Christ the King Church (Saarbrücken)

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The catholic parish church Christkönig in Saarbrücken-St. Arnual
Interior of the church with a view of the apse
Interior of the church with a view of the organ gallery
Choir dome

The Christkönig Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in St. Arnual , a district of the Saarland capital Saarbrücken . The patronage is Christ the King . In the list of monuments of the Saarland, the church is a single monument in the ensemble at the Christ the King Church listed. With regard to the christological intention of its iconography , the sacred building, designed in an expressionistically interpreted Romanesque and Byzantine formal language, is of particular importance in theology and art history. The parish belongs to the diocese of Trier .

history

prehistory

The inhabitants of the original city of Saarbrücken, today's district of Alt-Saarbrücken, belonged to the parish of the collegiate church of St. Arnual in the Middle Ages . Saarbrücken had its own chapel as early as the 13th century . This chapel was built under the government of Countess Lauretta (1233-1271), for which the Metz Bishop Philipp von Flörchingen (1261-1264) had given permission on August 23, 1261.

This chapel was dedicated to St. Nikolaus von Myra was consecrated. After the old chapel had become dilapidated, master builder Hans von Zabern built today's Gothic Saarbrücken Castle Church in its place in 1476 . Nevertheless, Saarbrücken and St. Johann remained dependent on the St. Arnualer Stift. It was not until 1549 that the monastery chapter gave its permission for a priest appointed by it to reside in Saarbrücken and for the castle church to be elevated to the parish church of St. Nicholas.

After in 1575 by decision of Count Philip III. The Reformation had been forcibly introduced by Nassau-Saarbrücken , there was no Catholic parish in Saarbrücken until the beginning of the 19th century. On May 9, 1803, a cantonal parish was established in Saarbrücken, which was then part of France ( Département de la Sarre ), but it did not have its own church, but had to use the Catholic church in St. Johann . Only in the years 1885 to 1887 could a separate Catholic parish church be used again with the construction of the St. Jakob Church , which was built according to plans by the architect and master builder Arnold Güldenpfennig from Paderborn . The related Jakobus patronage was taken from the Jakobus altar of the medieval castle chapel in Saarbrücken.

The Saarbrücken parish of St. Jakob, which had only 2,800 Catholics in 1887, developed rapidly in the following years - despite the losses of the First World War : 5390 (1897), 8600 (1906), 9600 (1910), 11000 (1914) ), 12000 (1920), 13000 (1926), 14000 (1928).

Planning

In December 1919, the then pastor of the Saarbrücken parish of St. Jakob, Johann Ludger Schlich (1876–1950, pastor in St. Jakob since 1913, pastor of Christ the King's Church and dean of Saarbrücken as well as papal house prelate, 1935 dismissed after disputes with the NSDAP ), to the Episcopal Vicariate General in Trier with the request to reduce the size of the large Catholic parishes in the capital of the Saar area , as pastoral care can no longer be adequately provided by four parishes alone. Saarbrücken was then divided into the parishes of St. Johann ( St. Johann an der Saar ), St. Eligius with the branch church Herz Jesu (both Burbach ), St. Josef ( Malstatt ) and St. Jakob ( old Saarbrücken ).

In his letter, Schlich called for the establishment of a parish in the St. Arnual district . The local collegiate church of St. Arnual had become Protestant through the Reformation introduced by the Saarbrücken Count House in 1575 . The 300 to 400 Catholics (out of 1,600 Protestants) living in St. Arnual in 1919 had to go to the Jakobskirche in Old Saarbrücken, about four kilometers away , to attend mass . The catchment area of ​​St. Arnuals already comprised almost 1200 Catholics. Together with the 3100 Catholics who lived in the residential area down the Saar to Schlossplatz, the area to be parished comprised around 4300 people, so that the old parish of St. Jakob remained around 9800 believers.

The parish area extended to the left of the Saar over the districts of St. Arnual and Alt-Saarbrücken from Spicherner Bann to the Alte Brücke , from there over the left side of Schlossbergstraße and Schlossplatz over Talstraße to Spichererbergstraße.

Emergency churches

As early as the First World War , Catholic masses were held in the St. Arnual garrison hospital to facilitate pastoral care. Since the garrison hospital had been requisitioned by the French army after the First World War, when Saarbrücken was occupied, one had to look for an alternative location. From September 1920, the 70 square meter ballroom of the St. Arnualer Gasthaus Fried was rented to hold provisional holy masses there. Thus, for the first time after a 345-year break, regular Catholic masses could be read in St. Arnual. After disagreements with the Protestant innkeeper family and due to the inadequacy of the ballroom, the lease was terminated after three years, so that one had to look for a suitable room again.

Pastor Schlich, who had been an elected member of the Saarbrücken city council since 1920, submitted an application to the city ​​administration for the purchase of a building plot for a Catholic church in St. Arnual, which the Saarbrücken city ​​council approved on September 6, 1921. The city council sold the building site of today's Christ the King's Church (3235 square meters, enlarged by 81 square meters in 1928) - against the resistance of the left-wing parties, the liberals and members of the Saarbrücken Freemasons' lodge - at considerably reduced rates. Until the completion of a new church, the service should take place in a former barracks. The government commission of the Saar area then allowed in May 1924 the use of an almost 200 square meter vehicle shed on Barbarastraße in Saarbrücken as an emergency church.

Architectural competition

  • Service console in the nave with the representation of the architect Karl Colombo

  • Service console in the nave with the depiction of Johann Ludger Schlich

On April 14, 1924, a church building association was founded , which was supposed to raise the necessary financial resources for the church building. By 1929 the association had raised almost 174,000 francs through fundraising. The collections from the Wednesday Joseph Mass in St. Jakob brought in a total of 7750 francs up to May 1, 1929. At the start of construction there was a construction sum of 972,200 francs including the collections of the church building association and the savings from the church tax.

