Temples

We've visited three Temples since being here, but have only been able to attend a session in one of them.

The Frankfurt, Germany Temple is located 20 minutes away from Frankfurt, in the village of Friedrichsdorf. It is quite an unusual-looking temple, being designed to look like a tent like in the scriptures. It is not one that is easily seen from a distance, but sits on slightly elevated property.

The building permit with the city states that nothing can be built taller than the steeple of the nearby French Huguenot Church, remaining from their occupation of the area in the 1500s. To comply with this requirement, the Angel Moroni is placed upon a spire that sits directly on the ground. This temple was dedicated in 1987, two years after the Freiberg, Germany Temple. The other buildings on the Church property are a Chapel, housing for patrons, a historical house for the Temple president, and a small Distribution Center.

As described in F. Enzio Busche's book, Yearning for the Living God, there was a huge amount of opposition over several years to building the temple in Friedrichsdorf. In the end, the city council made some strict demands, hoping that the Church would withdraw its request. Part of the land just purchased by the Church had to be given back so that the city could build parking lots, not for the Church, but for the people of the city. That explains why, as we were surprised to see, people were smoking in the parking lot near the Temple. No fence could be built around the property, but it had to remain open so the citizens could use the area as a public park.

Senior missionaries are leaving the temple after a session as part of the Zone Conference.

The city indicated which and how many trees could be planted. The members all know that the three sequoa trees, seen here, brought from California, (represent the Godhead), and will in time grow into giants.

"The city ruled that the original owner's villa which was a ruin occupied by vagrants and rats, had to be restored to its original beauty and 1890s design. This added a tremendous burden and additional cost to the already overextended budget. The Church had to agree to all of the conditions." Elder Busche was the first president of the Frankfurt Temple.

We visited the Madrid, Spain Temple, on Saturday, March 28th with Brad & Debi Wilcox. Dedicated in 1999, it is in an area west of Madrid. It is of modern classical design, reminiscent of earlier Spanish architecture.

   

While we were traveling in the Netherlands with E/S Ryser and S. Purdy on Sat April 11, we stopped to see The Hague Netherlands Temple,  dedicated in 2002.