The Fortified Churches Foundation has set up an emergency fund in order to be able to help quickly and less bureaucratically in urgent cases. The most important questions and answers are listed below.
1. What can be financed from the emergency fund?
The money from the fund is available for acute emergencies such as storm damage, after which rapid intervention is indispensable to prevent consequential damage. The funds are intended exclusively for security measures or emergency repairs to churches and fortified churches. More extensive repairs or restorations cannot be financed from the fund.
2. How can one apply for funding from the Emergency Fund?
If rapid intervention is required due to an acute emergency, please contact the office of the Fortified Churches Foundation with a brief description of the damage and the proposed measures. Photographs help to describe damage more precisely. Please also provide details of any existing building plans, measurements or other documents that may be relevant to the planned emergency measures. The Fortified Churches Foundation decides on funding quickly. The applicant is expected to make a financial contribution or support the work in kind, as 100% funding is not possible.
3. How much money is available?
The fund is endowed with at least 1,000 EUR annually, which can be used proportionately for emergency measures. We strive to increase this amount by raising additional donations or funding, but cannot guarantee this for every year. If the funds are not fully used in the course of a year, they do not expire but can be used additionally in the following year.
4. Where does the money come from?
The Support Association of the Fortified Churches Foundation provides a base amount of EUR 1,000 per year for the emergency fund. For the period 2019 to 2023, an additional EUR 13,000 has been made available by the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media. In other years, the emergency fund could be topped up by private donations.
For further information, please contact the Fortified Churches Foundation office.