On March 25, 1925, an architectural competition among the Catholic master builders of the Saar region , the occupied territory of the German Empire as well as Württemberg and Baden for the design of a church and the parsonage belonging to it was announced. The new Saarbrücker sacred building should be built in stone with regard to its outer walls and offer space for 1650 worshipers. No special requirements were issued for the architectural style. Modern style elements were allowed and a slender tower and dome were suggested. By the deadline of July 15, drafts from 57 architects had been received. A jury finally decided for cost reasons in favor of the design "Porta coeli" (heaven's gate, cf. Genesis 28,17  EU ) by Cologne architect Carl / Karl Colombo (born May 19, 1875 in Cologne; † December 1, 1943 ibid), although one was not satisfied with parts of his church design, especially the dome lighting, the windows and the entrances. The Saarbrücken architect Albert Eichbaum took over the local construction management. The Saarbrucken Christ the King's Church has a special meaning within the work of Karl Colombo, since his Cologne churches were destroyed in the Second World War and not rebuilt in their original form.

Despite considerable objections from the city administration, the parish had been made an obligation that the rectory should be built very narrow and relatively high. Until it was expanded from five to seven axes, the rectory had an undesigned fire wall facing the banks of the Saar. The city of Saarbrücken had planned to build a closed four-storey row of houses with a mansard floor up to the end of President-Baltz-Strasse next to the rectory, so that the Christ the King's Church would have been surrounded by tall buildings. The sacred building would then have been virtually invisible from the point of view of the Bismarck Bridge over the Saar. The architect Karl Colombo would have preferred to have the rectory only one and a half stories high to make the tower facade of the church all the more impressive. In the immediate aftermath, the high row of houses was not built and was then completely abandoned due to the construction of the Saarbrücken city motorway between 1961 and 1963, so that the line of sight to the Christ the King's Church remained unobstructed.

Patronage

Planned Arnual patronage

Late Gothic wooden sculpture of Saint Arnual in the aisle of the church

The church council wanted to make the patron saint, Saint Arnual , who had been bishop of Metz between 601 and 609 and missionary in the Saarbrücken region, the patron saint of the new church. According to legendary tradition, Arnual is said to have lived as a hermit in the so-called Heidenkapelle (former Mithraeum ) on Halberg . His son Arnulf resigned his office in Metz in 629 and also settled in the Heidenkapelle as his father's successor. From there he initiated the building of the chapel dedicated to John the Baptist (today the location of the St. Johann Basilica) in the fishing village of St. Johann. The fishing village then took over the place name St. Johann from the title saint of this chapel.

Intervention by the Bishop of Trier

The Trier bishop Franz Rudolf Bornewasser then ordered the name "Salvatorkirche" in July 1926 against the express wish of the Saarbrücken residents. Its title festival should be the new Catholic solemn festival of Christ the King ( Latin Sollemnitas Domini Nostri Iesu Christi Universorum Regis , Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the universe ' ). This was a direct reaction of the bishop to the establishment of this feast by Pope Pius XI. with his encyclical Quas primas of December 11, 1925 on the occasion of the Holy Year 1925 for the 1600th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 325. In the run-up to this liturgical-theological decision of the Pope on the Christ the King thought comes the in Burgundian Paray-le- Monial , the Société du règne social de Jesus Christ, established in the last quarter of the 19th century, is of particular importance. It arose from the devotion to the Sacred Heart .

In the years following the publication of the encyclical “Quas primas”, several new churches received the Christ the King's patronage; the first in 1926 was the Christ the King Church in Bischofsheim near Mainz. A few years after the fall of the monarchies in Germany , Austria-Hungary and Russia at the end of the First World War , the kingship of Jesus Christ as an eschatological factor should be brought into the focus of the Catholic life of faith.

Theological-iconographic conception of Colombo

Since July 1927, architect Karl Colombo made several contacts with the people's missionary Otto Cohausz (1872–1938), who was in Bad Neuenahr and was popular at the time, in order to seek advice from him on the theological idea of ​​the Christ the King. It was already about furnishing the new Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken. Jesuit Father Cohausz, who left an extensive theological literature behind, had already published a book in 1926 with the title "Jesus Christ, the King of the World". In this book he presented a biblical and dogmatically oriented conception of the Christ the King idea, which Colombo could have served as a theological-christological source of inspiration.

Maria Laach's influence

Maria Laach Abbey Church

In September 1927, the architect Karl Colombo made contact with the Maria Laach Abbey regarding the christological conception of the Saarbrücken church, with special attention to the patronage ordered by the bishop . The abbey was immediately ready for conceptual cooperation. On September 23, 1927 Colombo wrote to Dechant Schlich in Saarbrücken: “Let's stay with the Benedictines. We then get something uniform and elegant. "

The theological influence of Abbot Ildefons Herwegen on the furnishings of the Saarbrücken Christ the King Church, especially on the mosaics, has been proven. Herwegen was known for his publications on the history of church art. He interpreted Christian iconography from a spiritual and liturgical point of view and set up corresponding intentions for current ecclesiastical art. The church work of art should be committed to the community of believers. Because of this, intensive efforts were made to convey new inspiration to the Christian culture from old Christian sources. The visual arts should also serve this intention. A number of artist monks from Maria Laach tried to conform to this ideal. They mostly worked in the wake of the Beuron art tradition , which was founded in 1868 in the Beuron Abbey near Sigmaringen for the renewal of Catholic church art. The school was strongly oriented towards Egyptian, early Christian and Byzantine art and, through its archaic and abstract simplicity, had a stimulating effect on the development of art in the period after historicism . In its endeavor to create a new religious art, the Beuron art tied to the basic ideas of Nazarene art . In this context, the Maria Laacher art monks decorated numerous churches with wall paintings, glass windows and mosaics and made liturgical devices and sculptures.

