Christuskirche, Paris

The Christuskirche on Rue Blanche stands as a landmark of German-speaking life in Paris. Before this building was consecrated in eighteen ninety-four, generations of German Lutherans in the city had to worship in secret or under the protection of foreign embassies. During the late seventeenth century, when Protestant services were strictly outlawed in France, these worshippers gathered in the drawing rooms of the Swedish legation to maintain their traditions. By the mid-nineteenth century, the community had grown to include tens of thousands of German immigrants, many of whom worked in the city as laborers, necessitating a permanent and public home for their faith.