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Visitor Information
St George's German Lutheran Church, 55 Alie Street, London, E1 8EB
Tel: 020 7481 0533
Email: chapels@hct.org.uk
Grid reference: TQ340812
St George’s stands beside the Dispensary pub, on Alie Street, at the junction of Alie Street and Leman Street.
Kitchen and WC facilities and a disabled access ramp are available.
St George's German Lutheran Church Events
HCT was pleased to oversee the unveiling of a blue plaque to Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, on the site of St Paul’s German Evangelical Reformed Church in Goulston Street, (where he was Pastor from 1933 to 1935) on Monday 9 November 2009. St George's has also hosted a series of four well attended talks this Spring.
The next event will be a recital on Saturday 24th July at 4pm.
The church will be open on London Open House weekend Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th September 10.00am to 4.00pm.
There is a free organ recital on the first Thursday of each month at 1pm.
; For further information about the church and events, visit the St George's website.
St George's German Lutheran Church
London | Listed Grade II*
Transport
St George’s is three minutes walk from Aldgate East Underground Station and four minutes walk from Aldgate Underground station and bus station.
There are parking restrictions in the area until 5.30pm midweek. Parking meter spaces may be found nearby on Leman Street and parking is available, Monday to Friday in the multistorey carpark behind in Buckle Street.
History and Architecture
St George's dates from 1762–3 and is now the oldest German church in Britain. It served as a religious centre for generations of German immigrants who worked in the East End sugar refineries and in the meat and baking trades right up until the First World War.
Inside, the church retains a remarkable and mostly original series of furnishings. These include a complete set of ground floor and gallery pews and a magnificent, high, central double-decker pulpit and sounding board. At the ‘east end’ hangs the coat-of-arms of King George III (pre-1801) and two carved timber commandment boards in German. The Royal Arms, once enjoined to be erected in all Anglican churches, and adopted by others as a mark of loyalty, recall a connection with the Duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria, who was patron of the adjacent German and English schools from 1819. There are 18th and l9th-century memorials, stained glass of great interest and a fine German Walcker organ.
During the Nazi period in Germany St George's pastor, Julius Rieger, set up a relief centre for Jewish refugees from Germany who were provided with references to travel to England.
The leading theologian and anti-Nazi activist Dietrich Bonhoeffer was also associated with the work of St George’s when Bonhoeffer was pastor at the nearby St Paul’s church from 1933 to 1935. The former congregation marked the centenary of Bonhoeffer’s birth with a special service in 2006.
The family history records of the former congregation are now held at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets local history library, 277 Bancroft Rd, London E1 4DQ tel 020 7364 1290. The library is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Repair and Regeneration
Major repairs and upgrading costing nearly £900,000 were completed in 2004, including the restoration of the organ.
The building was officially re-opened by HRH The Duke of Gloucester on 24 September 2004.
Supporting St George's German Lutheran Church
St George’s local committee organises a programme of concerts and other events throughout the year. A 16-page, well illustrated, colour guidebook is available for £6 (including p and p) from the office. Cheques should be made payable to HCT.