St. Johann Basilica (Saarbrücken)

St. John's Basilica
Consecration date :	01/08/1758
Rank:	Basilica minor
Pastor :	Eugene Vogt
Parish :	St. Johann
Address:	Kath.-Kirch-Strasse 26 66111 Saarbrücken

Coordinates: 49 ° 13 ′ 58.8 ″  N , 6 ° 59 ′ 54.2 ″  E The St. Johann Basilica in Saarbrücken is a Catholic church near the St. Johann market . The church was built according to plans and under the direction of the architect Friedrich Joachim Stengel in the Baroque style . In 1975 by Pope Paul VI. for minor basilica raised church stands on the site of the first medieval chapel of the former fishing village of St. Johann ad Saar , which according to tradition, by the Metz bishop Arnulf of Metz in the 7th century to St. John the Baptist was consecrated. In the list of monuments of the Saarland, the church is a single monument listed. The church is assigned to the diocese of Trier . The church's patronage day is the solemn feast of the birth of St. John the Baptist ( June 24th ).

prehistory

Figure of Arnulf von Metz on the portal of the Protestant Johanneskirche;
According to a legend, Arnulf resigned his bishopric in 629 and retired to the Heidenkapelle (former Mithraeum ) on Halberg , where his alleged father, Saint Arnual , had already lived as a hermit. From there he initiated the construction of the chapel dedicated to John the Baptist (location of the St. Johann basilica) in the fishing village of St. Johann. The fishing village then adopted the place name St. Johann from the title saint of this chapel.

Foundation of the parish in the Middle Ages

Town hall St. Johann , painting by Wilhelm Wrage in the town hall ballroom: St. Arnulf von Metz consecrates the first chapel of St. Johann.

According to tradition, a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist was built on the site of today's baroque church as early as the Merovingian period in the 7th century. It was not an independent parish church, but was cared for by the Augustinian canons in St. Arnual until its abolition.

The now remote location of the church from the center, the St. Johanner Markt , arose from the relocation of the St. Johanner Markt in the Middle Ages from the Katholisch-Kirch-Strasse, which was quite wide for the time, to its current location.

The Johanneskapelle was first mentioned in a document in 1325, but the St. Johann place name mentioned in a document in 1265, derived from the Johannes patronage of the chapel, indicates an earlier date of construction of the chapel.

At the mediation of Count Johann I , Pope Johannes XXII. to the dean of St. Arnualer Stift in 1325 the installation of a baptismal font and the appointment of his own priest in the St. Johann chapel. The pen does not seem to have complied with the papal order. The St. Arnual canon responsible for St. Johann continued to reside in St. Arnual and had the pastoral duties associated with the benefice carried out by vicarious chaplains. The administration of Pfarrwittum (the immovable property of the parish friezes), tithe and other income also remained with the monastery. In addition, the St. Johann chapel was subordinate to the Saarbrücker chapel, to whose district it belonged. The Saarbrücker St. Nikolauskapelle (the profaned castle church ) was also not independent, but incorporated into the monastery.

Early masses (weekday masses) on four days a week were not set up until 1450, half a century later than in the Saarbrücken chapel on the left bank of the Saar. The Monastery of St. Arnual relied the Frühmesser - sinecures firmly. However, there were repeated disputes between the St. Johann citizenship and the monastery because of, from a bourgeois point of view, inadequate building maintenance of the chapel. Only through the mediation of Count Johann III. in 1453 the dispute was settled. Analogous to the lay committee of the Saarbrücker St. Nikolaus Brotherhood, a Johannis Brotherhood administered the chapels' assets in St. Johann. The canon responsible for pastoral care did not live in St. Johann, but in St. Arnual. This meant that the citizens of St. Johann and also those of Saarbrücken had to walk to St. Arnual to receive the sacraments and other casualies . Citizens complained that children were born without baptism and adults died without the sacraments because a priest could not be reached. In the faith of that time a sudden death without the sacraments (meant baptism , confession , anointing of the sick ) after the particular judgment serious criminal consequences in limbo puerorum (for unbaptized dead children), temporal punishment in purgatory or even eternal punishment in hell . It was not until 1549 that the dean and chapter of St. Arnual agreed that the canon (also known as the "Kirchherr") would take an apartment on the other side of the Saar. Overall, both Saarbrücken and St. Johann lacked a central function in the church and cultic area throughout the Middle Ages, which also had negative economic effects.

graveyards

The dead of St. Johann were buried around the local chapel. The cemetery should have been laid out from 1450 at the latest. The Saarbrücken cemetery was located near the hospital chapel and has been occupied from St. Johann since the plague epidemic in autumn 1574. From 1600, after the Protestant Reformation , an evangelical cemetery was laid out at the end of Türkenstrasse beyond the city wall. This cemetery was occupied until 1846 and has been used as a parking lot since the 20th century (corner of Gerberstrasse / Bleichstrasse).

reformation

In the course of the forcibly introduced Nassau Reformation in 1575, the population of the city of St. Johann ad Saar had to switch to the Protestant Lutheran creed. The chapel was rebuilt in the years 1608-1615 and then consisted of a hall 60  feet clear length and 29 feet clear width, the choir tower was 20 feet long and 27 feet wide. This building was demolished in 1754 and replaced by a new church.

Recatholization through the French reunion policy

Louis XIV in coronation regalia, portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701; Musée du Louvre )

On August 30, 1680, the bishop of Metz, Georges d'Aubusson de La Feuillade, was able to celebrate a Catholic mass on the feast of Christ's Ascension in a count's coach house on Türkenstrasse opposite the church . The political background was that King Louis XIV of France had occupied the county of Saarbrücken that year and claimed it as an old fiefdom of the diocese of Metz - which had belonged to France since 1552. Basically, this occupation was an annexation, but it was called "Reunion" because it was justified by the transfer of old rights to the French king.