For the theological design of the new church in Saarbrücken with special consideration of the patronage ordered by the bishop, there was an intensive theological exchange in the Maria Laach Abbey between Pastor Schlich, who came from neighboring Bell , the architect and the monastery management under Abbot Ildefons Herwegen and Father Ambrosius Floor. The idea of ​​the kingship of Christ should rule everything in the church. At a joint meeting in Maria Laach on June 18, 1928, texts from the Bible, especially from the Revelation of John , were discussed and thus the eschatological-apocalyptic orientation of the Christological program, which Cohausz largely lacked, was essentially implemented. During this conversation, the choir arch mosaic, which was thematically taken from the Apocalypse, with the Adoration of the Lamb by the twenty-four elders was discussed and thematically determined. The Latin and German inscriptions were also largely determined. In connection with this conference, Dechant Schlich gave the Maria Laacher brother Radbod Commandeur, who worked as a sculptor, painter, ivory carver and mosaicist, and especially in Maria Laach, the Jerusalem Dormition Abbey and in Sant'Anselmo all, in almost euphoric exuberance, bypassing the Saarbrücken church council 'Aventino left numerous works in Rome , on June 18, 1928 independently commissioned to carry out all artistic work on the new church.

Because of this, a reflection on the central role of the liturgy called for . It should connect participating believers in the spirit and thus make communion with God tangible in the communion of the church. Abbot Herwegen was one of the pioneers of the liturgical reform that the Second Vatican Council completed 20 years after his death. These liturgy-specific intentions become clear in the design of the Christ the King's Church in Saarbrücken. The use of the German language for the inscriptions in the nave of Christ the King instead of the previously exclusively Latin language indicates this new “lay orientation”.

From a political point of view, however, Herwegen was committed to the traditional role of the church in absolutism . He advocated an authoritarian state and rejected the democratic form of government. The staging of Jesus Christ as a majestic, authoritarian King and less as a compassionate, humble and kind philanthropist and servant of God is designed accordingly in the Saarbrücken Christkönigskirche.

Nevertheless, pastor and dean Johann Ludger Schlich emphasizes in his writing on the consecration of the Christ the King Church the unifying and reconciling ideas of the Christ the King theology in the politically torn time after the First World War and the time of the rise of the fascist cult of the leader when he writes:

“Christ stands as the first king in human history who renounces earthly power in order to work on the spirits. It is a new type of king: the king without earthly power, the king through internal attraction, through internal violence, through love, through supernatural moral authority over the minds, the will and the hearts of men. It is a spiritual kingdom. Just as people are subject to earthly authority in their outer actions, so are they subject to the spiritual kingship of Christ in their inner life, in their thinking and will. The kingship of Christ establishes Christ as the highest moral authority on earth. All people and peoples are subject to it.

Therein lies its great importance for our time. Christ stands before us as the great supreme authority that unites the peoples. His kingship gives the peoples a unity above them. From it the unifying and life-giving forces pour into the hearts and veins of the peoples. The world, which is torn and shaken, needs a force that unites people. She longs for him who unites the peoples and unites the spirits, who gives love and brings justice into the life of the people. She is looking for that great King, to whom all peoples look up with joy and love, whose law governs all, whose power binds everyone together. The peoples long for that great King who teaches and guides people, who brings people-unifying love and justice. What the torn humanity needs, what it needs, the Church has shown it and made it clear: Christ the King, the center of hearts.

Thus the kingship of Christ enters with power into the minds of the peoples. Christ, the King of Justice and Peace, wants to give justice and peace to the world. The kingship of Christ is based on these lofty, glorious, people-happy thoughts. (...) To the extent that Christ's mild rule of kings succeeds, peace and joy will descend on earth, the rule of truth and life, order and morality, love and peace will be introduced , it will be light and bright and happy in hearts, in families, in public and popular life. Under Christ's blessing rule the face of the earth will be renewed. "

Adoration of Therese von Lisieux

Relics - bust of St. Thérèse de Lisieux in the aisle; the initials FMT recall her maiden name Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin in a different order

Pastor Schlich's plans to exhibit relics of the nun Therese von Lisieux , who was canonized in 1925, in the new church and thus to make it a Saarland pilgrimage church, were thwarted by the Trier bishopric - perhaps to avoid pro-French tendencies during the time of the League of Nations administration of the Saar area . Only the installation of a statue of the new saint in the church was approved. A relic of the Thérèse von Lisieux was later buried under the Don-Bosco-Heim (today the State Office for Environmental Protection) on the Wackenberg. According to the parish, there is currently another relic in the Christ the King's Church.

Construction and consecration

Foundation stone of the church in the apse with eternal light and window to the sacristy

The building permit from the Episcopal Authority in Trier was granted on April 11, 1927. The letter of approval concluded with the words: “We are pleased that (sic!) Such a good result was achieved. The new church will serve as an ornament to the city of Saarbrücken and after centuries of deprivation of a Catholic church, the ancient Catholic cultural site of St. Arnual will be in the possession of an excellent church. "

Just a few days after the episcopal permission to build, on April 20, construction began according to plans by the Cologne architect Karl Colombo in collaboration with Abbot Ildefons Herwegen from the Maria Laach Abbey . The foundations began on August 1, 1927. The foundation stone was laid on October 30, 1927, the Feast of Christ the King . A certificate in Latin and German was laid in the foundation stone. The text sets out the Christological intention of the new sacred building. In contrast to the usual practice, those responsible for the government are not named in the document. The German text is:

“To the King of the Centuries, the Immortal and the Invisible, God alone be glory and glory forever.

