. Nearby there is a crypt where Lieutenant General I.E. is buried. Shevich, Major General N.D. Kudashev, Lieutenant Colonel A. Yurgenev, as well as (in niches) unknown soldiers. Above the graves there is a small icon case with an icon of the Resurrection of Christ, and on the sides there are banners and portraits of the heroes of the battle, Emperor Alexander I and Prince M.I. Kutuzov-Smolensky. On the walls and pillars of the lower gallery there are 20 stone plaques with the names of fallen officers and the number of killed soldiers. At the main entrance to the chapel-crypt there are two marble plaques, which in Russian and German remind of the number of fallen soldiers. The lower floor also houses a small museum, a parish hall and a library. After the outbreak of the First World War, the temple-monument was closed and the entrance was walled up. The temple was robbed twice, the gilding was removed from the domes. The building was taken over by a local resident who rented out the temple. Due to a crack that appeared in the temple, urgent repairs were made, and the Panteleimon chapel was built and consecrated for worship in the lower part. In 1927-1930 The temple was under the jurisdiction of the manager of Russian parishes in Western Europe of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), after his transfer to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the parish followed him and was under the jurisdiction of the Western European Exarchate of Russian parishes. In 1939, the parish with all its property was transferred to the Berlin and German diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. During the bombing of Leipzig during the Second World War, local residents took refuge in the lower rooms of the temple. In the summer of 1945, the temple, located on Soviet occupation territory, again transferred to the Western European Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Soviet command, after visiting the temple of G.K. Zhukov, in the same year, allocated funds for urgent repairs of the monument. In 1963, restoration was carried out with new gilding of the domes. The temple-monument operates to this day.

Russian church-monument in Leipzig: collection of scientific works / comp., author. ed.: M. E. Dmitrieva. St. Petersburg: Kolo, 2015. 240 p. : ill. ISBN 978-5-4462-0054-2

Story

St. Alexi Church-Monument of Russian Glory (St.-Alexi-Gedächtniskirche zur Russischen Ehre) is an Orthodox church in Leipzig, erected in honor of Russian soldiers who died on the battlefield of the Battle of the Nations; belongs to the Eastern Branch of the Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Orthodox Church in Leipzig was first mentioned in 1744. At that time, there was a Greek house Trinity Church in the city, the rector of which, a Greek bishop, asked to found an Orthodox parish in Leipzig. But the Holy Synod rejected this request, justifying its refusal by the small size of the Leipzig Russian community.
From 1751 to 1775, a second home Orthodox church operated in Leipzig, open to Russian students studying in Leipzig.
At the beginning of the 19th century, proposals began to be made in Russian society to perpetuate the memory of soldiers and officers who died in 1813 in the Battle of the Nations - the largest battle in world history before the First World War. In this battle, Napoleon Bonaparte's army, which in addition to the French included Italians, Germans, Poles, Belgians and Dutch, suffered a crushing defeat from the allied armies of Russia, Austria, Prussia and Sweden. Allied losses amounted to about 54 thousand killed and wounded, among them 23 thousand Russian soldiers were killed.
In 1907, fundraising began in Russia and Germany for the construction of a monument church in honor of Russian soldiers. In April 1910, the Committee for the Construction of the Temple was created, headed by Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. The city authorities of Leipzig provided a plot of land on the outskirts of the city with an area of ​​2.5 hectares.
The temple designed by the Russian architect V.A. Pokrovsky was built and solemnly consecrated on October 4 (17), 1913 in the presence of military delegations from the allied countries, the King of Saxony, the Kaiser of Germany and the Grand Russian Prince Kirill Vladimirovich. The remains of Russian soldiers who died in the Battle of the Nations were transferred to the crypt of the temple with all appropriate military honors.
The Russian Orthodox church-monument stands next to the majestic Memorial to the soldiers who fell in the Battle of the Nations, opened on October 18, 1913.
At the beginning of the First World War, the Russian Orthodox church-monument was closed. The temple was looted twice, and the gilding was removed from the domes. The temple building was given ownership to a certain local resident who rented out the church premises.
In 1927-1939, the temple passed from one jurisdiction to another, until on May 5, 1939, the parish with all its property passed to the Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
During World War II, the temple basements served as shelter for local residents during bombings.
After the war, the Soviet military command allocated funds for the restoration of the temple. During the restoration, the church domes were again covered with gilding.
Soviet military personnel who were based in the GDR were allowed to visit this temple, given its historical status.

