Non-Mormons call Freiberg Germany LDS temple their own

Besides being the year the LDS Church dedicated its first temple inside the former Soviet Union, 2010 marks several key LDS anniversaries in countries once behind the Iron Curtain — the 25th anniversary of the Freiberg Germany Temple, and the 20th anniversaries of missions in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary and the first branch in Russia. Deseret News reporter Scott Taylor is taking a look at the LDS Church’s past, present and future in these countries in a series of stories.

FREIBERG, Germany — For years now, they've been flocking to the Freiberg Germany Temple, the LDS Church milestone that 25 years ago became the first Mormon temple operating inside the Iron Curtain.

They come to stroll the walkways in solitude or sit on the outside benches to ponder and pray.

They gather on the lawns for bridal photos and wedding-party snapshots.

They call it "our temple" — one leader recently boasted that "Freiberg has become world-famous because of the temple."

Oh, and "they" are the non-Mormons living in and around Freiberg.

And the leader? The current mayor of Freiberg, who joined past and present civic dignitaries and local leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a silver-anniversary celebration of not the temple itself but the neighboring LDS meetinghouse on the temple grounds.

The same grounds the locals call "Temple Square." Which besides the historic temple and adjacent meetinghouse also includes a third, longer building providing patron housing for the Latter-day Saints who travel long distances and require days to arrive.

For those living outside of eastern Germany, "going to the temple" means 60 people crowded on double-decker buses, traveling two-plus days, crossing two or three international borders, spending hours at each border while immigration officials scour passports and papers, and coming from as far away as Russia and Ukraine, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Moldavia and nations beyond.

Once here, the temple visitors are afforded beds and rooms, as well as a bathrooms, dining areas and a group kitchen with multiple stoves.

"They always come Mondays, even though the temple is closed," said temple president Frank H. Apel, who served for more than 20 years as the Freiberg branch president and was the first LDS stake president ordained in eastern Germany.