Russian Orthodox Memorial Church, Eastern Orthodox church building in Reudnitz-Thonberg, Leipzig, Germany
The Russian Orthodox Memorial Church is a brick structure distinguished by its gilded onion dome and tent-shaped roof rising above the surroundings. The building features a sturdy, blocky form with thick walls and distinctive Eastern architectural elements.
The church commemorates the roughly 22,000 Russian soldiers who died in the 1813 Battle of Nations around Leipzig. Donations were collected from 1907, and the foundation stone was laid on 28 December 1912. Built in ten months to a design by Vladimir Pokrovsky, it was consecrated on 17 October 1913, one day before the Battle of the Nations monument was inaugurated. The relics of fallen Russian soldiers were transferred to its crypt on 16 October 1913.
The church is dedicated to Saint Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow, and its full name calls it a memorial to Russian glory. The seven-tier iconostasis, 18 metres high, was a gift from the Don Cossacks and holds 78 icons painted by Luka Martyanovich Yemelyanov; it was reconsecrated on 18 November 2018 after three years of restoration. A small parish library and church museum are housed in the building.
The church stands at the corner of Philipp-Rosenthal-Straße and Semmelweisstraße in the Reudnitz-Thonberg district, near the Deutsche Bücherei. The 55-metre tower with its gilded onion dome is visible from far off and serves as a landmark for finding the site. Two war memorial plaques flank the entrance to the winter church, inscribed in German and Russian.
The church is a free copy of the Ascension Church in Kolomenskoye, built in 1530–1532 and now a World Heritage Site. Its 55-metre tower with a gilded onion dome is visible far across Leipzig. The seven-tier iconostasis, 18 metres high, holds 78 icons painted by Luka Martjanowitsch Jemeljanow and was a gift of the Don Cossacks.
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