First the French garrison pastor GF Fabry took over the civil pastoral care for the approx. 200 Catholics of the county. He was followed by a Jesuit from the nearest Jesuit -Ordensniederlassung Bockenheim ( Saarwerden ) in Alsace .

Visit of Louis XIV.

On July 6, 1683, King Louis XIV arrived with his wife Queen Marie Thérèse , the Dauphin Louis , his brother Duke Philip of Orléans, and a large entourage on his journey to visit the newly built Saarlouis fortress in St. Johann, around the following day to attend a solemn service in the St. Johanner Notkirche in the Count's Remise.

Handover of the St. Johann chapel to the Catholics

On December 21, 1684, under pressure from the French King Louis XIV , the St. John's Chapel was withdrawn from Protestant worship and returned to the Catholic Church. The basis for this was the stipulation that in reunified places with two churches, the smaller one should be left to the Catholics. But where there is only one church, it should be used as a simultaneum by both denominations. Since, according to the French view, St. Johann and Saarbrücken formed a single city, the chapel in St. Johann was to be given to the Catholics. The Protestants should now use the castle church in Saarbrücken, which, however, was destroyed at that time. It was not until 1682 that a provisional reconstruction began with the help of donations. Count Karl Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken sponsored the construction of a new church so that the St. Johann municipality also had its own Protestant church . But before it could begin, he died on December 6, 1723.

The foundation stone for the Protestant church was thus only laid on April 4, 1725 under the rule of Count Friedrich Ludwig von Nassau-Ottweiler . The inauguration took place on June 24, 1727.

Recatholization measures

By offering exemption from taxes, the French king tried to convince the Lutheran residents of St. John to convert to Catholicism. As a result, the number of Catholic residents of St. Johann rose sharply within a few years compared to the Protestant Saarbrücken, where the tax exemption was not offered. When the Protestant Counts of Saarbrücken again had their unrestricted right to rule in St. Johann in 1697, the number of Catholics there was drastically reduced again. The financial support of the St. Johann parish by the French crown was also retained when the county of Saarbrücken was ceded to the Reich again, and was only discontinued in the course of the French Revolution . The pastor, vicar and school teacher in the re-catholized St. Johann chapel were paid for with French state funds. At that time, the St. Johann chapel received next to John the Baptist St. Louis of France , the namesake of Louis XIV, as the second patron.

Provisions of the Peace of Rijswijk for St. Johann

Instead of the dissolved Augustinian canons of St. Arnual , the Wadgassen Premonstratensian Monastery took over pastoral care after the Peace of Rijswijk , when France had to return the reunified areas on the Saar in 1697 (with the exception of the Saarlouis fortress) . Against the demands of England, Holland, Sweden and the Protestant imperial princes, it was decided, under pressure from the emperor and the Catholic imperial estates, that all religious-political measures of France should continue to apply at the time of the reunions. So the chapel in St. Johann remained Catholic.

An attempt by the young Saarbrücken Count Ludwig Kraft to turn the St. Johann Chapel into a denominational Simultaneum failed due to the protest of the Catholics, who were massively supported by the Metz bishop.

Building and parish history

The Church of St. Johann in the northeast of the city of St. Johann an der Saar on a section from the geometric floor plan of St. Johann 1776/1778 (Saarbrücken City Archives)

Baroque new building plans

Since the old Johanneskapelle in St. Johann had become too small for the worship of all Catholics in the county of Saarbrücken, on the initiative of a canon of the Wadgassen Abbey, Johann Baptist Namour, who worked as a Catholic parish priest in St. Johann, the idea of ​​a new parish church was built brought to the competent authorities. These were the abbot of Wadgassen, the sovereign Wilhelm Heinrich and the French king Louis XV.

Fundraising campaign for the new building

After the location and appearance of the new building had been determined, donations were collected for the necessary construction costs. King Louis XV donated 20,000 francs, Prince Wilhelm Heinrich had Pope Benedict XIV call out a collection. The Congregatio de propaganda fidei gave 5000 francs, a collection in the city of Rome resulted in 5367 francs, the clerical electors and various Catholic cities donated a total of 16,108 francs, the Teutonic Order 2190 francs, the Queen of Poland as Duchess of Lorraine 2000 francs, the bishop von Metz, Claude de Saint Simon, 1000 francs for the high altar and Prince Wilhelm Heinrich donated the timber from his private forests. Regardless of their creed, his subjects had to do civil service on the building site. The building of the tower was made possible by the Medelsheim- born Jewish banker Cerf Beer through a loan in Strasbourg .

Architect and builder

Friedrich Joachim Stengel

For a long time, the sole architect of the church was builder Friedrich Joachim Stengel , but it cannot be ruled out that, since the abbot of Wadgassen was the builder of the new church, the local builder Heinrich Eckardt also participated in the planning. The sculptors Philipp Mihm, Jacques Gounin, Jakob Stein, the plasterer Wunibald Wagner, the painter and gilder Saladin and the organ builder Stumm from Rhaunen were involved in the construction . The local craftsmen master mason Andreas Dillmann, the carpenters Nikolaus Hackspiel and Christian Langguth, the joiners Unverzagt and Stockinger, the slater Rosenkranz, the master glazier Heinrich Brenner, the fitters Christian Antoni and Henrich Hoer, the blacksmith Bernard Philips and the plumber Otto worked on the church.

