St. George's Lutheran Church In Laiuse

St. George's Lutheran Church In Laiuse / Apraksts

Laiuse Church was first documented in 1319. The building was destroyed during the Livonian, Polish-Swedish and Great Northern wars but always built up again. The present church is a nice limestone building. A staircase in the western wall refers to defence functions. In 1766 v. Schwartz’s burial chapel was built and later converted into a vestry. A. Starkopf made a design for the altar but, due to the post-war situation, it was never completed. The tower, destroyed in WW II, was recreated in the 1970s. The typical 19th century parsonage was renovated in 2000-2001. Johan Kõpp, the later Rector of Tartu University, the last pre-war bishop of the Estonian Republic and the Archbishop of the Estonian Lutheran Church in exile, was a pastor in Laiuse Church.