Temple architecture

The St. Alexis Church-Monument of Russian Glory was built in the style of stone hipped churches of the 17th century. Its height is 65 meters. The prototype of the temple in Leipzig was the Ascension Church in Kolomenskoye near Moscow.
The white walls of the temple are plastered and cut through by narrow, high windows. The roof is covered with Venetian glass mosaic; The roof is crowned with a gilded cross supported by chains.
Above the entrance portal there is a belfry topped with a small dome. Above the forged doors there is an image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, framed by gilded figures of flying angels.
The church belfry contains seven bells cast from guns that took part in the Battle of the Nations.
Eight tall lanterns surrounding the temple symbolize funeral candles.

Upper Temple

The interior of the church is made in light colors. The height of the Upper Temple is 35 meters, the capacity is up to two hundred people.
The decoration of the Upper Church is a seven-tiered iconostasis 18 meters high, donated by the Don Cossacks. In front of the iconostasis there are military banners.
The mosaic floor of the temple is made of white and black marble.
On the walls inside the temple there are eight bronze steles, which list the regiments and units that took part in the historical battle of 1813.

Lower Temple

There is a tomb in the Lower Church. Major General N.D. Kudashev, Lieutenant General I.E. Shevich, Lieutenant Colonel A. Yurgenev, who died in battle, are buried in the crypt, and unknown soldiers are buried in the niches. Above the graves is an icon of the Resurrection of Christ, on the sides are portraits of Emperor Alexander I and Prince M.I. Kutuzov-Smolensky and military banners.
Eight stone plaques are fixed on the walls, on which are inscribed the names of the fallen officers and the number of killed soldiers. On two marble plaques in front of the entrance to the tomb, the number of those killed in this battle is written in Russian and German.

The temple houses a small museum and a library containing about 700 volumes of books.
In 1988, the remains of two unknown soldiers, grenadiers of the Chernigov regiment, were discovered on the battlefield and solemnly buried on the eastern side of the temple.

Tourist information

Telephone:+49 3418781453
Official site: www.russische-kirche-l.de/

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“An octagon on a quadruple” is a cliched phrase that can cause allergies from frequent use :-)
But there is no escape from it. Eight facets are the rule for Russian architecture, everything else is the exception.
This post is about one of them.
More precisely, about this too, but first of all I wanted to show in sufficient detail this monument, which few people have seen with their own eyes.

Leipzig. The Church of Metropolitan Alexy is a monument to Russian soldiers who fell in the “Battle of the Nations” in 1813.
1911-1913, architect. V.A.Pokrovsky

I like to repeat that for the neo-Russian style the theme of the tented temple did not become very popular. Architects gave preference to more significant, monumental forms. Thus, we will not find tented churches in the works of one of the two leaders of the style - A.V. Shchusev. But his colleague Vladimir Aleksandrovich Pokrovsky can be considered the only architect who consistently developed the theme of the tent. He first turned to it when designing the Church of Peter and Paul at the Shlisselburg Gunpowder Factories (versions in wood, 1902, in stone, 1903, realized version, 1905-1907). In 1910, he designed the Church of Michael of Chernigov on Tonky Cape in Gelendzhik, and then a monument church in Leipzig. Then, in 1914, there was another project for a church for the Elizabethan community of sisters of mercy - with three tents. At gunpowder factories, the base of the tent and the tent itself have 12 sides, in Leipzig - 16. This is an absolute record in the neo-Russian style :)

And one more important point - since the revival of the national trend in Russian architecture, that is, from the 2nd quarter of the 19th century, many tented churches have been built, but the tents of most of them have a frame-decorative character and cannot be compared with high, full-fledged tents of masterpieces of the 16th century. Pokrovsky is the only one who dared to “compete” with the famous ancient Russian monuments. Commenting on the project of the Leipzig temple, he himself indicated that he took the tented churches in Kolomenskoye and Ostrov as prototypes.

Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye

Church of the Transfiguration in Ostrov

Temple-monument in Lepzig

When we brought the OIRU bus to Leipzig (it was September 2010, all the modern photography was done at the same time), two sophisticated art critics attacked me and each other with criticism of Pokrovsky’s construction. One said that it was bad because it looked like Kolomenskoye, and the other said that it was bad because it didn’t look like Kolomenskoye.
Of course, comparisons cannot be avoided, but I believe that Pokrovsky produced a completely independent piece with a completely different program, belonging to its time, and it is incorrect to evaluate it through the prism of comparison with prototypes. What we see before us is not a court church, but a temple-monument on a mass grave. This explains a lot.

Let me remind you of the story. In October 1813, the allied forces of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden defeated the troops of Napoleonic France and its allies - Italy, Poland, Saxony - at this place, then outside the city limits. More than 500 thousand people took part in the battle on both sides, and until the First World War it was considered the largest in the history of Europe. The defeated lost 70-80 thousand people, the victorious - 54 thousand, of which 22 thousand were Russians.
For a hundred years, the mass grave of our compatriots remained unregistered. For the anniversary of the battle, the Germans started the construction of a grandiose and formidable monument designed by Bruno Schmitz:

Russia decided to make its contribution, especially since it was indecent to leave the grave in such a “no” form - according to German law, an unregistered grave was deregistered after 100 years. Since 1907, donations have been collected, in 1910 a construction committee was formed, in 1911 Pokrovsky made a project, construction began. The official groundbreaking took place only on December 15, 1912, and on October 4, 1913 the temple was solemnly consecrated. We attended the celebrations. book Kirill Vladimirovich, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Russian ambassadors to Germany, other representatives of the Allies.

Pokrovsky's original project. It differs in details from the implemented version (location of windows, presence of side portals, another solution for the belfry - with an open porch and openings of different sizes). To be honest, I like him better.

Photo from 1913. Nowadays, overgrown trees greatly interfere with the perception of the building.

Surprisingly, the further fate of the temple turned out to be prosperous. It did not operate during the First World War and was even partially rented out. In 1927, a dangerous crack appeared, but they managed to raise money for repairs. In 1945, the temple served as a shelter from bombings, and after G.K. Zhukov visited it, repairs were carried out. In 1988-1989, external restoration was carried out with gilding of the domes.

Photos from the 1950s and 60s.

So, Pokrovsky created either a memorial candle or a skyward rocket :-)
The entire building is made of reinforced concrete, including the tent, lined with Venetian smalt. The tent is cut through with windows reminiscent of the rumored bell towers of the 17th century.

I don’t know how well the photographs convey the modern feeling of this temple. Some of Pokrovsky’s moves are almost postmodernist (which is generally atypical for him), such as identical bas-reliefs and figures of angels on the wide edges of the hexagon and long, “prosaic” windows, not to mention the concrete texture of the walls.
Such detached smoothness, cold geometry, and at the same time the expression of four tiers of kokoshniks, referring to the church in Ostrov. The triangles of the corner roofs and kokoshniks create an interesting perspective dynamic effect. All divisions are brought to the very top. I think that the changes to the original project were caused by the author's desire to strengthen verticalism. To do this, the windows are lined up in vertical lines, the blades are thickened - so that the spindles of the walls become approximately the same in width. The belfry, instead of being square, became rectangular, as if pressed against the main volume.
Compared to the prototypes, the Leipzig church crystal clear embodies the idea of ​​a pillar-shaped tented church - not burdened by spacious staircases, as in Kolomenskoye, or chapels, as in Ostrov. Pokrovsky minimized the difference between the pillar and the hipped roof by increasing the number of edges.

The temple is two-story. The lower tier is surrounded on three sides by a gallery where 20 stone plaques are placed with the names of fallen officers and the number of dead soldiers.

The apses, I think, were somehow unsuccessful for Pokrovsky. It's not even about the apses themselves, but about the windows cutting through them.

On the apse there is a mosaic "Savior Almighty" (workshop of V.A. Frolov).
Chimneys Pokrovsky designed miniature turrets - this is his favorite technique (analogs can be seen in the Parkhomov church and in the Nizhny Novgorod bank).

Mortgage board on the apse.

In the lower tier there is a mass grave and a throne consecrated in the 1930s as part of St. Panteleimon. We didn't get there.