On Sunday, October 30th, Feast of the Kingship of Christ, in the year nineteen twenty-seven, when Pius XI. in Rome steered the little ship of Peter with wisdom, and Dr. Franz Rudolf Bornewasser was Bishop of Trier and beloved Shepherd of the Saar region and Dr. Johannes Schlich, as pastor of the large parish of St. Jakob, which numbered 14,000 souls, was in charge in Saarbrücken, the dean of the Saarbrücken deanery and pastor of St. Johann, Msgr In the midst of a very large crowd of believers, the foundation stone for this church was laid solemnly according to the rite of the Roman Catholic Church. The church is consecrated to the religious mystery of the kingship of Christ and therefore the foundation stone is laid on the new feast of our Lord Jesus Christ the King, which our glorious reigning Pope Pius XI. gave Quas primas to the Church in his circular.

The purpose and task of the new festival is to awaken the mild and noble kingship of Christ in the hearts of men and to bring it to rule in the world and among the peoples. It should extend to all people and not only penetrate the soul life of the individual, but also the social structures, family and state, with its beneficial influence (sic!).

Christ's kingship is the rule of grace and love, the rule of order and morality, reason and freedom, the rule of justice and peace.

This new house of God should also serve the same high task that the new feast has in the spirit of the Church: It should prepare the way for Christ's rule in hearts and in the world and help to gain recognition and in souls, in families and promote and spread the peace and love of Christ in popular life.

The architect Karl Colombo from Cologne drew the plans and designs for the Christ the King's Church. The local construction management was in the hands of the architect Albert Eichbaum from Saarbrücken. The masonry and concrete work was carried out by Hubert Rauwald from Saarbrücken. May the benevolent and almighty God graciously bless this work so that it may become a monument of faith and a place of Christian love for the generations to come and bear witness to the zeal for faith and the self-sacrifice of the parish of St. Jacob, which was in these troubled generations Times themselves beset by hardship and worry, but joyfully sacrificing everything to the glory of God and the King Christ. "

The inscription on the foundation stone and the completion stone read: “Anno Domini MDCCCCXXVII ☧ Hanc ecclesiam annis 1927–1929 aedeficatam. July 7, 1929 benedictam et sacro usui dedicatam. Rsms. Dr. Franciscus Rudolphus Bornewasser eppus. treverensis the 26. Oct. 1929 in honorem Christi regis consecravit et altera die in festo Christi regis sollemnem missam pontificalem celebravit. ”(German translation:“ In the year of the Lord 1927. ☧ This church was built between 1927 and 1929. On July 7, 1929 it was blessed The most venerable bishop of Trier, Dr. Franz Rudolph Bornewasser, consecrated it on October 26, 1929 in honor of the king Christ and celebrated a festive pontifical mass here on the feast of Christ the King the following day. ”) Since the apse later me Marble, the old foundation stone was replaced with a new one. The text was shortened.

Domkapitular Peter Christ benedizierte solemnly the new church on July 7, 1929. The actual consecration of the completed church took on 26 October 1929, the then- Trier Bishop Franz Rudolf Bornewasser ago.

Since the construction site of the Christ the King's Church is in the valley between Winterberg and the Saar lowlands, the foundation was difficult. Stable rock was only found eight meters below street level. The foundation had to be placed on reinforced concrete bored piles that were driven down to the rock. One pile was designed for a load of up to 20 tons. A total of 380 piles were drilled for the church. Lined up in a row, the bored piles of the church would cover a distance of 2.2 km. The pipes, about 30 cm in diameter, were driven into the depths and then filled with special concrete under pressure. The reinforced concrete foundation was built over it. Due to the risk of upwelling by the water of the Saar, the crypt, which is about 2.50 meters below the high water level of the Saar, was given a particularly strong foundation. The bottom and walls of the crypt were also made particularly waterproof. For the tower foundation 90 reinforced concrete bored piles were drilled, which can take a total weight of about 2000 tons. The foundation piles of the tower in turn carry a reinforced concrete slab and a reinforced concrete frame about 2.50 meters high. Up to a height of 13 m, the tower only rests on four reinforced concrete supports (cross-section: 1.25 by 1.25 meters), which also take the load of the organ gallery with a projection of around 4 meters in a sinuous form (1,500,000 kg weight without organ ) wear. The tower itself is stabilized by several reinforced concrete frames.

The concrete consists of pure Saar gravel and Portland cement in a mixing ratio of 1: 5. First, the surrounding walls were built, then the main nave walls with the reinforced concrete ceilings of the side aisles (flat coffered ceiling). The thrust ratios of the central nave vault (coffered Rabitz vault ) and the roof are stabilized by reinforced concrete frames in the aisles. Then the reinforced concrete pillars of the apse and the reinforced concrete dome with a total height of 16 meters and a diameter of 10 meters were poured. In addition to concrete, bricks, quarry stones and local red sandstone and basalt were used for exterior cladding. After the hoisting crane had been removed from the nave, work on the church tower began and the interior of the church was closed by a roof. In this way, the interior work could be carried out without considering the weather conditions.

After the completion of the work on the church, the rectory was built according to the plans of the Saarbrücken architect Peter Weiß. The foundation of the rectory rests on cement well rings 1 meter in diameter. The required 26 well shafts were then poured with concrete and reinforced concrete scaffolding was built over them.