Consecration of the Church

The consecration and commissioning for the service was carried out on January 8, 1758 in the presence of the princely family and the commandant of the Saarlouis fortress as the representative of the King of France by the abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery of Wadgassen. The tower could not be completed until 1763. From the end of the 17th century, the canons of the Premonstratensian Abbey of Wadgassene provided pastoral care. That changed when the parish of St. Johann was first assigned to the diocese of Trier (until then diocese of Metz ) due to the concordat with Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801 and due to the church reorganization in 1821 in the wake of the Congress of Vienna .

Growth of the parish and parishes

While the number of souls in the parish of St. Johann was 800 in 1758, it had risen to around 2000 in 1808. When the 150th anniversary of St. Johann was celebrated in 1908, eleven daughter parishes and vicarages had formed in the course of the industrialization of the Saar Valley:

Burbach: 12,300 Catholics Dudweiler: 7,000 Catholics Male ear: 3,200 Catholics Gersweiler: 2,200 Catholics

St. Johann: 12,000 Catholics Rentrisch-Scheidt: 1,950 Catholics Brebach: 3,300 Catholics Malstatt: 16,000 Catholics

Saarbrücken: 9,200 Catholics Sulzbach: 10,500 Catholics Chicken field: 1,800 Catholics

Altogether there were 79,450 Catholics, which was a fifteenth of the number of Catholics in the entire diocese of Trier (1,222,000 Catholics). At that time, the Saarbrücken dean's office counted 147,000 Catholics, one eighth of the number of Catholics in the entire diocese of Trier.

After ten years of disputes with the municipal and state authorities, the first to be separated was the parish of St. Marien (Dudweiler) in 1865 . In 1873 the church was consecrated and in 1885 a parish was established in Burbach ( St. Eligius (Saarbrücken-Burbach) ). In the same year 1885, the parishes of Sulzbach (All Saints) and Friedrichsthal (originally St. Michael after the church consecrated in 1873, since 1928 the parish was called St. Marien after the newly built parish church ) were separated. The decade-long point of contention between town and parish, namely the establishment of a separate parish with a church in the Protestant-influenced Saarbrücken, was settled in the following years: In 1884 construction work began for St. Jakob , which began in 1887 with the consecration of the church and the Appointments of their own pastor were completed. Gersweiler (St. Michael) followed in 1887, Malstatt (St. Josef) in 1888 , Brebach (Maria Hilf) in 1894 , and Rentrisch in 1901 (Holy Family, raised to the parish in 1923). After 1910 there were further subdivisions in the area of ​​the four parish districts of Saarbrücken, which was united into one major city in 1909 (St. Johann, St. Eligius, St. Jakob, St. Josef): Burbach (Herz-Jesu) in 1913 (survey to parish in 1922), Rußhütte (St. Marien) in 1919 (raised to parish in 1922), Jägersfreude (St. Hubertus) in 1920 (raised to parish in 1927), St. Michael in 1923 ( Elevation to parish in 1926), Christ the King in 1927 (elevation to parish in 1929), Schafbrücke (St. Theresia) in 1936, St. Antonius von Padua (Rastpfuhl) in 1925 (elevation to parish in 1938 and 1938, respectively . 1953), Rodenhof (St. Albert) in 1938 (elevation to parish in 1943), St. Mauritius in 1931 (elevation to parish in 1943 and 1953), Rotenbühl (Maria Königin) in 1941.

Sacristy, extension from 1907

Interior after the re-baroque in the 1970s

After the Second World War , the following separations took place: Malstatt (St. Paulus) in 1945, Scheidt (St. Ursula) in 1949, Güdingen (Hl. Kreuz) in 1951, Bübingen (St. Katharina) in 1951 , St. Arnual (St. Pius) in 1954, Ostviertel (St. Elisabeth) in 1954. What is left of the former cantonal parish of St. Johann today is a pure inner city parish with a little over 3,000 souls.

Restorations and other structural changes

In the 19th century the church of St. Johann was restored several times:

• 1835–36 (architect: Fr. Hochapfel)
• 1869–70 (architect: Carl Benzel (Saarbrücken))
• 1879 (architect: H. Langwied)
• In 1907, under the direction of the architect Gustav Schmoll called Eisenwerth (Saarbrücken) , the church building was expanded to include a sacristy, a lateral foyer, and the property was given a surrounding wall in Baroque Art Nouveau style.
• In the years 1972–1975 the interior was extensively restored and re-baroque. The new stucco was carried out by the Fuchs company from Würzburg . The room was painted white and sea green, just as it was designed by Michael Krieger in 1757; before that, restorers had removed 18 layers of old paint from 217 years. The ceiling mirror shows the pelican with his young as an allegory of loving devotion. The stucco ceiling in the choir area shows the apocalyptic lamb, surrounded by the symbolic figures of the evangelists on the ceiling mirror of the chancel : man, lion, bull and eagle. On the choir arch, the heraldic cartouches of Pope Paul VI. and Bishop Bernhard Stein attached.

During tree felling work in April 1974, the tombstone of the St. Johann executioner Johann Nikolaus Rehm, who had been buried outside the inner cemetery area due to his dishonorable occupation, came to light under the roots of a poplar . His guiding sword is kept in the Saarland Museum.

Elevation to the basilica

The church received its current title Basilica in 1975 as a result of an elevation to the papal minor basilica by Pope Paul VI. The most traditional Catholic church in Saarbrücken is now integrated into a large parish of what used to be five parishes.

