Gnadenkirche St. Pauli

The Church of St. John of Kronstadt (German: Kirche des heiligen Johannes von Kronstadt) is a Russian Orthodox church located in the city of Hamburg, Germany. Within Hamburg, the church is located in the St. Pauli quarter. The church provides a place of worship for many Russian Orthodox believers, largely of Russian, Ukrainian, or Georgian heritage. The congregation has also made an effort to act as a Russian cultural hub, opening a community center next door that is partially dedicated to showcasing Russian art and music. The church had previously been called the Church of Grace (Gnadenkirche). It was part of the Evangelical Lutheran church and was originally built as a branch church of St. Pauli's Church. Because of declining numbers of people in their congregation, the congregation of the Church of Grace merged with the congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of St. Pauli South in 2002. However, the associated costs made it untenable to keep this church building. Even though very little money changed hands, it still made financial sense for the combined congregation to give the building up, and with the Russian Orthodox Church as the new owners, it remained a Christian church.