The parish church, a simple plastered brick building without galleries, stands on a small rise. It was built at the beginning of the 16th century. After fires in 1668 and 1689 it was rebuilt in 1694. In 1717 the church was extended to the east (A. Boetticher), or, according to other sources, in 1768. At the same time it was plastered on the outside and given new arched doors and windows. The church building was 32.8 m long and 11.7 m wide. The tower, with its tiled octagonal pyramid roof, was 30 m high. The interior of the church was modest.
A late 17th-century wooden ceiling in the form of a box vault, painted with biblical motifs (in the photo above).
The altar and pulpit, presented to the church by a member of the Wallenrodt family at the end of the 17th century, are joined together. The wrought window arches date from 1864. The confessional chair is from 1694. A brass candlestick with a double-headed eagle bears the inscription "Peter Ritter gave me in 1669". The organ was installed in 1870. The bells bear the dates 1684 and 1840.
The sacristy housed a triptych by the famous painter Lovis Corinth, a native of Tapiau, who had studied at the Königsberg Academy of Arts.
A car taking part in the "Golden Shadow of Königsberg 2019" motor rally in front of the church on Victory Square.
During the Second World War the fighting in Tapiau left the church untouched. It was used as a warehouse, and the large sacristy built onto its north side was used as a shop.
By 1990 the church looked dreadful. Some of the tiles had fallen off the tower, and the rafters had rotted. The roofs of the tower and the nave would hardly have lasted until 1991. But at that time the church was handed over to the Orthodox Church, which energetically set about repairing it. As early as 1992 the building was functioning as an Orthodox church. Further repair work was carried out in 1994.
Photos on this page: Bildarchiv Ostpreußen, bildarchiv-ostpreussen.de
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