Church exterior

Main nave and tower

The church building is a clearly structured baroque building. The tower of the church is integrated into the facade of the front and forms a strictly structured unit with it. This division of the front is visible both in height and in width, on the one hand in the sequence of three floors in height and on the other hand a corresponding three-way division into window , portal and gable areas in width. The hall-shaped nave with integrated chancel has six axes .

Sacristy and portals

A separate sacristy is attached to the back of the church , which is accessible via a door with a short corridor behind the high altar. The entrance portal, which was renewed in 1986, comes from the Saarbrücken artist Ernst Alt . On the left wing of the door, the bronze portal shows scenes from the life of John the Baptist from the New Testament, on the right the corresponding scenes from the life and passion of Jesus Christ. The scenes on the left and right are thematically related to one another. The brackets of the side handrails were also cast in bronze and represent the four ages of childhood, youth, adulthood and old age through hands of different ages. The outer door handle has the shape of two clamshells, which is on the inside of the portal as a Janus head with the signature Bonus intra-melior exi ( Enter as good, go out as better! ) poured.

Church interior

pulpit

Anabaptist group

Ottobeuren monastery church, Anabaptist scene, model of the St. Johann sculpture group

pulpit

The most important part of the gold-decorated furnishings is the pulpit , which was created by the master carpenter Hackspill and the sculptor Graner in 1764. It is a foundation of the Wadgasser Abbot Michael Stein. The shell niches of the pulpit show figures of the four evangelists and Christ as a teacher. The sound cover ends in looping volutes that carry a hop umbel. On the inside of the sound deck, the dove of the Holy Spirit hovers as an allegory of inspiration.

Confessionals

Other features include four Rococo - confessionals , with representations of four biblical sinners who realized their mistake, showed remorse and thereby obtained forgiveness: King David, Mary Magdalene, Peter and the thief on the cross. The confessionals were purchased in 1789 when the organ gallery was installed.

Stations of the Cross and Tabernacles

Hans Schroedter from Hausen vor Wald painted the oval Stations of the Cross in 1921.

The baroque sculptor Wunibald Wagner created adoring angels that flank the tabernacle . The tabernacle is surrounded by a glowing gilded wreath of lights and putti .

Side altars

During the renovation in the 1970s, the two side altars (width: 2.55 m, depth: 1.30 m; height: 5.50 m) were added to the original baroque St. Nicholas' statue made in 1768 by the sculptor's workshop Guldner from Berus. Modeled on an altar in neighboring Sarreguemines . They contain baroque stucco figures by Wunibald Wagner (height 1.30 m). On the Marian altar (left side altar) is the statue of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus, flanked by St. Joseph (left) and St. John the Baptist (right). The Ludwig altar (right side altar) shows the statues of the second church patron, St. Louis of France (center), as well as St. Hubertus (left) and Saint Wendelin (right). The figures date from 1764.

Gothic pieta

The late Gothic Pietà in the entrance area was acquired by Pastor Philipp Kremer (term of office 1929–1946) through the mediation of the Trier Diocesan Museum and restored and redesigned in the early 1950s by Hermann Greweling from St. Wendel.

Conopeum

In the chancel there is a canopy (conopeum), a stylized yellow-red umbrella with crossed keys, the traditional decoration for the rank of a church as a basilica. Another such decoration is the tintinnabulum , a staff with a bell, coat of arms and tiara , which is also set up in the chancel .

window

Around 1900, Professor Alexander Linnemann from Frankfurt created six glass windows. To replace the windows destroyed in World War II, new colored windows were designed in 1957 by the Munich artist Franz Xaver Wilfried Braunmiller and manufactured in the Mayer'schen Hofkunstanstalt . They were removed during the restoration in the 1970s, reinstalled in the Langwied monastery and replaced with white baroque glazing.

Armseelenkapelle

Leonhard Thomas Altarpiece of the Armseelenkapelle

Arnold Becker (1853–1928) and Gertrud Becker, née Gertrud Becker, founded the Armseelenkapelle (originally sacristy, then baptismal chapel) established by Prelate Alois Echelmeyer in 1920, which was also intended to serve as a memorial for the parish sons who died in World War I. Sinn (1860–1949) ( Sinn clothing store in Saarbrücken Bahnhofstrasse ), an altarpiece. The occasion was the soldier's death of her youngest son Paul, who died in 1915 in the fighting in Lorraine at the age of 19 . The painter of the altarpiece was Leonhard Thoma from Fischach in Bavarian Swabia, who had made a name for himself by decorating the St. Anna Basilica in Altötting . Thomas St. Johanner painting is a scaled down copy of the original in the St. Anna Basilica in Altötting. The picture in a neo-baroque frame bears the title Throne of Grace and shows a modified mercy seat scene with the poor souls who are released from their purgatory torments by the sacrifice of the Mass .

On the steps of an altar a priest in tonsure and baroque chasuble has sunk down. To surround the chalice in rococo shapes, he has covered his hands with a white, gold-fringed blessing velum. A baroque halo with the thorn-entwined heart of Jesus in the center is applied to the velum . The red basic color of the richly ornamented chasuble indicates the Good Friday liturgy . On the uppermost step of the altar, to the priest's left, lies a magnificent missal . Above it are the papal tiara and the ferula of the Roman bishop with three crossbars . The symbols of power of the Roman church designate it as the administrator of the "Thesaurus ecclesiae", the inexhaustible treasure of grace of the church, the fruits of which can be made usable for sinners through the intercessory prayer in the sacrifice of the Mass.