The portals, upper and lower, are made of sandstone.

On the sides of the portal there are memorial plaques about the number of victims (in Russian and German).

The staircase to the upper church is decorated with eight lanterns, symbolizing funeral candles.

Savior Not Made by Hands. Mosaic from the workshop of V.A. Frolov.
The angels are made of concrete and gilded.

The interior space cannot be called harmonious. This is a hollow marshmallow, a white block, in which a seven-tiered iconostasis in the spirit of the 16th century is placed (the company of I.P. Khlebnikov, the icons were painted by L.M. Emelyanov). The Khlebnikov factory also produced a chandelier with smalt lamps (workshop of V.A. Frolov).

It turned out that large windows were placed unattractively in the very corners and nearby - the exterior for Pokrovsky is more important than the interior. Unfortunately, the tent is now fenced off with a mesh, further enhancing its “separate life.” But in itself it is wonderful, with tropes and diminishing windows. All this creates a telescopic effect of going somewhere upward, to infinity. It also reminds me of a badminton shuttlecock :-)
By the way, Pokrovsky himself has more of these “real” ones, that is, there are no tents open to the interior - everywhere under the tents there are domed ceilings.

The imperfection of this work by Pokrovsky does not in any way affect the uniqueness of the monument. It is somewhat strange, but in Russia this “export product”, drawings and photographs of which were repeatedly published in the architectural press, has no relatives. Maybe with the exception of the church at the Fraternal Cemetery in Kyiv, but it, however, really looks like Kolomenskoye.

But in our time, two replicas have already emerged.
Here's the first one:

Church of the Archangel Michael in Vetluzhanka (Krasnoyarsk). 1998-2003. Photo

Builder Georg Weidenbach, Richard Tschammer First mention 1751 Construction -1913 years Side chapels Upper - St. Alexis of Moscow; lower - Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon Status active temple State excellent Website Coordinates: 51°19′26″ n. w. /  12°23′49″ E. d.51.3240528° s. w. 12.39702028° E. d. / 51.3240528; 12.39702028

St. Alexis Church-Monument of Russian Glory ((G) (I) Church-monument of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow ), German St.-Alexi-Gedächtniskirche zur Russischen Ehre (Gedächtniskirche des heiligen Metropoliten Alexi von Moskau)

The temple belongs to the Eastern Deanery of the Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The rector is Archpriest Alexy Tomyuk (since 1996).

Story

The first temples

The first mention of an Orthodox church in Leipzig dates back to 1744. At that time, there was a Greek house Trinity Church in the city, the rector of which was a Greek bishop. The abbot intended to build a separate church, for which he turned to St. Petersburg. However, the Holy Synod refused to help him due to the small size of the Russian community in Leipzig.

The second house church was tripled in 1751. It was intended for Russian students, among whom was the illegitimate son of Catherine II A.G. Bobrinsky. The temple was closed in 1775.

Divine services continued in the Greek temple, which enjoyed Russian patronage, instead of which a new house Trinity Church was built by the local Greek consul in 1847.

Modern temple

The need to preserve the status of a memorial site for the place where the “Battle of the Nations” took place prompted Russia to erect a temple-monument here.

Donations have been collected since 1907 in both Russia and Germany. On April 21 (May 4), 1910, the Committee for the Construction of the Temple was formed, headed by Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. The city authorities of Leipzig provided a plot of land of 2.5 hectares, on the edge of the field where the battle took place.

Preparatory work began in 1911. The ceremonial laying of the temple took place on December 15 (28), 1912. The Russian Minister of War, Adjutant General V.A. Sukhomlinov, and the city authorities were present at the service.

The author of the temple project is academician of architecture V. A. Pokrovsky. The architect originally created a design that was considered too expensive, so it was redesigned. The construction was supervised by V.A. Pokrovsky himself (his assistants: artist-architects N.B. Baklanov and V.F. Solomovich; students of the Higher Women's Polytechnic Courses: L.N. Kutyreva, A.V. Kuzmenko-Gvozdevich, L.V. Ovchinnikova and N.L. Goman; students: Y.D. Tutorsky and A.P. Tikhanov; student of the Higher Art School at the IAH P.P. The stability calculation was made by the military. Eng. G.G. Krivoshein; calculation of the reinforced concrete frame of the tent - Otto Encke.

