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TEMPLER CHURCH HALL
Other NameTEMPLAR CHURCH HALL Location3 WADI STREET BORONIA, KNOX CITY
File NumberHER/2001/001360LevelRegistered |
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Statement of Significance
What is significant? The Temple Society of Australia is an independent Protestant
Christian Society formed in 1950. It derives from the first Temple
Society founded by Christoph Hoffmann in south-west Germany in 1861.
During the second half of the nineteenth century the German Templers
settled in the Holy Land. They were interned in Palestine at the
outbreak of the Second World War, and in 1941 over 500 German Templers
were transported to Australia where internment continued in north west
Victoria until the end of the war. The Templers' worship is
congregationally, rather than pastor led, and their church buildings
are also used for social events as well as worship -hence the name
Church Hall. How is it significant? Why is it significant? The Templer Church Hall is architecturally important as a local
interpretation of the simple architectural style adopted by the
farming communes of Palestine from whence the builders/congregation
came. It is the first of the small number of buildings built by the
Templer Society in Australia, and is a fine example of a post-war
building built by the immigrant congregation itself. The Templer Church Hall is socially important as an early focus of
one of the very small religious groups in Australia. Since its
construction the building has been an important religious and social
centre for the thriving German community in Melbourne's south-eastern
suburbs. The European skittle alley is a rare example of a
recreational and social facility attached to a religious building, and
reflects the ethnic background of the Templers.
The Templer Church Hall, Boronia was
constructed by members of the Temple Society of Australia in 1956-57.
The walls of the simple building are built of concrete blocks
manufactured by the society members and the gable roof is of
corrugated asbestos cement sheets. The building has a bell tower,
originally containing a bell presented by a sister community in
Germany in the early 1960s, and small attached
schoolroom-cum-clubroom. The bell has since been removed to Temple
Society's Bayswater site. A long skillion roofed structure housing a
nine-pin skittle alley has been added at the rear of the building.
The Templer Church Hall is of historical,
architectural and social importance to the state of Victoria.
The Templer Church Hall is historically
important for its connection with the Templer Society, one of the
smaller religious groups in Australia. It demonstrates the way of life
of one of the many refugee ethnic communities established throughout
Victoria following the Second World War, and illustrates the role that
diverse cultural communities played in the post war growth of the
state and the development of a unified multi-cultural society.
Group
Religion
Category
Church Hall