To the right of the priest, the artist Leonhard Thoma has positioned three participants in the mass liturgy: while a young woman bows her head in devotion and touches her breast with her right hand, a young man folds his hands in prayer and looks deeply moved with a bearded old man to the heavenly vision of the mercy seat above the altar.

The earthly participants in the measurement correspond to poor souls in purgatory behind the altar . They can be recognized as five human figures in a drastically realistic way. While some fall down in repentance for their sinful deeds during their earthly life, a female figure with arms crossed over her breast looks up to both the sacrifice and the mercy seat vision. The figure of a young man with outstretched arms creates an optical connection for the viewer between the sacrifice on the altar and the soul of a man who was condemned in penitential prayer on the lower left edge of the picture. The artist lets the tormented bodies of the poor souls be surrounded by glowing red flames.

In the complementary color contrast to the purgatory flames, the green robe of an angel falls like a heavenly symbol of consolation in the area of ​​the wretched in the purgatory. The angel, who looks at the poor souls with a sad expression, seems to want to slide down from a bank of clouds to the sinners. He wears the instruments of Christ's passion: in his right hand he holds the cattail scepter of the mockery of Jesus as King of the Jews. In his left hand he carries the cross with the crown of thorns , the Longinus lance and the scourge of torture.

Behind him a youthful angel holds up the crucifixion nails. A youthful angel in purple dalmatica , the liturgical color of penance, hovering over the participants in the measurement, shows the viewer the veil of Veronica . Next to him, another angel, looking at the mercy seat scene, is wringing his hands in pity and despair. Winged, disembodied putti float in the gold and pink clouds in the upper area of ​​the picture . The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove flies above in a shining halo of light. He sends bright rays of grace down on the event.

The center of the picture is God the Father with Jesus crucified. Deviating from the usual mercy seat depictions, in which God the Father as crowned ruler of heaven presents the viewer with the crucifix, Thoma depicts God the Father as a suffering father who, in a sad and tender manner, hugs his head, surrounded by a triangular halo, against the body of the dead Jesus, who is lifeless spread out on his lap. Just as the priest reverently envelops the chalice with his velum, God carefully envelops the outstretched body of his sacrificed son in a white linen cloth. A youthful angel gently grasps the pierced right hand of the crucified one. The artist transfers the iconography of the Pietà depictions of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary to God the Father. God the Father presents his Son Jesus Christ to man as the one who died for their sins on the cross. The picture completely visualizes the Magisterial Tridentine statements on the Eucharist : Jesus Christ is truly, really and substantially contained in the Eucharist. At communion, Jesus is received not only spiritually, but effectively and real. The mode of his presence is the change of substance, which only a Catholic priest can validly carry out. Jesus Christ is fully contained in the sacrament elements. Adoration of the Eucharist is a special way of worshiping God. Worthy participation in the Eucharist determines the state of sanctifying grace. The sacrifice of the Mass is a real and proper sacrifice. It is an atonement. In the sacrifice of the Mass, the sacrifice on the cross is made present in a bloodless manner and can be made usable for the living as well as the deceased in purgatory.

The altar extract shows the inscription "Ave Maria" in rich, gilded tendrils on a dark cartouche, the beginning of the prayer for a good hour of death. On the flanking pilaster capitals there are bowls with rose arrangements that refer to the invocation of Mary as "Rosa mystica" in the Lauretanian litany .

Anabaptist group

The Trier sculptor Arnold Hensler designed the Anabaptist scene on the high altar in 1934 as the winner of a design competition, which, in a modern interpretation, was based on a baroque Anabaptist group in the Ottobeuren monastery . The Mettler company in Morbach produced the group of sculptures. The head of the art campaign for the design of the church was the later Cologne cathedral builder Willy Weyres . Above the Baptist scene there is an oval window in the apse with the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit against a golden yellow background. The four Hebrew letters of God's name Yahweh are shown in a cartouche above

organ

Main organ

Marian organ

Ludwig organ

In the St. Johann basilica there is a three-part organ system with 62  registers and 4,138 pipes . The instrument is named after the organ of the Christkönig Church in Saarbrücken-St. Arnual (71 stops) the second largest organ in Saarland.

The main organ on the west gallery has 45 registers , divided into three manual works and a pedal. The instrument was built in 1975 by the organ builder Klais ( Bonn ), using pipe material from the Klais organ from 1933. In 2000 and 2005, the instrument was rebuilt and expanded by Hugo Mayer ( Heusweiler ). The housing design is based on a prospectus draft by the organ builder Stumm . The sound concept of the main organ is inspired by the Italian Baroque; the instrument therefore bears the name Italian Work .

In 2000 Hugo Mayer built two more instruments in the front side galleries (in the former royal boxes ). The Marien organ (with 13 registers and a transmission ) on the left has the function of a choir organ and has a two-manual console with a mechanical action and an electrical stop action . The Marian organ is also called the French work , as its disposition was based on the intonation and scale lengths of the swell of the Cavaillé-Coll - Mutin organ (1903) in the Notre-Dame l'Assomption church in Metz .

The Ludwig organ on the right (with 3 registers) was executed as a chamade work based on the chamades of the gospel organ in the Catedral Nueva in Salamanca . It does not have its own console, but is assigned to the 5th manual of the general console on the west gallery.