The following companies were involved in the construction of the Christ the King's Church:

  • Earthworks, concrete, reinforced concrete and masonry work: Hubert Rauwald (Saarbrücken)
  • Stone carving and stone carving: Paul Rühling (Bübingen) and Viktor Philippe (Zabern)
  • Carpentry: Karl Kiefer (Saarbrücken)
  • Roofing work: Louis Arend (Saarbrücken)
  • Plastering and plastering work: United stonemason and sculpture workshops (Saarbrücken) and Kaspar Schilz (Saarbrücken)
  • Sculpture work: P. Latterner (Saarbrücken), the models were supplied by Erwin Haller (Cologne)
  • Painting work: A. Schollmayer and Franz Wolf (Saarbrücken)
  • Carpentry and glazing work: Mayer & Schlachter, Julius Henn, Hans Stein, Theodor Leggewie (all Saarbrücken)
  • Church pews: Matthias Wolf (Saarbrücken)
  • Confessionals and cupboards: Valentin Wolfers (Saarbrücken) and Mettler (St. Wendel)
  • Electrical installation work and lighting: Georg Hammerschick (Saarbrücken)
  • Locksmith work: Gebrüder Bergem, N. Lentz, Hartfuß (Saarbrücken)
  • Communion bench and ambone: Gebrüder Bergem (Saarbrücken)
  • Stone masonry and column work: Jakob Dieudonne (Saarbrücken)
  • Lead glazing and painted windows: Glass painting Angel & Co. (Saarbrücken)
  • Marble work, altars and pulpit: Arnold Schüller (Trier) and Schachenmühle (Strasbourg in Alsace)
  • Floor covering: Hermann Seyffarth (Saarbrücken)
  • Installation work: Heinrich Hauswald (Saarbrücken)
  • Air heating: Theodor Mahr Söhne (Aachen)
  • Mosaic pictures and inscriptions: Villeroy & Boch (Mettlach) and Peter Beyer Söhne (Cologne-Bayenthal)
  • Altar, altar utensils and metalwork: Goldsmith Zehgruber (Cologne)

At the time of her consecration the church was not actually finished. The tower clock, the bells, the organ, the side altars, the outer doors, the window grilles and the mosaic furnishings were still missing. In 1930 the construction police requested over a dozen new designs and changes. At the end of April 1932, the Strasbourg company Ungerer received the order to build the tower clock. The electric ringing machines were installed in 1937 by the Herford electricity company . The organ inauguration (at that time 49 stops) took place on October 1st, 1933.

The Marienaltar was commissioned from the Cologne company Beyer & Sohn at the end of November 1932. The mosaics of the side altars (Marienmosaik 1934, Josefsmosaik 1938, executed by Beyer & Sohn, Cologne) were designed by Maria Laacher artist monk Theodor “Radbod” Commandeur (1890–1955) from Hoorn in the Netherlands. Commandeur also provided the designs for the Christ the King mosaic. Brother Radbod Commandeur entered the Maria Laach Abbey in 1911 and began his artistic work in the tradition of the Beuron art school founded by Father Peter “Desiderius” Lenz . In 1919, Commandeur was accepted into the Laacher art workshops. The art trips to Italy undertaken on behalf of Abbot Ildefons Herwegen, with a focus on Venice , Rome and Ravenna , introduced him to Byzantine art and allowed him to find his own personal style. In addition to the Saarbrücken mosaics, Commandeur created sculptures for the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Koblenz , for his own abbey church Maria Laach, for the church of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem and for Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino in Rome . In addition to the mosaic technique, Radbod Commandeur also mastered wall painting, sculpture and metal driving. The mosaics in Saarbrücken's Christ the King's Church are likely to be his most important work in Germany. Brother Radbod supported Abbot Ildefons Herwegen and Father Ambrosius Stock as theological and conceptual advisers.

War damage removal

Depiction of the Way of the Cross, Christ before Pilate

During the Second World War , the entire parish was completely evacuated from 1939 to 1940 and from 1944 to 1945. The church suffered comparatively minor damage during the bombing and artillery fire in 1944 and 1945. However, all windows were destroyed and the church roof damaged by shelling and bomb fragments. A grenade had struck the helmet of the church tower. After an initial cleansing, the first Holy Mass could be celebrated on White Sunday, April 8, 1945 . With the French occupation of Saarbrücken in 1945, the parish of Christ the King was assigned to the French-speaking community. As a result of the devastating Saar floods between Christmas and New Year's Eve 1947, the interior of the church was under water.

The church windows, which were destroyed in the war and then emergency glazed, were replaced in 1952 with glazing designed by the Hungarian artist and architect György Lehoczky . The windows were made by Günther Maas (1923-2010). The aisle windows were decorated with depictions of the Way of the Cross . The original windows were donor windows. The original version of the first station of the Cross was donated by Bartholomäus Koßmann .

Don Bosco Heim and St. Pius

The idea of ​​setting up a parish with a church on St. Arnualer Wackenberg had already existed in the 1920s. Since the Christ the King's parish comprised the area from Saarbrücker Schlossplatz to Schönbach bei Güdingen , numerous churchgoers still had a very long way to go to church. One wanted to remedy this problem with the establishment of a new parish. Pastors Schubach and Bartholomäus Koßmann planned the settlement of Carmelites and for this purpose the parish then bought a piece of land on the Wackenberg to build a monastery there. The monastery church should also serve as a parish church for the residents of the Wackenberg. A relic of St. Therese of Lisieux was buried on the building site to ask for her intercession for the settlement. However, the settlement of the nuns failed several times due to the political pressure of the NSDAP, which had ruled Saarland since 1935.

It was only after the Second World War that two Salesians from the Saarland of Don Bosco, Matthias Publling and Josef Zöllner, were able to set up a monastery on the Wackenberg on the building site that was intended for the Carmelite convent. This branch should serve as a youth welfare home. In 1951, the Saarland government under Prime Minister Johannes Hoffmann gave its approval to this project. The home, which was built according to the plans of the architect Robert Rheinstädter, was intended to accommodate young people who attended schools or completed an apprenticeship in the city of Saarbrücken. The home was designed for a maximum occupancy of 200 young people and also housed a day care center.

