December 10, 2016

2896 GERMANY (Saarland) - Ludwigskirche in Saarbrücken


Ludwigskirche in Old Saarbrücken is a Lutheran baroque-style church. It is the symbol of the city and is considered to be one of the most important Protestant churches in Germany, along with the Dresden Frauenkirche and the St. Michael's Church, Hamburg. Ludwigskirche and the surrounding Ludwigsplatz (Ludwig's Square) were designed as a "complete work of art", in the sense of a baroque place royale, by Friedrich Joachim Stengel on the commission of Prince William Henry.

Construction was begun in 1762. After the death of William Henry in 1768, work on it was stopped due to lack of funds. The church was finally completed in 1775 by his son, Louis, and it was also named after him. In 1885-1887 and in 1906-1911, the church underwent restoration. During the WWII, Ludwigskirche was almost completely destroyed. Rebuilding began in 1949, however it has still not been completed. The ground plan is shaped somewhat like a Greek cross.

There are niches on the outside which contain statues of the four Evangelists by Francuß Bingh. The stone balustrades were decorated with 28 figures, also by Bingh, depicting the apostles, prophets and other Biblical people. The interior of the church is decorated with ornamental stucco. Each of the four arms of the cross has a gallery supported by two to four caryatids. The restoration of the original white paint on the exterior is still currently being disputed.

About the stamps
The first stamp belong to the set Blumen, about which I wrote here.


The second stamp was issued on November 30, 2016 to celebrate Christmas.

References
Ludwigskirche - Wikipedia

Sender: Anne Hippe and the German postcrossers who participated to the meetup which held in Saarbrücken on November 26, 2016
Sent from Saarbrücken (Saarland / Germany), on 26.11.2016

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