Geismühle motorway chapel
The motorway chapel Geismühle is an ecumenical motorway chapel on the Geismühle rest area west of the federal motorway 57 in Krefeld - Oppum . The sacred building, inaugurated in 1981, is a listed building .
History and description
With the completion of the service area at the Geismühle in 1976 and 1977, the construction of a small chapel was considered. The idea comes from a Krefeld industrialist who submitted his project to the Evangelical Community Association of Krefeld and took over the financing. The Krefeld architect Hein Stappmann presented the first draft. After his death in 1977, Ludwig Thorissen completed the planning. The chapel was built between 1980 and 1981 and inaugurated on April 18, 1981 with an ecumenical service. It is affiliated to the Protestant Church, which, due to its ecumenical orientation, concluded a joint usage agreement with the Catholic region of Krefeld before the inauguration.
In the foreground of the concept of the motorway chapel was the establishment of a room that is used for meditation and finding peace; Due to the location on the motorway and the comparatively small size of the interior of 35 square meters, it did not make sense to use it as a church service room. Accordingly, there are only two small benches to the right and left of the entrance. The building is integrated into nature and landscape, which is supposed to remind of creation ; accordingly, the slightly hidden, inconspicuous location between several trees results.
The motorway chapel has a shape that tapers into nature and a sloping roof. Care was taken to use natural materials from the region, including wood shingles . The work of Theo Akkermann , who continues the allusion to creation, is striking . He not only designed the cross hanging in the entrance tower, the door handles, the candlesticks and the writing on the outer wall, but also the bronze circular disc with motifs from the Book of Genesis , which stands on a small base.
2008 Autobahnkapelle was considered in point 960 architectural monument in the monument list of Krefeld added. It is open during the day and well attended. In it there is a book of concerns.
In 2011, plans were made to expand Autobahn 57 from four to six lanes. The western rest area, where the sacred building is located, should be demolished; the Geismühle and the motorway chapel were to be preserved, but separated from the motorway behind noise barriers . The plan was to enlarge the eastern rest area and add a new chapel. This project met with criticism from the church and the monument authorities , who complain that the motorway chapel, which is part of the monument protection, is losing its function and that a simple chapel would not make sense at this point.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Ecumenical motorway chapel, Geismühle service station. Autobahnkirchen.de, accessed on January 23, 2013 .
- ↑ Hein Stappmann. In: arch INFORM ; Retrieved January 23, 2013.
- ↑ a b c d Heinz Webers, Benjamin Schruff: Motorway chapel: sealed off from traffic. Westdeutsche Zeitung , August 11, 2011, accessed on January 23, 2013 .
- ↑ Protestant motorway chapel Geismühle. Kirchbau.de, accessed on January 23, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c Ecumenical motorway chapel Geismühle service station. autobahnkirche.de - Resting places for the soul, accessed on August 31, 2017 .
- ↑ List of monuments of the city of Krefeld. (PDF; 124 kB) (No longer available online.) City of Krefeld, November 2012, p. 6 , archived from the original on January 5, 2012 ; Retrieved January 23, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Sebastian Peters: Geismühle: Authority criticizes conversion. Rheinische Post , June 4, 2011, accessed on January 24, 2013 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 18 ′ 39.2 " N , 6 ° 37 ′ 55.4" E