Former Don Bosco youth home on the Wackenberg with a statue of Mary on the roof, today the State Office for Environmental Protection and Occupational Safety of the Saarland

On May 18, 1953, the parish council of Christkönig applied to the Episcopal Authority in Trier to assign the area from Julius-Kiefer-Strasse to Sonnenberg and Schönbach to a new parish vicarie. As early as 1949, a church building association was founded in the mother parish of Christkönig, which acquired a building site. After the Salesians of Don Bosco came to Saarbrücken in 1951 and inaugurated the Don Bosco Home on the Wackenberg in the years up to 1953, the pastors for the establishment of the parish were also found in them. The church of the Don Bosco Home, which was consecrated on September 19, 1954 as the "Maria-Hilf-Kirche", became a branch in 1954 and a parish vicarie in 1955 . The extensive wall paintings of the home church created the Munich artist Benedikt Gröner (1900–1987). The apse painting depicted Mary with the Christ child as the help of Christians in a wreath of angels and saints (including Franz von Sales , Lutwinus , Maria Mazzarello , Oranna ), Barbara as the patron saint of the Saarland. Below the saints a stylized representation of the Saarland industrial landscape was shown. The painting above the right side altar showed Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco in the instruction of St. Dominic Savio , the painting on the left side altar depicted St. Joseph with the young Jesus as a craftsman. The new parish already had almost 2,600 believers at this point.

Construction began on July 31, 1960 to establish a parish church. On January 1, 1961, the pastoral care unit was elevated to a parish and the foundation stone for the church was laid in the same year. The architects Albert Dietz and Bernhard Grote provided the construction plans for the new sacred building. The window designs were made by the Alsatian artist Boris Kleint . On December 8, 1963, the church was consecrated by Auxiliary Bishop Carl Schmidt . Until 1980 the Fathers of the Don Bosco Home provided pastoral care for the new Pius Church. The following priests were pastors from 1954:

  • Matthias Oeffling: 1954 to 1960
  • Joseph Zöllner: 1960 to 1964
  • Bruno Zaremba: 1964 to 1966
  • Johannes Ackerschott: 1966 to 1971
  • August Rhode: 1971 to 1980

On August 15, 1979 the Don Bosco Home was closed. As early as the 1960s, only about 50 young people were still living in the home. During its existence, around 1,000 young people visited the facility. The Saarland State Office for Environmental Protection and Occupational Safety has had its headquarters in the former Don Bosco Home since 1986. The home church now serves as a data processing location. The figure of Mary and the cross on the roof of the listed building still reminds of its earlier purpose.

As the last pastor of his own, Horst Schneider performed parish service in St. Pius from 1980 until his death in 1997. With this, St. Pius was again assigned to the mother parish of Christ the King as a pastoral care unit. The parish amalgamation took place in 2007. In 2011, the parish of Christ the King and the mother parish of St. Jakob were finally united in one parish community. As early as November 30, 2003, the church of St. Mauritius was profaned as the first church in Saarbrücken to date and the municipality was incorporated into the parish of St. Jakob.

  • Parish of St. Pius

  • St. Pius, church tower

Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary and day care center

From 1951 to 1985 the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary worked in the parish of Christ the King. The initiative had come from Pastor Kettel. The sisters were supposed to help rebuild the parish after the Second World War. The sisters were initially temporarily housed in the rectory. In 1952, they could move into their own sister house at 14 “An der Christkönigskirche”, which was donated by a parishioner. A chapel was added to the house in 1957 as a replica of the Schoenstatt pilgrimage chapel. The consecration of the chapel took place on April 23, 1957, that of the Schoenstatt Altar did not take place until December 1957 due to customs difficulties at the German-Saarland border.

The sisters founded a sewing school, took over the parish office, provided sacristy services, organized the kindergarten, youth work and family pastoral care. On December 31, 1983, the branch in the parish had to be given up, as the religious order of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary was restructured due to declining membership numbers.

In 1956, a community center and a kindergarten were built for Christ the King himself and opened on October 10, 1957. On March 1, 1979, an all-day center was attached to the kindergarten. The facility was expanded in 1993. However, the Saar flood of the century in December of the same year destroyed the rooms to such an extent that reconstruction took until the summer of 1994. Almost 100 children attended the day care center in 2019. The institution was run by the parish from 1957 to 2016. The Katholische KiTa gGmbh has been the operator since January 2017, the parish is still responsible for the property developer.

Construction work

Between 1990 and 1996 the parish center, church and organ were renovated .

architecture

  • Christ the King Church, tower front

  • Crucifixion group at the entrance portal, on the left the rectory

  • Christ the King relief with snake and griffin

  • Exterior construction, wall structure

  • Winged lion of Judah as a symbol of Christ at the side entrance

Exterior construction

Positioning in the urban environment

Architect Karl Colombo positioned the Christ the King's Church in the direction of Feldmannstrasse, which descends from Winterberg. The strong vertically-designed tower took visual reference for on the Winterberg standing Winterberg monument that from the German on 10 September 1939 Wehrmacht was blown up to the enemy's artillery in World War II to be no point of reference.

Moreover, Christ the King Storm marked in the precincts of the city the meeting of Feldmannstraße with the valley road, the Saargemünder street and the street, at the Christ the King Church '. The tower front can thus be clearly staged from an architectural point of view. The paradise atrium in front of it forms a screen against the previous space situation and at the same time creates an intimate place of communication.