In connection with the construction of the Marien and Ludwig organ in 2000, the main organ was expanded to include two 32 'pedal stops. The three-manual console of the main organ from 1975 was replaced by a new five-manual general console, from which all three organs can be played. The action action of the I., II. And IV. Manuals (main work, positive and breastwork of the main organ) and the pedal is mechanical, that of the III. and V. Manuals (Marien- and Ludwigsorgel) electric, as well as the stop action of the general console and the console of the Marienorgel. In 2005 the main organ received a Voix humaine Jean-Paul II 8 ′ (in its own swell box), which is assigned to the fifth manual. The disposition:

I main work C – a 3 01. Quintad 16 ′ 02. Principal 08th' 03. Bifaria (from B) 08th' 04th Wooden flute 08th' (K) 05. Octave 04 ′ 06th recorder 04 ′ 07th Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 08th. Super octave 02 ′ 09. Mixture V 02 ′ 10. Cymbel III 01 ⁄ 2 ′ 11. Cornet V (from b 0 ) 00 08th' (K) 12. Trumpet 08th' 13. Vox humana 08th'

II Positive (swellable) C – a 3 14th Wood-covered 08th' 15th Salicional 08th' 16. Principal 04 ′ 17th Reed flute 04 ′ 18th Octave 02 ′ 19th Pointed flute 02 ′ (K) 20th Larigot 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ (K) 21st Scharff IV 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 22nd Sesquialter II 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′00 (K) 23. Cromorne 08th' 24. Hautbois 04 ′ Tremulant

III Récit expressif (Marien organ) C – a 3 First manual 25th Bourdon 16 ′ (M) 26th diapason 08th' (M) 27. Flûte harmonique 08th' (M) 28. Flûte traversière 04 ′ (M) 29 Octavine 02 ′ (M) 30th Plein jeu IV-V 02 ′ (M) 31. Trompette harmonique 08th' 00 (M) Tremblant (forte) (M) Second manual 32. Cor de nuit 08th' (M) 33. Viole de Gambe 08th' (M) 34. Voix céleste 08th' (M) 35. Basson 16 ′ (M) 36. Hautbois 08th' (M) 37. Clairon 04 ′ (M) Tremblant (forte) (M)

IV breastwork C – a 3 38. Reed flute 08th' (K) 39. Dumped 04 ′ 40. Nasard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′0 (K) 41. Duplicate 02 ′ (K) 42. third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′ (K) 43. Sifflet 01' 44. Acuta IV 01 ⁄ 2 ′ 45. Wooden shelf 00 16 ′ Tremulant

V Chamade-Werk (Ludwig organ) C – a 3 46. Trompeta magna 16 ′ (M) 47. Trompeta real 08th' (M) 48. Clarin 04 ′ (M) 49. Voix humaine JP II00 08th' 0 (2005) Tremulant (for no.49) Carillon

Pedal C – g 1 51. Pedestal 32 ′ (M) 52. Principal 16 ′ 53. Sub bass 16 ′ (K) 54. Octave 08th' (K) 55. Playing flute 08th' 56. Super octave 04 ′ 57. Forest flute 02 ′ (K) 58. Back set IV 02 ⁄ 3 ′0 59. Contrabassoon 32 ′ (M) 60. trombone 16 ′ 61. Wooden trumpet 00 08th' 62. Schalmey 0 4 ′

• Coupling in the general gaming table: II / I (mechanical), III / I, IV / I, V / I, III / II, IV / II, I / P (mechanical), II / P, III / P, IV / P, V / P.
• Playing aids : 6,400 typesetting combinations , sequencer , tutti, récit expressif from, swell kicks for II. And III. Manual.
• Secondary registers : Cymbelstern , Rossignol , Cuculus .
• Remarks:

(K) = Register of the Klais organ (1933)

(M) = Register by Hugo Mayer (2000)

(2005) = register by Hugo Mayer (2005)

without year = register of the Klais organ (1975)

1. ↑ Allocation of the registers to the first and second manual of the console of the choir organ.
2. ↑ The register is also available as transmission in the pedal of the console of the choir organ under the name "Soubasse 16 '".

Bells

In 1793 all the bells were requisitioned due to the war. In 1835, the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. three iron bells that had been cast by the Sayner hut . Around 1910 the Schilling bell foundry in Apolda delivered four bells (des´, es´ f´, as´) with a total weight of 5219 kg. In 1928 the Apoldaer bell foundry Ulrich cast three bells (c´, es´, f´) after the war reclamation of the First World War . With the exception of a remaining bell, almost all bells were requisitioned for the so-called metal donation of the German people in 1940 and 1942 during the Second World War . The remaining bell (f´) was melted down in 1955.

In the post-war period, a new bell was made in the Mabilon bell foundry in Saarburg . In 1955, four bells with the tone sequence c´, e´, g´, a´ as a Salve-Regina motif were created here . The bell currently hangs in a steel bell cage and has four slightly cranked steel yokes. Four in-house bell motors and a control system for the entire bell system are installed by the Perrot company from Calw . The full bells are reserved for major holidays and special occasions.