During the bombing of Leipzig during the Second World War, local residents took refuge in the lower rooms of the temple.

The height of the church is 55 meters.

The walls are white, plastered; decorated at the corners with blades, cut through by narrow high windows and completed with a reinforced concrete tent, lined with Venetian glass mosaic. The tent is crowned with a gilded dome with a cross supported by chains.

On the apse there is a mosaic icon “Lord Pantocrator” (based on cardboards by artist N.P. Pashkov; typed in the private mosaic workshop of V.A. Frolov), below is a commemorative bronze plaque with the history of the temple.

A two-flight staircase leads to the upper temple. The entrance to it is framed by a perspective portal made of light sandstone. Above the portal there is a belfry topped with a small dome. Above the forged entrance doors there is a mosaic image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which is framed by gilded figures of flying angels.

Eight bells were cast at the Olovyanishnikov factory in Yaroslavl from guns that took part in the battles of 1813.

The church is surrounded by a circular gallery with 8 tall faceted lanterns, symbolizing funeral candles.

Upper Church of St. Alexia

• Inside, the height of the upper temple is 39 meters, designed for 200 people. The interior of the church is not painted and is designed in light colors.

The seven-tier iconostasis made of dark oak (Partnership of I.P. Khlebnikov (director and managing director V.I. Pedashenko)) was donated to the temple by the Don Cossacks and has a height of 18 meters. The icons were painted in the style of the 17th century by peasant icon painters N.S. Emelyanov and his assistants - A.I. Antonov and D.V. Golikov. The wooden parts of the iconostasis, choir and other furniture were made by the Artistic Carpentry Workshop of the Moscow Provincial Zemstvo in Sergiev Posad (headed by artist V.I. Sokolov; his assistant - carpentry instructor, peasant I.P. Zaitsev).

Among the icons noteworthy:

• An icon of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious in a large carved icon case, presented as a gift by the Orenburg Cossacks.
• Altarpiece “Prayer for the Cup”, artist D.F. Bogoslovsky (copy of the famous painting by F. A. Bruni).
• Artist V.K. Zahl painted portraits of emperors for the museum.

The banners in front of the iconostasis are made in the form of Cossack battle banners.

The mosaic floor is made of pieces of white and black marble.

The bronze five-tier chandelier of the temple weighs 800 kilograms. The mother-of-pearl bowls of the lamps are welded from smalt in the workshop of V.A. Frolova. The chandelier was donated to the temple by State Duma deputies and Moscow merchants.

Along the walls there are 8 bronze plaques with a list of regiments and units that took part in the battle.

Lower Temple

The lower church, on the site originally allocated for the museum, was consecrated in 1927 in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon. It contains ancient Russian banners.

Nearby there is a crypt where Lieutenant General I.E. Shevich, Major General N.D. Kudashev, Lieutenant Colonel A. Yurgenev, as well as (in niches) unknown soldiers are buried. Above the graves there is a small icon case with an icon of the Resurrection of Christ, and on the sides there are banners and portraits of the heroes of the battle, Emperor Alexander I and Prince M. I. Kutuzov-Smolensky.

On the walls and pillars of the lower gallery there are 20 stone plaques with the names of the regiments that took part in the battle, the names of the dead officers and the number of killed soldiers. At the main entrance to the lower temple there are two marble plaques, which in Russian and German remind of the number of fallen.

Other premises

On the lower floor there is also a small museum, a parish hall and a parish library of books of various contents, in Russian and German (more than 700 volumes).

Territory

On the eastern side of the temple there is the grave of two unknown grenadiers of the Chernigov regiment, transferred from the battlefield in 1988.

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Links

Sources

Archival

• RGIA, ff. 796, 797, 1278.

Literature

• "Russian Antiquity". Monthly historical publication. 1913 Volume 156. Page. 5, 6a-6c.
• "Russian pilgrim". 1913 No. 43. Page. 679-693. "Russian celebrations in Leipzig."
• Temple-monument on the battlefield near Leipzig. Voronov P. N. S.-Petersburg. 1913
• "Architectural World". Issue 3. 1914. Page. 128-132.
• Antonov V.V., Kobak A.V. Russian churches and monasteries in Europe. - St. Petersburg: “Faces of Russia”, 2005. - P. 88-91. - 3000 copies.
• - ISBN 5-87417-208-4.

