On 27 December 1727, Tsar Peter II granted land in a desert area near Nevsky Avenue, between Bolshaya Konjushennay and Malaya Konjushennaya Streets, to a German Lutheran Community.
The foundations of a church were laid on 29 June 1728, the SS. Peter and Paul's Day. The project was implemented by Carlo Giuseppe Trezzini.
On 14 (25) June 1730, 200th Anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, the church was solemnly consecrated. The brick building with a small wooden tower seated approximately 1.500 people.
In 1737, two houses were built near the Church. They were occupied by clergymen's flats and a school.
In 1740, all wooden buildings facing Nevsky Avenue, the main city street, including the two Church's houses were demolished by order of the St. Petersburg Building Commission. In 1747, they were replaced with new stone buildings designed by K. Kempf.
In the early 1832, when the Church's building became dilapidated, the Community announced a design contest for a new church. A design by Alexander Brullov, brother of the famous Russian artist Karl Brullov, was chosen as the best of five competing projects. The old building was demolished in summer of 1833. On 21 August, the foundations of the new church were laid.
On 31 October 1838, Reformation Day, the new church was consecrated. In the 1830s, architect Zollikofer redesigned both Community's houses.
The Church's altar was decorated with a big Crucifixion painting by Karl Brullov. Hans Holbein the Younger's canvas "Jesus and Saint Thomas" adorned the lower part of the altar, while on both sides of the altar, there were round images of SS. Peter and Paul created by Brullov as well.
In 1840, a big Walker organ, brought from Ludwigsburg, Wurttemberg County, was installed in the Church.
In 1863, bells appeared in the western tower of the Church. They were made in Bochum, Westphalia. In 1864, two stained-glass windows were donated.
Meanwhile, the building was in emergency condition, because too soft ground and pressure difference resulted in settling of walls and many wall cracks. In 1881, the Church Council asked for help from Professor Rudolf Bernhard, a famous expert on a church construction technique. He was one of the first who developed an analytical method to make church buildings stable. In summer of 1883, Bernhard partially improved the situation with the help of steel braces. In time the building's condition became stable.
During the capital repairs from 1895 to 1897, the Church's interior was significantly changed in accordance with a design by architect Maximilian Messmacher. It was done purposely to unify the interior elements, because Roman, Gothic, Renascence, and Antique motifs did not match. Statues of SS. Peter and Paul (made by A. Triscornia), copies of the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen's statues, were put in front of the Church.
In 1910, both Church's buildings facing Nevsky Avenue were enlarged with two storeys.
In 1938, after the Nationalisation process, the Church was occupied by a warehouse of stage scenery and later vegetables.
In 1958, the building was redesigned for a swimming pool, which was opened in 1962. The layout was changed, and the interior was completely altered. As a result, remains of the wall paintings were lost.
On the outside, the building remained almost the same. In 1994, after the Church was returned to the believers, an angel statue above the gable was restored. However, the interior required far more serious reconstruction. First of all, the entire lower part of the church hall was occupied by a swimming pool's concrete bowl. Secondly, the pressure difference resulted in differential settlement of foundation and many wall cracks, which was even worsen because of the swimming pool. Thirdly, during the reconstruction of the 1990s, historical system of brick arched floors was broken, which resulted in cracks up to 10 mm wide.
Architectural conception was developed by Sabina and Fritz Wenzels by order of the Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Frankfurt and by agreement with the Ministry of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany. The project was implemented by a manager of the Church's restoration department I. Sharapan. However, during the reconstruction of the 1990s, the system of unique brick vaults was broken. Wide holes were made in the inverted vaults to insert there metal columns for a new floor. This fact greatly complicates the mission on restoration of the historical Church's appearance.
The new floor is four metres higher that the previous one, and there is still the swimming pool's bowl under it. It is impossible to remove the bowl until complex researches are made and a construction reinforcement project is developed. The lowered height of the hall makes itself felt. The room has bad acoustics, thus microphones must be used.
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