Last service in Klarenthal: Significant loss for the community

Last service in Klarenthal: Significant loss for the community

The last service took place on October 26, 2025 in the Protestant church in the Klarenthal district of Saarbrücken. The Saarbrücken-West parish is giving up the building, which is due, among other things, to the high costs of necessary renovation work and the declining number of members. Future church services will now be held in the Gersweiler and Altenkessel districts. Despite these changes, the parish would like to maintain its offerings for children, young people, families and seniors in other rooms.

The closure of this church is not atypical in the current ecclesiastical landscape, especially in Saarland. In recent years, several places of worship - including Catholic churches - have been de-dedicated. At the beginning of 2025, the closure of two Protestant churches in the Malstatt district was announced. The last service in St. Michael's Church in Lockweiler took place at the end of April 2025. According to a report by S.R The two major churches in Germany experienced a dramatic decline in their membership in 2024.

Loss of membership and secularization

Churches in Germany lost over a million members last year. This is a trend that is also clearly noticeable in Saarland. Data shows the number of Catholics fell nearly 3.5% to more than 470,000, while the number of Protestants fell about 3% to fewer than 110,000. The main reasons for this decline in membership are the high number of people leaving the church and the fact that there are fewer baptisms compared to church burials.

• 9193 Kirchenaustritte aus der katholischen Kirche im Saarland.
• 691 Austritte im evangelischen Kirchenkreis Saar-Ost und 1499 im Kirchenkreis Saar-West.

The two church districts of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland cover around 80% of the area of ​​Saarland. Thorsten Latzel, President of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, emphasizes the need for a fundamental transformation of the church in order to adapt to an increasingly secular society.

Renovation of the Ludwigskirche

While the Protestant church in Klarenthal is closing, there are also positive developments in the region. The interior renovation of the Ludwigskirche in Saarbrücken was completed after around ten years. Peter Böttcher, who works on a voluntary basis for the Protestant parish of Alt-Saarbrücken, announced the completion. The church, which was consecrated on August 25, 1775, received modern LED lighting that can be controlled via an app and saves around 90% of energy costs.

Much of the technology is already integrated into the space, including a new freight elevator between the church and the crypt. The Ludwigskirche is an important part of the city's history, designed by Friedrich Joachim Stengel as part of the design of Saarbrücken as a residential city and bears the name of Prince Ludwig of Nassau-Saarbrücken.

These developments reflect the challenges and changes facing the Protestant Church in Saarland - from declining membership to necessary renovation work, while at the same time trying to maintain its relevance in modern society.