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An excerpt characterizing the Temple-Monument of Russian Glory in Leipzig

- Report to the prince and princess that I didn’t know anything: I acted according to the highest orders - so...
He gave the paper to Alpatych.
- However, since the prince is unwell, my advice to them is to go to Moscow. I'm on my way now. Report... - But the governor didn’t finish: a dusty and sweaty officer ran through the door and began to say something in French. The governor's face showed horror.
“Go,” he said, nodding his head to Alpatych, and began asking the officer something. Greedy, frightened, helpless glances turned to Alpatych as he left the governor’s office. Unwittingly now listening to the nearby and increasingly intensifying shots, Alpatych hurried to the inn. The paper that the governor gave to Alpatych was as follows:
“I assure you that the city of Smolensk does not yet face the slightest danger, and it is incredible that it will be threatened by it. I am on one side, and Prince Bagration on the other side, we are going to unite in front of Smolensk, which will take place on the 22nd, and both armies with their combined forces will defend their compatriots in the province entrusted to you, until their efforts remove the enemies of the fatherland from them or until they are exterminated in their brave ranks to the last warrior. You see from this that you have every right to reassure the inhabitants of Smolensk, for whoever is protected by two such brave troops can be confident of their victory.” (Instruction from Barclay de Tolly to the Smolensk civil governor, Baron Asch, 1812.)
People were moving restlessly through the streets.
Carts loaded with household utensils, chairs, and cabinets continually drove out of the gates of houses and drove through the streets. In the neighboring house of Ferapontov there were carts and, saying goodbye, the women howled and said sentences. The mongrel dog was barking and spinning around in front of the stalled horses.
Alpatych, with a more hasty step than he usually walked, entered the yard and went straight under the barn to his horses and cart. The coachman was sleeping; he woke him up, ordered him to lay him to bed and entered the hallway. In the master's room one could hear the crying of a child, the wracking sobs of a woman, and the angry, hoarse cry of Ferapontov. The cook, like a frightened chicken, fluttered in the hallway as soon as Alpatych entered.
- He killed her to death - he beat the owner!.. He beat her like that, she dragged her like that!..
- For what? – asked Alpatych.
- I asked to go. It's a woman's business! Take me away, he says, don’t destroy me and my little children; the people, he says, have all left, what, he says, are we? How he started beating. He hit me like that, he dragged me like that!
Alpatych seemed to nod his head approvingly at these words and, not wanting to know anything more, went to the opposite door - the master's door of the room in which his purchases remained.
“You are a villain, a destroyer,” shouted at that time a thin, pale woman with a child in her arms and a scarf torn from her head, bursting out of the door and running down the stairs to the courtyard. Ferapontov followed her and, seeing Alpatych, straightened his vest and hair, yawned and entered the room behind Alpatych.
- Do you really want to go? - he asked.
Without answering the question and without looking back at the owner, looking through his purchases, Alpatych asked how long the owner was supposed to stay.
- We'll count! Well, did the governor have one? – Ferapontov asked. – What was the solution?
Alpatych replied that the governor did not tell him anything decisively.
- Are we going to go away on our business? - said Ferapontov. - Give me seven rubles per cart to Dorogobuzh. And I say: there is no cross on them! - he said.
“Selivanov, he got in on Thursday and sold flour to the army for nine rubles a sack.” Well, will you drink tea? - he added. While the horses were being pawned, Alpatych and Ferapontov drank tea and talked about the price of grain, the harvest and favorable weather for harvesting.
“However, it began to calm down,” said Ferapontov, drinking three cups of tea and getting up, “ours must have taken over.” They said they won't let me in. This means strength... And after all, they said, Matvey Ivanovich Platov drove them into the Marina River, drowned eighteen thousand, or something, in one day.
Alpatych collected his purchases, handed them over to the coachman who came in, and settled accounts with the owner. At the gate there was the sound of wheels, hooves and bells of a car leaving.
It was already well past noon; half the street was in the shade, the other was brightly lit by the sun. Alpatych looked out the window and went to the door. Suddenly a strange sound of a distant whistle and blow was heard, and after that there was a merging roar of cannon fire, which made the windows tremble.
