Sankt Gertrud

Sankt Gertrud is a neo-Gothic church in Hamburg’s Uhlenhorst district, near the Kuhmühlenteich. Builders completed Johannes Otzen’s design between 1882 and 1885. Its shingled tower rises 88 metres above a hall built with red, yellow, and green bricks.

It replaced the medieval Gertrudenkapelle, which stood at Gertrudenstraße and Lilienstraße in Hamburg’s old town. That chapel began in 1399 and expanded in 1580. During the French occupation, it served as a hay magazine before the Great Fire destroyed it in 1842. Builders placed the replacement on land exchanged with the city near Kuhmühlenteich. Inside, Otzen designed the altar, pulpit, baptismal font, and pews as a unified ensemble. The hall provides seating for 1,150 visitors.

During the Second World War, the church suffered little damage, but bombing destroyed the choir windows. Artist Werner Bunz later designed their abstract replacements. Further work renewed the tower in 1964 and 2011, while 2015 renovations updated lighting and heating. An organ replaced the 1885 original in 1967. Its masonry uses 460 types of red, yellow, and green brick, a logistical challenge for construction.