The Freiberg Germany Temple
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
One of President Thomas S. Monson's favorite temple stories is about the Freiberg Temple. In 1975 he gave the dedicatory prayer at the Freiberg Chapel dedication in East Germany. During the prayer he promised the assembled saints that, among other things, a temple would be built in their country. At the time such a thing was unheard of. The communist East German Government was officially atheist and the Church only had limited rights to meet and proselyte, let alone build a temple that would only admit worthy Church members. No one in the congregation was more surprised than Elder Monson. None the less, when local members applied for visas to travel to Switzerland to attend the temple there, the Government denied their visas but instead suggested that the Church build a temple inside the country so that the members would not have to travel. The Church eagerly agreed, and true to Elder Monson's prophecy, the Freiberg Temple was built, the only temple built with the approval of a communist government. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany and West Germany reunited, so the Freiberg Temple is no longer in a communist country, however, it remains the only temple in East Europe. It was the smallest temple at the time of its construction and is only slightly larger than the smallest of the new "mini" temples
The temple was announced in October 1982.
Ground was broken and construction begun in April 1983.
The cornerstone was laid and the temple dedicated on 20-30 June 1985.
There are 2 Sealing rooms and 1 Ordinance room in the 7,840 square foot temple.
The spire is ? feet tall.
The Freiberg Temple serves stakes in eastern Germany.
I have not yet found any pictures of the interior.
Rooms not Pictured:
The Baptistry
Both Sealing Rooms
The Ordinance Room
The Celestial Room
Back to Athens.