Alpatych went out into the street; two people ran down the street towards the bridge. From different sides we heard whistles, impacts of cannonballs and the bursting of grenades falling in the city. But these sounds were almost inaudible and did not attract the attention of residents in comparison with the sounds of gunfire heard outside the city. It was a bombardment, which at five o'clock Napoleon ordered to open on the city, from one hundred and thirty guns. At first the people did not understand the significance of this bombing.
The sounds of falling grenades and cannonballs aroused at first only curiosity. Ferapontov’s wife, who had never stopped howling under the barn, fell silent and, with the child in her arms, went out to the gate, silently looking at the people and listening to the sounds.
The cook and the shopkeeper came out to the gate. Everyone with cheerful curiosity tried to see the shells flying over their heads. Several people came out from around the corner, talking animatedly.
- That’s power! - said one. “Both the lid and the ceiling were smashed into splinters.”
“It tore up the earth like a pig,” said another. - That’s so important, that’s how I encouraged you! – he said laughing. “Thank you, I jumped back, otherwise she would have smeared you.”
The people turned to these people. They paused and told how they got into the house near their core. Meanwhile, other shells, now with a quick, gloomy whistle - cannonballs, now with a pleasant whistling - grenades, did not stop flying over the heads of the people; but not a single shell fell close, everything was carried over. Alpatych sat down in the tent. The owner stood at the gate.
- What haven’t you seen! - he shouted at the cook, who, with her sleeves rolled up, in a red skirt, swaying with her bare elbows, came to the corner to listen to what was being said.
“What a miracle,” she said, but, hearing the owner’s voice, she returned, tugging at her tucked skirt.
Again, but very close this time, something whistled, like a bird flying from top to bottom, a fire flashed in the middle of the street, something fired and covered the street with smoke.
- Villain, why are you doing this? – the owner shouted, running up to the cook.
At the same moment, women howled pitifully from different sides, a child began to cry in fear, and people with pale faces silently crowded around the cook. From this crowd, the cook’s moans and sentences were heard most loudly:
- Oh oh oh, my darlings! My little darlings are white! Don't let me die! My white darlings!..
Five minutes later there was no one left on the street. The cook, her thigh broken by a grenade fragment, was carried into the kitchen. Alpatych, his coachman, Ferapontov’s wife and children, and the janitor sat in the basement, listening. The roar of guns, the whistling of shells and the pitiful moan of the cook, which dominated all sounds, did not cease for a moment. The hostess either rocked and coaxed the child, or in a pitiful whisper asked everyone who entered the basement where her owner, who remained on the street, was. The shopkeeper who entered the basement told her that the owner had gone with the people to the cathedral, where they were raising the Smolensk miraculous icon.
By dusk the cannonade began to subside. Alpatych came out of the basement and stopped at the door. The previously clear evening sky was completely covered with smoke. And through this smoke the young, high-standing crescent of the month strangely shone. After the previous terrible roar of guns had ceased, there seemed silence over the city, interrupted only by the rustling of footsteps, groans, distant screams and the crackle of fires that seemed to be widespread throughout the city. The cook's moans had now died down. Black clouds of smoke from the fires rose and dispersed from both sides. On the street, not in rows, but like ants from a ruined hummock, in different uniforms and in different directions, soldiers passed and ran. In Alpatych’s eyes, several of them ran into Ferapontov’s yard. Alpatych went to the gate. Some regiment, crowded and in a hurry, blocked the street, walking back.
“They are surrendering the city, leave, leave,” the officer who noticed his figure told him and immediately shouted to the soldiers:
- I'll let you run around the yards! - he shouted.
Alpatych returned to the hut and, calling the coachman, ordered him to leave. Following Alpatych and the coachman, all of Ferapontov’s household came out. Seeing the smoke and even the fires of the fires, now visible in the beginning twilight, the women, who had been silent until then, suddenly began to cry out, looking at the fires. As if echoing them, the same cries were heard at other ends of the street. Alpatych and his coachman, with shaking hands, straightened the tangled reins and lines of the horses under the canopy.
