Zeller Torhaus

Zeller Torhaus stands in Würzburg as a single-storey classicist building with a hipped roof, columned portico, and dome. Its rusticated façade and geometric design create the formal appearance of an early nineteenth-century city entrance.

Peter Speeth designed the customs and guard house, built between 1813 and 1824 after Würzburg became part of Bavaria. Customs officers and city watchmen controlled access here before the building later served as a police station for Zellerau. Since 1998, the Russian Orthodox community has used the rooms as a church and community centre dedicated to the Annunciation.

Inside, icons line the prayer room, while curtains can close the altar area and sand trays hold votive candles. The former air-raid shelter survives beneath the building, with its Mannesmann ventilation grille still visible beside the rear emergency exit. An eastern garden flowers in warmer months, and a tent provides space for coffee and cake after services.