St. Jakobus church, Pesterwitz, Lutheran church in Pesterwitz, Germany

St. Jakobus Church in Pesterwitz is a Lutheran church with a 43-meter tower and a column-free nave topped by narrow stained glass windows. The white-painted interior can hold around 600 worshippers and reflects early 1900s religious architecture.

The present church is Pesterwitz's fourth. Two earlier churches stood on this site, and a third elsewhere; the predecessor here was used from 1478 until its demolition in 1904. Woldemar Kandler designed the new building, whose foundation stone was laid on 11 July 1905 and which was consecrated on 11 November 1906. The old entrance portal was incorporated, and the tower now faced the village to the east.

The church is named after the Apostle James the Elder and lies on the Saxon Jakobsweg, the pilgrimage route between Dresden and Grumbach, so pilgrims stop here; a guesthouse stands near the church. The parish hosts the "Pesterwitzer Konzerte" concerts and the Kammerchor Pesterwitz performs here. Portraits of pastors Achatius Andreas Thomae and Johann Gottfried Thomae, grandfather and father of sculptor Johann Benjamin Thomae, flank the organ.

The church opens for regular worship services and visitors are welcome during these times. For current hours and visiting information, check the church website before planning your visit.

The adjoining cemetery holds the Luckner Chapel, where family members of naval officer Felix Graf von Luckner are buried. A stone memorial there also honors Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Lindig, a mining pioneer of the region.