Brother Klaus (Wädenswil-Au)
The Roman Catholic chapel of Brother Klaus is located in the Wädenswil district of Au . It is currently (as of 2014) the youngest church in the country consecrated to the Swiss Saint Nicholas von Flüe .
history
In 1957 the first Catholic service took place in Au. Between 1966 and 1970 an ecumenical church center was planned in the Au, the realization of which failed in 1970 when the Reformed parish voted against. The Reformed parish of Wädenswil then built a smaller building, the Au Church Pavilion , which opened in 1972 . During the following decades, the Catholics were guests in the pavilion of the Reformed parish in the Au. In the 1980s a second attempt was made to build an ecumenical meeting center. A preliminary study was carried out in 1987 and a project competition took place between 1993 and 1994. In 1995 the Catholic and Reformed Wädenswil parishes voted on this project. Since the Reformed decided again against building an ecumenical church center, the building project was pursued by the Catholics alone. Between 2001 and 2002, the architects Gautschi and Storrer built the present-day Brother Klaus chapel including a meeting center. The chapel was consecrated on January 30, 2003.
The Brother Klaus chapel, along with the St. Anna chapel (Wädenswil) and the St. Marien parish church, belong to the Roman Catholic parish of Wädenswil, which with its 6,083 members (as of 2017) is one of the larger parishes in the canton of Zurich.
Building description
Church tower and exterior
The Brother Klaus chapel is located in the Wädenswil district of Au on the Alte Landstrasse . A path takes the visitor from the street to the forecourt of the chapel. In the square there is a fountain made of stacked stone slabs, which anticipate the design of the altar inside. In keeping with the fountain that was at the door to the chapel fountain Vision of Brother Klaus in 25 languages written down, because in the neighborhood Au with the period of the chapel lived people from 25 nations.
The east-facing chapel consists of a simple, gray-painted cube on which a roof turret for the bells is placed. On the south side of the chapel, the meeting center is built at right angles, so that the forecourt is closed in an L-shape in the east and south. The roof turret hides a three-part bell that was cast by the H. Rüetschi bell foundry , Aarau in 1978 and sounds in the tone sequence c sharp, e, f sharp. Under a canopy, the visitor enters the chapel through the portal.
Interior and artistic equipment
The design of the house of God implements elements of the life and work of St. Nikolaus von Flüe architecturally. Through the choice of materials and the use of light, the chapel tries to capture the strength and barreness of Ranft , the place where St. Nikolaus von Flüe lived and worked. The room is rhythmized by clear lines, the predominant materials are natural stone, concrete and wood. On the choir wall there are gold plates which, depending on the time of day, shine discreetly or brightly and refer to the presence of God in the room. The light shaft embedded in the roof of the chapel and running along the north wall allows dull light to enter the nave thanks to blue glass. The bluish light in the nave contrasts with the golden glow of the altar wall. In the center aisle there are candlesticks resting on metal rods. They show the way to the people's altar , which, like the fountain on the forecourt, consists of layered stone slabs in different stone colors. Behind the altar on the wall there is a simple cross, to the right of it a cubic tabernacle covered with gold leaf is embedded in the choir wall. On the southern wall of the chapel, the Easter candle stands on a candlestick also made of horizontal panels. Behind the Easter candlestick there is a second fountain on the wall, which again refers to Brother Klaus' vision of the fountain . There is a small window high above the choir on the south wall, which, like in the hermitage in Ranft, has less of a functional than a transcendental meaning. Three portraits complete the furnishings of the chapel: A Brother Klaus relief by Alois Spichtig in the choir on the north wall, the foundation stone of the chapel at the entrance to the church in the shape of Brother Klaus' mediation wheel and a picture of Sieger Köder , which is attached to the portal of the chapel. This picture is the first work that Sieger Köder painted in Switzerland. It shows over an area of 2 by 1 meter the works of mercy according to the word of Jesus Christ : “What you did to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). In the center of the picture is to see the face of Christ. The conception of the image of Sieger Köder follows the shape of Brother Klaus' mediation wheel.
organ
In 2011, Mathis Orgelbau (Näfels) built a mechanical organ with 9 registers on two manuals including a pedal in the gallery of the chapel .
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literature
- Catholic parish St. Marien Wädenswil (ed.): Grüess Gott mitenand. Waedenswil.
- Monika Kümmerle: The Brother Klaus Au ZH chapel in text and images. Invitation to reflect. Wädenswil 2010.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Catholic parish St. Marien Wädenswil (ed.): Grüess Gott mitenand. P. 7.
- ↑ Monika Kümmerle: The chapel brother Klaus Au ZH in text and picture. Invitation to reflect. P. 44
- ^ Archives of the parish of St. Mary.
- ↑ Monika Kümmerle: The chapel brother Klaus Au ZH in text and picture. Invitation to reflect. P. 44.
- ↑ Catholic Church in the Canton of Zurich (Ed.): Annual Report 2017 , p. 84.
- ↑ Monika Kümmerle: The chapel brother Klaus Au ZH in text and picture. Invitation to reflect. P. 8
- ↑ Monika Kümmerle: The chapel brother Klaus Au ZH in text and picture. Invitation to reflect. P. 1.
- ↑ Monika Kümmerle: The chapel brother Klaus Au ZH in text and picture. Invitation to reflect. Pp. 10-41.
- ^ Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Section Catholic Chapel Brother Klaus Wädenswil-Au ZH. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
Coordinates: 47 ° 14 '41.63 " N , 8 ° 38' 41.46" O ; CH1903: 691319 / 233366