No.	volume	Casting year	Bell no.	Weight (kg)	Diameter (cm)
1	c 1	1956	5786	2300	155
2	e 1	1956	5787	1150	126
3	g 1	1956	5788	680	104
4th	a 1	1956	5789	480	93

Pastor

The following pastors have worked here since the re-establishment of the parish of St. Johann:

Johann Baptist Namour: 1745–1763 Hermann Josef Koch: 1763–1777 Canon Keller 1777–1782 Canon HP Wahl 1782–1785 Johann Baptist Schiltgen 1785–1803 Franz Gerardin: 1803-1810 Anton Fröhlicher: 1810–1819 Johann Schneider: 1819–1826

Johann Peter Bade: 1826–1837 Jakob Johann Franz Feilen: 1837–1853 Peter Josef Printz: 1853-1865 Philipp Hubert Schneider: 1865–1887 Heinrich Klisserath: 1888–1899 Leonhard Keil: 1899–1912 Alois Echelmeyer: 1912-1929 Philipp Kremer: 1929–1946

Jakob Schmitz: 1947–1956 Carl Schmidt: 1956–1962 Matthias Prinz: 1962–1985 Franz-Josef Biesel: 1985-2005 Michael Becker: 2005–2010 Eugen Vogt: 2011–

Trivia

In January 2016, the artist Alexander Karle used the basilica's celebration altar for his video project pressure to perform without official approval from the church . It shows him doing push-ups on the altar bar . For this he had to answer in court on January 17, 2017. He was sentenced by the Saarbrücken district court to a fine of 700 euros for trespassing and disrupting the practice of religion . Karle then announced that he would have the verdict examined on appeal. In an appeal process on July 10, 2017, the Saarbrücken regional court acquitted the artist of the charge of disturbing the practice of religion, but sentenced him to a fine of 500 euros for trespassing.

literature

• Johann Peter Muth: Parish historical pictures of the Catholic parishes of St. Johann and Saarbrücken for the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of the current parish church of St. Johann , St. Johann an der Saar in 1908.
• Philipp Kremer: 175 years of St. Johann parish church - 50 years of Langwiedstift - 24 years of Marienheim , Saarbrücken 1933.
• 200 years of the Catholic Church of St. Johann 1758–1958 , commemorative publication for the 200th anniversary, St. Johann Catholic Parish Office, Saarbrücken 1958.
• Karl Lohmeyer : Friedrich Joachim Stengel, communications of the historical association for the Saar area , issue XI, Düsseldorf 1911.
• Matthias Prinz: Basilica St. Johann Saarbrücken , Hannes Oefele-Verlag, Ottobeuren 1980.
• J. Adolf Schmoll called Eisenwerth: A parish report on Friedrich Joachim Stengels Catholic parish church in Saarbrücken-St. Johann von 1753/54 , in: Festschrift for Alois Thoma, Archaeological and Art History Contributions , Trier 1967.
• Walter Zimmermann: The art monuments of the city and the district of Saarbrücken , unaltered reprint 1975, Association for Monument Preservation in Saarland.

