Freiberg Germany Temple

Freiberg Germany Temple

Number

Dedication

29 June 1985 by
Gordon B. Hinckley

Site

1 acre (0.4 hectares)

Floor area

14,125 sq ft (1,312 m²)

Preceded by

Guatemala City Guatemala Temple

Followed by

Official website • News & images

Additional information
Announcement	9 October 1982
Groundbreaking	23 April 1983 by Thomas S. Monson
Open House	3–15 June 1985
Rededication	4 September 2016 by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Current President	Günther W. Erlacher (2014)
Designed by	Emil B. Fetzer and Rolf Metzner
Location	Hainichener Strasse 64 Freiberg Germany
Exterior finish	White German stucco plastered over 24-inch thick brick walls and a blue gray slate stone slab roof
Temple design	Modern, single-spire design with German influence and use of Gothic-style arches
Ordinance rooms	1 with Movie, stationary sessions
Sealing rooms	2
Clothing rental	Yes
Cafeteria	No services
Visitors' center	No
Notes	Originally without an angel Moroni statue, one was installed as part of the 2001–2002 renovations. It is the only temple ever to have been located behind the Iron Curtain.

Coordinates: 50°55′20.33399″N 13°19′21.14759″E / 50.9223149972°N 13.3225409972°E / 50.9223149972; 13.3225409972

The Freiberg Germany Temple (formerly the Freiberg GDR Temple) is a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), located in Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. The church announced the temple in October 1982, ground was broken for construction on April 23, 1983, and the temple was dedicated on June 29 and June 30, 1985.

Built in what was then the German Democratic Republic, the Freiberg Germany Temple was the first LDS temple in a communist state. After the Bern Switzerland Temple was dedicated in 1955, Latter-day Saints throughout Europe visited it for the Endowment and other temple rites. After 1957, East German governmental restrictions on foreign travel prevented the country's Latter-day Saints—about 5,000 in 1970—from easily obtaining visas to travel to the temple. Church members repeatedly applied for visas, were rejected, then applied again. An attempt in the early 1970s by Henry Burkhardt, the de jure head of the church in East Germany, to present the government with a list of 300 church members interested in visiting the temple almost led to his arrest.

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