About us

The foundation stone of the Pietati church was laid on 29 May 1816, with Georg Winkler, a mason, and Christian Kiermayer, a carpenter, in charge of the work. The construction continued in several stages due to lack of funds. The church was not finally consecrated until thirteen and a half years later, on 29 November 1829.

It is important to mention that in 1818, a Lutheran school was built in the courtyard, next to the church vestry. The former school building still stands in the parish courtyard.

To compensate for the height of the surrounding buildings at the beginning of the century, the tower of the Lutheran church in Cluj was raised by four metres in 1914, according to the plans of the industrialist Albert Akeszmann and the architect Károly Reményik. The Evangelical Church, built in Austrian Baroque style, has a current height of 43 m, an external length of 34.6 m and a width of 17.9 m, while inside the nave is 16.3 m long and 15.35 m wide, the sanctuary is 7.65 m long and 10.4 m wide, and the maximum internal height is 15.8 m.

From 1820 onwards, the side of the church on Bridge Street (now King Ferdinand Street) was occupied by shops, which were demolished during the renovation works of 1958. The Lutheran church, located at the northeast corner of the Main Square, at the junction of the Bridge and Belmagyar/Kossuth streets, is a prominent feature of the town’s skyline, combining late Baroque and neoclassical elements.

The church is still furnished in the 19th century Empire style, the most beautiful pieces of which are the pulpit with egg-jointed, pinewood-carved pulpit, carved in 1826 by master carpenter Lucas Hoch, and the altar with its composite chaptered columns, framed by a pediment decorated with the eye of God and garlanded urns. The structure of the altar was made by master carpenter Georg Schneider. The altarpiece is the work of the Viennese academic painter Johann Gentiluomo and depicts the scene of Christ on the Mount of Olives.

The church’s other attraction is the stone baptismal font, dating from 1721, with a shell-domed cupola and a white-glazed copper lid with a wooden Baroque statuette of Christ’s baptism. The baptismal font bears the following Latin inscription:

IN HONOREM ET GLORIAM DEI LITET – A kind sacrifice to the honour and glory of God

ECCLESIAE EMOLUMENTUM CURAVIT – Made for the use of the Church

An undeciphered monogram and the year of making, 1721 (photo enclosed).

The church houses a three-manual pneumatic organ built by the Walker firm of Ludwigsburg, Germany, which was consecrated on 5 April 1913. The construction of this organ was not completed due to the outbreak of the Great War, and the third manual was never installed. As a result of the 2018-2021 renovation, the organ was completely renovated and the third manual was built. Thus, the pneumatic organ in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cluj/Kolozsvár is now, after the recent extension and renovation, unique and has become the best concert organ in Cluj.

The history of the church bells is also very interesting. We know from the records of the late caretaker Dr. Károly Jászay that the Evangelical-Lutheran Church – Parish of Cluj/Kolozsvár had six new bells over the centuries, two of which were recast and three of which were used for war purposes. Since 1918, a large 6-mass bell, the Holy Trinity bell, has remained in the Lutheran church tower. In the current church renovation process, just over 100 years later, in the Year of Unity 2020, two new bells were cast in the foundry of Imre Lázár from Odorheiu Secuiesc, so that three bells once again adorn the Lutheran church tower in Cluj. One of the new bells weighs 37 kg and is called the Lord’s Prayer bell, while the other weighs 210 kg and is called the Unity bell. The bells were received and consecrated in Cluj on 2 October 2020.