Ecumenical Center St. Thomas Church
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The Ecumenical Center Thomaskirche is a community center in Marburg in the Richtsberg district . It is used jointly by the Evangelical Church Community on Richtsberg and the Catholic Parish of Liebfrauen. The Ecumenical Center was built in 1972/73 and is located on Chemnitzer Straße directly below the shopping center on Oberen Richtsberg. The center is a cultural monument .
history
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The Richtsberg building area, which has been developing rapidly since 1964, posed a great challenge to the church's work from the start. The Catholic Church of Our Lady began in 1961 with its first service in the Hansenhaus on the right. In 1964 the rectory on Großseelheimer Strasse was completed; from then on the services took place in the parish hall. A year later, in 1965, the Liebfrauenkirche was inaugurated. In 1966 the first Protestant pastor's post, which initially belonged to the Lukaskirchen parish, was established on the Unteren Richtsberg and in 1967 it was occupied by Pastor Heinz Gerlach. In 1970 a second pastor's post for the Upper Richtsberg, including the area "In the bathing room", was filled with Pastor Ernst Schmidt. At that time, a large part of the community events took place in the Richtsberg Chapel, inaugurated on October 6, 1968 in Leipziger Strasse, later the Emmaus Church. In addition, other events could take place in the rooms of the primary school, which has just been ready for occupancy. It was here that the first ecumenical coexistence between the Protestant Richtsberg congregation and the Catholic Liebfrauen congregation took place. These experiences contributed to the decision of both congregations to forego building their own churches and instead to build an ecumenical congregation center. In the certificate on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone it says, referring to Joh 17.21 EU :
“Because theological differences and differences in forms of piety should not be an occasion to build next to each other instead of building together, the church leaders in Kassel and Fulda gave their approval for an ecumenical community center. The congregations and their pastors understand this: differences should be respected and not covered up, but common ground should be sought with courage and imagination. Every room apart from the sacristies and the parish apartment can be used by any denomination or shared by agreement. "
However, the original concept of a common center with a common room for worship could not be realized. Instead, there was a kind of Evangelical-Catholic dual center, under the roof of which there are predominantly individually used rooms (especially the worship rooms) as well as shared rooms (for example the group rooms). The architect Johann Georg Solms has taken this changed conception into account by giving each denomination an equally large cube above its altar. In addition, it is particularly noticeable that he has deliberately completely omitted external features of a church, such as bells, towers or stained glass windows. In the commemorative publication for the inauguration, Solms wrote:
“People are already scolding" shed "and" workshop hall ". But I also heard the accusation that the high rooms were "sacred architecture". Both are true. The possibilities of the house actually range from workshop to church. "
Solms thus ties in with a new way of thinking about worship since the 1970s. For example, the Zurich New Testament scholar Eduard Schweizer points out that, based on Romans 12 : 1-2 EU, the term divine service is closely linked to the term everyday life. In relation to the question of space, this means:
“Nothing is sacred in the New Testament in contrast to a profane area, or rather, everything is holy, nothing is more profane because the world belongs to God, and because the world is the place where one praises God and gives him thanks should. I.e. from the outset we are called to do everything possible to eliminate this misunderstanding, as if there were such a thing as a holy temenos , temple precinct, separated from the world , and as if one or more of the congregation were in some way more holy or more profane than others. "
Stained glass window in the Protestant worship room
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There are two stained glass windows in the Protestant worship room that were inaugurated on October 16, 2005. The windows were created by Klonk & Hartmann stained glass in Wetter-Oberrosphe . The two windows are on the outside left and right in the chancel. The altar and lectern are provided with matching antependums .
On the left side of the chancel, the Last Supper window is the theme of the Bund glass window. The basic color in the upper part is initially blue, which depicts the sky. Below is a chalice into which the blood of Christ drips from the grapes . In the lower part we find the golden ears of wheat and - here shown in earth red - a broken loaf of bread above.
The color red represents the connection of the elements bread and wine, body and blood of Christ. The color red can be seen in an imaginary line as an arch that goes through the sanctuary, over to the baptismal window and stands for the spirit of God, who connects everything and the creation pervades. The white surfaces allow daylight to shine through both in the picture and above and below, so that the stained glass only covers about half of the panes.
On the right side of the chancel the baptism is the theme of the stained glass window, because on this side the baptismal font and Easter candle stand as a symbol for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his presence in the Spirit of God the Father and the Son. Therefore, the basic color of this window is also the red. A dove comes down from above as a symbol for the Holy Spirit, also indicated in the flames, which can be seen in the lower half of the picture.
The Spirit of God “flows” down from above into the baptismal bowl and connects there with the water of baptism - shown here in blue. This is how the three elements fire, water and air combine with one another. Here, too, the daylight shines through above, below and from the side, so that the view to the outside is retained on both sides of the sanctuary.
Carillon
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On the forecourt of the Ecumenical Center is a carillon, inaugurated on December 15, 2003, which was made by the Rincker Bells and Art Foundry in Sinn. The bells hang on the bell carrier at a height of between 8 and 12 meters and are electronically controlled. The bells weigh between 10 and 29 kilograms and have a range of g 3 to c 5 . 98% of all songs can be played with it. The bells are struck by small magnetic hammers that are attached to the bells and operated electromagnetically. The bells themselves do not vibrate, which is of considerable importance for the statics of the girder.
The bell times and the songs that are played are programmed into the electronic control. Choirs and folk songs are played.
Organ in the Protestant church service room
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An organ from the Oberlinger Brothers in Windesheim has been in the evangelical worship room since 1988 . The instrument has eleven registers , which are divided into two manuals and pedal , with the following disposition :
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
Organ in the Catholic St. Thomas Chapel
In the Catholic St. Thomas Chapel there is a positive organ from the Walcker company from Ludwigsburg , its location on the gallery can hardly be seen from inside the church. It is one of a series of instruments that Walcker produced in series in the 1960s . When it was installed in the chapel has not yet been determined. The four registers can be played from a manual, there is no pedal. The disposition is:
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literature
- Festschrift for the inauguration of the Ecumenical Community Center in Marburg-Richtsberg on October 14, 1973. Edited by the parish councils of the Evangelical parish on Richtsberg and the Catholic parish of Liebfrauen. Marburg 1973.
Web links
- Evangelical parish on Richtsberg
- Catholic parish of Liebfrauen
- Modern street. Churches in Germany. Marburg. Ecumenical Center St. Thomas Church
- Organ in the evangelical worship room on organindex.de, accessed on May 25, 2019.
- Organ in the Catholic St. Thomas Chapel on organindex.de, accessed on May 25, 2019.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Festschrift for the inauguration of the Ecumenical Community Center Marburg-Richtsberg on October 14, 1973. Edited by the parish councils of the Evangelical Parish on Richtsberg and the Catholic Parish of Liebfrauen. Marburg 1973. o. P.
- ^ Eduard Schweizer: Divine service in the New Testament. Conference minutes Bad Boll, 1965. Quoted from Martin Görbling, Hans Grass, Horst Schwebel , Hans G. Jung: Planen - Bauen - Benefit. Experience with community centers. (= Image and space. Volume 3). Wilhelm Schmitz: Gießen 1981, p. 132, ISBN 978-3-87711040-9
- ↑ Article on Walcker small organs and series positives , accessed on May 25, 2019.
Coordinates: 50 ° 47 ′ 34.7 " N , 8 ° 47 ′ 10.3" E