Evangelical-Lutheran Community Lutheranism in the
South Caucasus began spreading from the 1820s, following the establishment of
German colonies in
Azerbaijan, such as
Helenendorf and
Annenfeld. During that period, the colonists were subordinate to the Evangelical Lutheran Supreme Consistory. In 1810, the Central Administration for Foreign Faiths (
Главное управление иностранных исповеданий) was established, and from 1817, it became part of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the
Russian Empire. Until its dissolution in 1937, the Evangelical Lutheran Society of Azerbaijan was part of the United South Caucasus Evangelical Lutheran Society. In 1864, individuals such as Eichler, the De Burr brothers, Otto Lend, and others migrated from
Moscow to
Baku. The Evangelical Lutheran Community established in Baku in 1870 was also organized by German Lutherans.In 1873, alongside
Robert Nobel,
Swedish Lutherans also settled in Baku. By 1877, there were 3,430 Germans living in the Baku Governorate.
Location selection In 1877, Valerian Pozen, the Governor of Baku and a Major General, granted Lutherans permission to elect representatives and church council members, as well as to build a church (
kirche) and a primary school. The council included engineer Tol, engineer Ferdinand Lemkul, pharmacist Karl Eichler, mechanical factory owner Otto Lend, Wilhelm Sorge (father of the intelligence officer Richard Sorge), Gottlieb Zinne, and Swiss national Sungreen. On May 2, 1878, members of the Baku Evangelical Lutheran Council, including Lemkul, Meyer, Eichler, Lentz, Zinne, and others, submitted a petition to the City Administration requesting land for constructing a house of worship and a primary school. They requested a plot on the former Nikolayevskaya Street (now Istiglaliyyat Street), where the current
Building of Baku City Executive Power is located. In February 1879, the Lutheran Church Council submitted another request to the City Administration, asking for land at the initially proposed location. If that was not possible, they requested a plot on the eastern side of the Tatar Cemetery, opposite the prison grounds (currently the site of the "Monolit" building). Although burials in that cemetery had been prohibited since 1859, people continued to visit graves there. According to Baku’s 1878 master plan, the area along the fortress walls was designated for artisan workshops, while the square opposite the prison was intended for commercial purposes. As a result, the City Administration suggested that the Church Council select another location. On November 30, 1885, the Baku City Duma approved the allocation of a vacant plot near Masumov’s factory and Vermishev’s mill on Telefonnaya Street for the construction of a church and school. On March 21, 1896, a Sunday, the ceremonial laying of the church’s foundation took place. The event was attended by Baku Governor Pavel Lileyev and Mayor Iretsky, as well as Emmanuel Nobel, who traveled to Baku for the occasion.
During the USSR In 1934, a decision was made to demolish the Church of the Savior. However, the Evangelical Lutheran community of
Azerbaijan continued its activities until 1937. The last pastor,
Paul Hamberg, left the church in 1934, but the Church Council continued to fight for the preservation of the church and the rights of its visitors. In 1936, Rudolf Wagner, a council member, initiated an effort funded by donations from churchgoers. Amaliya Andreyevna Karpenko was sent to
Moscow with a special letter addressed to the Soviet government and directly to Stalin. The letter requested permission to preserve the German church in Baku and allow worshippers to continue praying for
Stalin's well-being for the remainder of their lives. However, the demolition of the church was ultimately prevented. In 1934, after the sudden death of
Sergey Kirov, the Soviet government urgently decided to erect a statue in his honor in Baku. The task of creating the statue was assigned to sculptor Pinchos Sabsay. Sabsay requested a large space with a high ceiling to continue working on the statue and asked for the church building to be allocated as his workshop. As a result, the demolition of the church was postponed, and the building was repurposed as Sabsay’s workshop. In the following years, by a decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, the building was renamed the Chamber and Organ Music Hall and was placed under the administration of the
Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society.
In modern times On March 15, 2010, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree “Considering the importance of the Chamber and Organ Music Hall of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic as a historical and architectural monument and a cultural center,” and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan allocated 1 million manat from the Reserve Fund of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the restoration work. In 2016, Vera Viktorovna Nesterev, the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baku, reported that the church was charging a 20 AZN fee for Sunday services, but the congregation was unable to pay this amount consistently. In response, the State Committee for Work with Religious Associations stated that, like all religious communities, the Lutheran congregation also receives state funding from the national budget. == Architectural features ==