Ex-Wehrmacht soldier donates collection of ancient icons to Orthodox church

Church of St. John of Kronstadt in Hamburg received a collection of ancient Orthodox icons as a donation from a former German soldier, a World War II veteran, reports Foma (Thomas).

"He is a very secretive man, he has not told us much about himself yet, but what is known is very interesting. He was held hostage to Russians. After the release, he collected icons for more than 35 years, buying icons on auctions (actually saving them from captivity for us as it turned out)," said rector Archpriest Sergiy Baburin.

According to the priest, now the man is 90 years, "he decided neither to leave a collection to his children (they can sell it out), nor to give it to the museum (the majority will form the storage facility), but to donate it to a church to save the collection from being scattered. He travelled a lot to study temples and finally singled out ours."

At the moment, all the icons that have cultural and historical value are displayed in the Church of St. John of Kronstadt, including 150 monuments of Old Russian casting.

Read also

Priest charged with desertion freed after faithful raise bail

Archpriest Vitaliy Agafonov, a cleric of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has been released after bail was posted with funds raised by the faithful.

UOC clergy and laity from several eparchies donate blood for wounded soldiers

Clergy and Orthodox youth of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church donated blood for wounded military personnel.

UOC faithful in Kozelshchansk hold procession with icon of the Mother of God

Pilgrims and clergy of the Poltava Eparchy prayed at the Kozelshchansk Monastery and took part in a procession around the church with the wonderworking icon.

Hearing in Metropolitan Theodosiy’s сase postponed after “victim” no-show

A scheduled hearing at the Kyiv-Sviatoshyn Court in the case against the ruling bishop of the Cherkasy Eparchy was postponed after OCU chaplain Nazariy Zasansky failed to appear.

Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi: The time has come to build the Third Temple

The spiritual leader of Ukraine’s Jewish community commented on Tucker Carlson’s claims about the religious motives behind the war in the Middle East.

US bars removal of children from parents who reject gender transition

U.S. authorities have affirmed the right of families to raise their children in accordance with their religious convictions and biblical understanding of sex.