Church of the Saviour, Baku
The Church of the Saviour (Azerbaijani: Xilaskar kilsəsi; German: Erlöserkirche, also known as the kirkha, from the German word "Kirche" (church)) is a Lutheran church in Baku, Azerbaijan (28 May Street), built with donations by parishioner Adolf Eichler and consecrated on 14 March 1899. It is now a Ministry of Culture and Tourism-owned concert hall. The Gothic-style church features a portal crowned with a decorated pediment. While Azerbaijan's Evangelical community ceased to exist in 1936, the church survived the Stalinist period because of petitions to Joseph Stalin in which the petitioners promised, in return for sparing the church, to pray for him till death. Nevertheless, Pastor Paul Hamburg and seven other members of the local Lutheran community were executed by firing squad on 1 November 1937.