When Alpatych was leaving the gate, he saw about ten soldiers in Ferapontov’s open shop, talking loudly, filling bags and backpacks with wheat flour and sunflowers. At the same time, Ferapontov entered the shop, returning from the street. Seeing the soldiers, he wanted to shout something, but suddenly stopped and, clutching his hair, laughed a sobbing laugh.
- Get everything, guys! Don't let the devils get you! - he shouted, grabbing the bags himself and throwing them into the street. Some soldiers, frightened, ran out, some continued to pour in. Seeing Alpatych, Ferapontov turned to him.
– I’ve made up my mind! Race! - he shouted. - Alpatych! I've decided! I'll light it myself. I decided... - Ferapontov ran into the yard.
Soldiers were constantly walking along the street, blocking it all, so that Alpatych could not pass and had to wait. The owner Ferapontova and her children were also sitting on the cart, waiting to be able to leave.
It was already quite night. There were stars in the sky and the young moon, occasionally obscured by smoke, shone. On the descent to the Dnieper, Alpatych's carts and their mistresses, moving slowly in the ranks of soldiers and other crews, had to stop. Not far from the intersection where the carts stopped, in an alley, a house and shops were burning. The fire had already burned out. The flame either died down and was lost in the black smoke, then suddenly flared up brightly, strangely clearly illuminating the faces of the crowded people standing at the intersection. Black figures of people flashed in front of the fire, and from behind the incessant crackling of the fire, talking and screams were heard. Alpatych, who got off the cart, seeing that the cart would not let him through soon, turned into the alley to look at the fire. The soldiers were constantly snooping back and forth past the fire, and Alpatych saw how two soldiers and with them some man in a frieze overcoat were dragging burning logs from the fire across the street into the neighboring yard; others carried armfuls of hay.
Alpatych approached a large crowd of people standing in front of a tall barn that was burning with full fire. The walls were all on fire, the back one had collapsed, the plank roof had collapsed, the beams were on fire. Obviously, the crowd was waiting for the moment when the roof would collapse. Alpatych expected this too.
- Alpatych! – suddenly a familiar voice called out to the old man.
“Father, your Excellency,” answered Alpatych, instantly recognizing the voice of his young prince.
Prince Andrei, in a cloak, riding a black horse, stood behind the crowd and looked at Alpatych.
- How are you here? - he asked.
“Your... your Excellency,” said Alpatych and began to sob... “Yours, yours... or are we already lost?” Father…
- How are you here? – repeated Prince Andrei.
The flame flared up brightly at that moment and illuminated for Alpatych the pale and exhausted face of his young master. Alpatych told how he was sent and how he could forcefully leave.
- What, your Excellency, or are we lost? – he asked again.
Prince Andrei, without answering, took out a notebook and, raising his knee, began to write with a pencil on a torn sheet. He wrote to his sister:
“Smolensk is being surrendered,” he wrote, “Bald Mountains will be occupied by the enemy in a week. Leave now for Moscow. Answer me immediately when you leave, sending a messenger to Usvyazh.”
Having written and given the piece of paper to Alpatych, he verbally told him how to manage the departure of the prince, princess and son with the teacher and how and where to answer him immediately. Before he had time to finish these orders, the chief of staff on horseback, accompanied by his retinue, galloped up to him.
-Are you a colonel? - shouted the chief of staff, with a German accent, in a voice familiar to Prince Andrei. - They light houses in your presence, and you stand? What does this mean? “You will answer,” shouted Berg, who was now the assistant chief of staff of the left flank of the infantry forces of the First Army, “the place is very pleasant and in plain sight, as Berg said.”
Prince Andrei looked at him and, without answering, continued, turning to Alpatych:
“So tell me that I’m waiting for an answer by the tenth, and if I don’t receive news on the tenth that everyone has left, I myself will have to drop everything and go to Bald Mountains.”
“I, Prince, say this only because,” said Berg, recognizing Prince Andrei, “that I must carry out orders, because I always carry out them exactly... Please forgive me,” Berg made some excuses.
Something crackled in the fire. The fire died down for a moment; black clouds of smoke poured out from under the roof. Something on fire also crackled terribly, and something huge fell down.