Gedächtniskirche, Neoclassical church in Schönefeld district, Leipzig, Germany

Gedächtniskirche is a neoclassical hall church built 1816–1820 to plans by carpenter Walter Friedrich and mason Carl Friedrich Kind. Inside, a two-storey gallery runs around the room, glazed "chapels" with Ionic pilasters flank the altar, and the pulpit stands behind the altar opposite the organ gallery. The 50-metre tower is topped by a baroque-style hood.

A first church on this site likely dates from the early 14th century; it burned in 1526, was rebuilt by 1527, and was renovated and enlarged between 1753 and 1776. On 18 October 1813, during the Battle of the Nations, fire destroyed it again. The present Neoclassical hall church was built from 1816 to plans by master carpenter Walter Friedrich and master mason Carl Friedrich Kind, and was consecrated on 16 April 1820. It received the name Gedächtniskirche in 1916 after the entrance hall was remodelled as a memorial to the fallen of the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War.

The name Gedächtniskirche dates from its rededication on 19 March 1916, when the entrance hall was remodelled as a memorial to the fallen of the Franco-Prussian War and World War I and the ceiling received an Iron Cross framed in oak leaves. The baptismal table carved in Jerusalem from olive wood with a silver basin, given by Clara Hedwig von Eberstein in 1870, is still part of the furnishings.

The church is accessible during set hours and located near public transportation stops within walking distance. Visitors should check specific opening times in advance to plan their visit accordingly.

The name Gedächtniskirche dates from 1916, when the entrance hall was remodelled as a memorial to the fallen of the Franco-Prussian War and World War I and the ceiling received an Iron Cross framed by oak leaves. The church itself was not built as a war memorial: the neoclassical hall church was erected between 1816 and 1820 after the previous church burned during the Battle of the Nations in 1813.