Kobe Union Church, Former church building in Ikuta-chō, Kobe, Japan

The Old Kobe Union Church is a Gothic-style church building designed by architect William Merrell Vories and completed in 1929 on a slope between Sannomiya and Shin-Kobe, in Ikuta-cho, Chuo Ward, Kobe. It is a two-storey reinforced-concrete structure built by Takenaka Corporation, with a registered tangible cultural property designation. Since the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake it has housed the Freundlieb bakery and cafe.

Built in 1929 as the hall of the Kobe Union Church, an expatriate congregation, the Gothic-style structure was designed by American architect William Merrell Vories and erected by the Takenaka Corporation in reinforced concrete, two storeys above ground. Damaged in the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, it was bought and converted by the long-established bakery Freundlieb, and in 1999 it was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property under the name Freundlieb main store.

The building was erected in 1929 as a church for Kobe's foreign residents and served the Kobe Union Church congregation. After the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake damaged it, the long-established German bakery Freundlieb bought and renovated it. Visitors today see the former sanctuary used as a German bakery shop and cafe, with the church structure kept.

The former church stands at 4-6-15 Ikuta-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, on the slope between Sannomiya and Shin-Kobe. It is about six minutes on foot from Shin-Kobe Station and eight minutes from the Sannomiya stations of JR, Hankyu, Hanshin and the municipal subway. The building now houses a bakery and cafe.

The building was bought after the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake by the long-established bakery Freundlieb, which converted it into a German bakery shop and café. The 1929 sanctuary, a registered Tangible Cultural Property since 1999, now serves bread and coffee instead of sermons.