Outline and wall design

sacristy
right central nave arcade
left central nave arcade

The three- aisled, nine- bay basilica made of unplastered red and yellow mottled sandstone stands on a rectangular floor plan with a pentagonal paradise in front of it with a colonnade, which is inspired by early Christian basilicas. In connection with the intensive consultations on the liturgical-theological conception of the Saarbrücken church by the department head of Maria Laach , an inspiration from the Romanesque atrium paradise there is also conceivable. The wall surfaces of the Christ the King's Church are only interrupted by small windows and sound openings . The building conveys a defensive, defensive character through its massive castle-like wall surfaces. On the exterior, plastic protruding structural elements were largely dispensed with. Smoothly hewn blind arches , which refer to Romanesque round arch structure, were stretched between the expressionistically stepped round arches of the window openings. The walls of the aisle windows run diagonally downwards after a notch. The sacristy rooms built around the semicircular closing choir (priests sacristy , altar servers sacristy, parament room , library) received cross-stick windows . The apse has a cellar to accommodate a crypt. The sacristy, accessible via the choir and aisles, has a boiler room, an equipment cellar and a multi-purpose room. The entire roof area with a uniform ridge height and only a few small dormers is slated.

Architect Colombo describes the style of his church as “a healthy middle (...) between the good old and the all too stormy modern. It is kept in simple, strict romanizing forms, which give the whole building a serious ecclesiastical character. The modernized Romanesque style shows force and power, but not imitation, but is developed in a free conception. ”Despite more factual, more modern stereometric forms, the whole sacred building still breathes the spirit of historicism and is thus an example of the style discourse between historicizing tendencies, expressionism and beginning new objectivity .

While neo-Romanesque forms are used on the outside, the basilica interior quotes late antique-Byzantine forms. The stylistics of the church interior consciously refer to the place where the first ecumenical council was formulated in Nicaea, Asia Minor (now İznik , Turkey ) near Byzantion (now Istanbul ), where the First Council of Nicaea in 325 dogmatized the essential identity of Jesus Christ and God . The declaration of faith of the Council, the Confession of Nicaea , which came about under the direction of Emperor Constantine the Great , later formed the basis of the festival of Christ the King.

Architect Colombo emphasizes this when he writes: “The whole interior is determined by the idea of ​​Christ the King. The aim is solemn calm and concentration after the altar, and - as a counterbalance to the predominantly intellectual attitude of our time - effect on the mind, therefore a free view of the high altar with the possibility of liturgical development and a view of the solemn solemn enthroned above the altar Christ as King. "

Dimensions

The Christ the King's Church has the following dimensions:

  • Cross-section of the tower: 7 by 7 meters
  • Height of the tower to the cornice: 38 meters
  • Height of the tower from the cornice to the cock: 20 meters
  • Total height of the tower: 58 meters
  • Height of the Christ the King figure on the tower: 4.70 meters
  • Total height of the choir dome: 16.50 meters
  • Diameter of the choir dome: 10 meters
  • Diameter of the dome skylight: 3.50 meters
  • Inner width of the central nave: 16.50 meters
  • Inner height of the central nave: 14.25 meters
  • Height of the pillars of the central nave: 5 meters
  • Width of the aisles: 2.50 meters
  • Length of the lay room from the tower to the triumphal arch: 35 meters
  • Width of the church (central nave with two aisles): 22.80 meters
  • Floor area of ​​the lay room: approx. 700 square meters
  • Height of the choir level above the level of the lay room: 1.20 meters
  • Total external length of the church: 65 meters
  • Total internal length of the church: 44 meters
  • Total outside width of the church (without side portal): 24 meters
  • Total inside width of the church: 23 meters
  • Area of ​​the crypt: 125 square meters
  • Layout of a possible number of church visitors to: 140 children's places, 550 seats for adults, 950 standing places; Overall maximum capacity (without gallery): 1600 people

Paradise atrium

Angels in the Paradise Atrium with the inscription "Dicite Filiae Sion" as an announcement of the Christological statements of the Church

A cloister-like arcade surrounds a paradise atrium in front of the tower portal . From the arcade you enter the entrances to the side aisles. The pentagonal atrium protects the entrance area against road traffic and thus creates a quiet zone for the inner gathering of the believer. At the same time, it is used to hold certain ceremonies - such as the Easter bonfire or processions - and is a meeting place for the faithful before and after the services. Portals and window openings with wrought iron grilles in Expressionist shapes convey the street space. The arcade fighters are adorned with christological symbols. Christ symbols are also engraved in the floor covering made of irregular sandstone slabs.

The atrium was designed by the ideas behind the church - Colombo, Herwegen, Schlich and Stock - as the “anteroom to the throne room of Christ the King”. According to their wishes, it should serve as a place of inner concentration, the "separation from the world and from everyday life" as well as the preparation of the soul for the appearance of the face of divine majesty. The bow-like kinking of the front wall - which is what creates the pentagon - is barely noticeable inside the column and arcade courtyard: by pulling in the middle double column position, the arcade sequence in the floor plan approaches a segment of a circle rather than expressing the kink. The angel attached to the “bow” of the paradise atrium like a figurehead announces the theological messages of the secrets of the Christ the King of the church building on a banderole in his hands with the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Dicite Filiae Sion” (German translation: “Tell the daughter Sion! ", Isa 62 : 11-12  EU ). The overall context of the Old Testament Bible passage is: “See, the Lord has made it known to the end of the earth. Tell the daughter of Zion: Behold, your salvation is coming. See, his reward is with him, and his produce goes before him! Then they will be called 'holy people', 'the Lord's redeemed'. And you will be called: 'Desired', no longer 'abandoned city'. "

The bow-like shape of the Paradise atrium was chosen with care: Overall, the entire church structure of Saarbrücken's Christ the King's Church corresponds to the shape of a ship: while the atrium symbolizes the bow , the church tower forms the mast , the lay room the hull , the round apse the stern and the apse lantern the Stern lantern. The depiction of Jesus as Christ the King in the apse, which is interpreted as the stern, can thus be understood as the helmsman of the “little ship of Peter” ( Navicella Petri , Mt 14 : 22–33  EU ). Radbod Commandeur takes up this ship symbolism in his depiction of the church as a ship on the Joseph altar.

