Tbilisi Evangelical-Lutheran Church

The History of Tbilisi Evangelical-Lutheran Church

By the end of 1818, six Swabian colonies had been founded in Georgia, although this number would grow in later years. The hard-working Swabian farmers who diligently maintained their Lutheran traditions, opened a place of worship in each settlement, and these places of worship would eventually become churches. Attending the church service was a unifying element for the Lutheran Germans in Georgia. It all lasted until the establishment of communism imposed strict restrictions on religious rituals.

During the Soviet period, the Lutherans experienced the same difficulties as the Orthodox parish, with religious instruction and church services slowly banned. Theatres, cinemas, sports halls, and warehouses were opened in the churches. 

But it was not the worst thing that happened to the Georgian Germans. In 1941, from October 15th to November 12th, 23,580 citizens with German background were deported from Georgia. In 1945, the German prisoners of war were forced to destroy their church on what is now Marjanishvili Square.

A new church was built between 1995 and 1997 by the remaining German population in Georgia, on the site of a former German cemetery on Graneli Street. This church is called the Church of Reconciliation, and was organized and funded by Dr. Gerd Hummel, the first Evangelical-Lutheran Bishop of Georgia.