swell

• Chronicle of the Catholic parish of St. Johann
• Institute for Contemporary Art in Saarland, archive, holdings Saarbrücken, St. Johann Basilica (Dossier K 896)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Basilica of St. Johann. Retrieved August 24, 2012 . 
2. ^ Matthias Prinz and Hermann Josef Willger: Documentation Catholic parish church St. Johann Saarbrücken built by Friedrich Joachim Stengel 1754–1758, renovation 1964–1975 , ed. v. Catholic Parish Office Saarbrücken-St. Johann, Saarbrücken 1975, pp. 122-131.
3. ↑ List of monuments of the Saarland, sub-monuments list state capital Saarbrücken (PDF; 653 kB), accessed on August 8, 2012.
4. ^ Johann Peter Muth: Parish historical pictures of the Catholic parishes of St. Johann and Saarbrücken for the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the current parish church of St. Johann , St. Johann an der Saar 1908, p. 12.
5. ^ Karl Lohmeyer : The sagas of the Saar from the source to the mouth. Saarbrücken 1951, p. 78.
6. ^ Karl August Schleiden : Illustrated History of the City of Saarbrücken , Dillingen / Saar 2009, pp. 25-26.
7. ↑ Hans-Walter Herrmann: Saarbrücken and St. Johann from the beginnings of urban life to its decline in the Thirty Years War , in: Rolf Wittenbrock (ed.): History of the city of Saarbrücken, From the beginnings to industrial awakening (1850) , vol. 1 , Saarbrücken 1999, p. 275.
8. ↑ Hans-Walter Herrmann: Saarbrücken and St. Johann from the beginnings of urban life to its decline in the 30 Years War , in: Rolf Wittenbrock (Ed.): History of the City of Saarbrücken, From the Beginnings to Industrial Awakening (1850) , Vol. 1 , Saarbrücken 1999, pp. 199-298, here pp. 266-267, p. 271, pp. 273-274, p. 277.
9. ↑ Johann Peter Muth: Parish historical pictures of the Catholic parishes St. Johann and Saarbrücken for the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the current parish church of St. Johann , St. Johann an der Saar 1908, p. 18.
10. ↑ Hans-Walter Herrmann: Saarbrücken and St. Johann from the beginnings of urban life to its decline in the 30 Years War , in: Rolf Wittenbrock (Ed.): History of the City of Saarbrücken, From the Beginnings to Industrial Awakening (1850) , Vol. 1 , Saarbrücken 1999, pp. 199-298, here p. 274.
11. ^ Karl August Schleiden: Illustrated history of the city of Saarbrücken , Dillingen / Saar 2009, p. 43, map of the growth phases of the cities of Saarbrücken and St. Johann.
12. ↑ Hans-Walter Herrmann: Saarbrücken and St. Johann from the beginnings of urban life to its decline in the 30 Years War , in: Rolf Wittenbrock (Ed.): History of the City of Saarbrücken, From the Beginnings to Industrial Awakening (1850) , Vol. 1 , Saarbrücken 1999, pp. 199-298, here p. 271.
13. ^ Johann Peter Muth: Parish historical pictures of the Catholic parishes of St. Johann and Saarbrücken for the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the current parish church of St. Johann , St. Johann an der Saar 1908, p. 28.
14. ^ Karl August Schleiden: Illustrated History of the City of Saarbrücken , Dillingen / Saar 2009, pp. 71–72.
15. ^ Karl August Schleiden: Illustrated History of the City of Saarbrücken, Dillingen / Saar 2009, pp. 68–72.
16. ^ Karl August Schleiden: Illustrated History of the City of Saarbrücken, Dillingen / Saar 2009, p. 72.
17. ↑ Johann Peter Muth: Parish historical pictures of the Catholic parishes of St. Johann and Saarbrücken for the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the current parish church of St. Johann, St. Johann an der Saar 1908, pp. I – V and pp. 28–31.
18. ^ Karl August Schleiden: Illustrated History of the City of Saarbrücken , Dillingen / Saar 2009, p. 72.
19. ^ Johann Peter Muth: Parish historical pictures of the Catholic parishes of St. Johann and Saarbrücken on the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the current parish church of St. Johann , St. Johann an der Saar 1908, pp. 28–31.
20. ^ Johann Peter Muth: Parish historical pictures of the catholic parishes St. Johann and Saarbrücken for the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the current parish church of St. Johann , St. Johann an der Saar 1908, p. II.
21. ^ Karl Lohmeyer: Friedrich Joachim Stengel , Düsseldorf 1911.
22. ^ Georg Skalecki : The work of Friedrich Joachim Stengel , in: Jürgen Karbach, Paul Thomes (Hrsg.): Contributions to the Stengel Symposium on the occasion of the 300th birthday of Friedrich Joachim Stengel on 29./30. September 1994 in the Saarbrücken Castle , (= magazine for the history of the Saar region, 43.1995), Historical Association for the Saar region, Saarbrücken 1995, p. 75ff.
23. ^ Karl August Schleiden: Illustrated History of the City of Saarbrücken , Dillingen / Saar 2009, pp. 90–91.
24. ↑ ^{a b} Church building and art in sacred space after 1945 , accessed on September 28, 2014.
25. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed September 27, 2014. 
26. ^ Matthias Prinz and Hermann Josef Willger: Documentation Catholic parish church St. Johann Saarbrücken built by Friedrich Joachim Stengel 1754–1758, renovation 1964–1975, ed. v. Catholic Parish Office Saarbrücken-St. Johann, Saarbrücken 1975, pp. 124-125.
27. ↑ http://www.basilika-sb.de/ , accessed on September 29, 2014.
28. ^ ^{A b} Matthias Prinz and Hermann Josef Willger: Documentation Catholic Parish Church St. Johann Saarbrücken built by Friedrich Joachim Stengel 1754–1758, renovation 1964–1975 , ed. v. Catholic Parish Office Saarbrücken-St. Johann, Saarbrücken 1975.
29. ↑ ^{a b} Information brochure on the St. Johann Basilica in Saarbrücken, published by the St. Johann parish office, text: Konrad Hilpert
30. ^ Matthias Prinz and Hermann Josef Willger: Documentation Catholic parish church St. Johann Saarbrücken built by Friedrich Joachim Stengel 1754–1758, renovation 1964–1975 , ed. v. Catholic Parish Office Saarbrücken-St. Johann, Saarbrücken 1975, pp. 77-78.
31. ^ Matthias Prinz and Hermann Josef Willger: Documentation Catholic parish church St. Johann Saarbrücken built by Friedrich Joachim Stengel 1754–1758, renovation 1964–1975, ed. v. Catholic Parish Office Saarbrücken-St. Johann, Saarbrücken 1975, p. 60.
32. ↑ Showcase of Life, 150 Years of Bahnhofstrasse Saarbrücken, ed. by Hans-Christian Herrmann, Ruth Bauer and Kathrin Schmidt (Publications of the Saarbrücken City Archives, 3), 2nd, revised edition, Saarbrücken 2015, pp. 134–137.
33. ^ Basilica of St. Johann Saarbrücken . www.orgelbau-mayer.de. Accessed July 10, 2018.
34. ↑ The organ in the Basilica of St. Johann Saarbrücken . www.leonardy.org. Accessed July 10, 2018.
35. ↑ Salamanca, Catedral Nueva, Evangelienorgel ( Memento of the original of April 9, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Accessed July 10, 2018. 
36. ↑ Pope Register . www.leonardy.org. Accessed July 10, 2018.
37. ↑ Disposition Basilica St. Johann, Saarbrücken . www.orgelbau-mayer.de. Accessed July 10, 2018.
38. ↑ Disposition Basilica St. Johann Saarbrücken Klais / Mayer organ . www.leonardy.org. Accessed July 10, 2018.
39. ↑ Bernhard H. Bonkhoff: The bells of the Saarland, Saarbrücken 1997, p 137th
40. ^ Matthias Prinz and Hermann Josef Willger: Documentation Catholic parish church St. Johann Saarbrücken built by Friedrich Joachim Stengel 1754–1758, renovation 1964–1975 , ed. v. Catholic Parish Office Saarbrücken-St. Johann, Saarbrücken 1975, fig. 90.
41. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed October 24, 2014. 
42. ↑ Eugen Vogt on the parish website, accessed on January 26, 2018
43. ↑ Catholics horrified: Artist does gymnastics on the altar , accessed on January 17, 2017.
44. ↑ Judgment on justillon.de ( Memento of the original from March 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed March 12, 2017. 
45. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : Video artist acquitted: pushups on the altar. Retrieved August 26, 2017 . 

Web links

Commons : Basilika St. Johann  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Parish website
• Baroque pulpit of the church
• Literature on the St. Johann basilica in the Saarland Bibliography
• Tower recording of the full bells of the Catholic Basilica St. Johann