  • Piana (Corsica) - Église de l'Assomption, model for the portal inscription of Christ the King

  • Église de l'Assomption

  • Église de l'Assomption de Piana, portal inscription

Above the entrance portal is a crucifixion group with the inscription “Gratias si quaeris rebusque levamen in arctis. Ingredere huc Regem corde rogare Deum "(German translation:" If you seek grace and elevation in difficult situations, then come here to ask the king and God from the heart "). The distich as consecration to Jesus Christ is an adaptation of the inscription of the Sainte-Marie (Santa Maria Assunta) church in Piana in Corsica , built in 1792 , which refers to the Mother of God Mary as intercessor of the faithful (“Munera si quaeris rebusque levamen in arctis. Ingredere huc matrem corde rogare Dei ", German translation:" If you want to implore you for official grace and comfort in suffering and tribulation, come here. Speak from the heart to the Mother of God. ").

Side portals

  • Left side entrance, Epiphany

  • Right side entrance, Last Judgment

The two side entrances to the church can be reached from the atrium. With their tympanum representations in sgraffito technique, they indicate the kingship of Christ. The representations, which are also darkly contoured, shine from a dark plaster base in a bright yellow plaster. As with the tower, architect Karl Colombo had actually planned gold mosaics here, but this was not done for cost reasons or for reasons of reduced durability.

On the left is the adoration of the baby Jesus by the wise men ( Mt 2  EU ). Mary with her hair down presents the blessing Jesus on her lap. The flanking figures are positioned on two levels. While an astrologer and Saint Joseph are standing, two sages have fallen on their knees in adoration. The inscription of the sgraffito image in the tympanum “A child is born to us, a son is given to us” is continued on the architrave : “On whose shoulders rulership rests; it will be called: Wonderful, Counselor, God, Strong Father, Father of the Future, Prince of Peace ”. It is a quote from the book Isaiah on the prophecy of the Messiah ( Isa 9,5  EU ).

Above the right side portal is a depiction of Jesus Christ as judge of the world at the Last Judgment ( Mt 25 : 31-46  EU ). To his right is an angel and Saint Arnual on a heavenly bank of clouds. On his left a gruesome devil is using his feet and a fork to push a desperate youth into the flames of hell. The inscription on the tympanum comes from the parable of the Last Judgment ( Mt 25 : 31-46  EU ) and reads: “Come you blessed my Father! - Move away from me, you cursed! ”The text“ Hosanna the Son of David ”carved into the architrave beam can be found at the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem ( Mt 21.9  EU ). There is no direct connection to the depicted world judgment scene. The architect Karl Colombo actually planned a depiction of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Accordingly, the inscriptions for the lintels were already carved in the quarry in Zabern. When the pictorial program of the tympanum was changed during the execution, the now no longer appropriate Bible verse was retained.

Steeple

The monumental church tower of Christ the King's Church, flanked by a stair tower, rises in front of the main nave, towers above the entire complex and shapes the cityscape. The angular tower cube is softened in its severity by the two stair towers attached to the side, of which only the left one contains a staircase. In the lower area of ​​the tower, a triple arcature in front of it is reminiscent of Romanesque forms . A crucifixion group with Mary and John is positioned directly above the three-part, flat-closing tower portal. Instead of the traditional crown of thorns ( Mt 27.29  EU , Mk 15.17  EU , Joh 19.2  EU ), the crucified one wears a royal crown . The crucifixion group was designed by the sculptor Erwin Haller from Cologne and implemented by the Saarbrücken sculptor P. Latterner.

Above it rises a Christ the King relief , which also comes from Haller and Latterner: Jesus Christ in the representation of a high priestly king with tiara , scepter and orb stands on a rainbow-like field, under which a snake as a symbol of evil from a griffin as symbols of Good ones being overwhelmed. The inscription "King of kings, Lord of lords" is carved on the belt of Christ. It comes from the 1st letter of Paul to Timothy ( 1 Tim 6,15  EU ). According to Karl Colombo's conception, the figure of the Christ the King should stand in front of a gold background mosaic. This project was probably not carried out due to the risk of weathering.

A wide band of inscriptions under the statue of Christ the King shows the Latin words "Christ vincit + Christ regnat + Christ imperat" (German translation: Christ wins, Christ rules, Christ rules). The tower clock is mounted above a high rectangular notch window. Above, the bell chamber opens into three tall rectangular, straight-closing windows that are closed by sound shutters. In an expressionist manner, the cornice jumps back twice. The same setback can be found in the stair towers. The two recesses of the main tower take up the width of the bell house window, but close at a low height with round arches. The tower ends in a high copper-covered roof pyramid with a crown ring as a sign of Christ's dignity at the top. This crown is again surmounted by a tower cross with a cock.

Like the entire building of the Christ the King's Church, the tower cubature is based on Byzantine or Neo-Byzantine models. The Markus Tower (begun in the 9th century) in Venice with its high tower cube and the arcade facing, the recess above the bell chamber and below the roof and the high pyramid roof can be seen as the basic shape . The architectural cubature of the towers of the Kiel City Hall (built from 1907 to 1911) and the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (begun in 1920) in Washington , like the Christ the King's Church in Saarbrücken, has two recesses below the pyramid helmet.

Radbod Commandeur, the artist of the interior of Christkönig, used the Saarbrücken tower motif with the steps below the top of the tower again - this time much more compressed than the model - in the crowning of his Maria Laacher Staurothek , a bronze drifting with mosaic pictures from 1937, the picture serves a cross relic of the monastery.

  • Possible sources of inspiration from the architectural cubature of the tower

  • Venice, Campanile of St. Mark's Basilica

  • Kiel town hall tower

  • Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Washington

Side portal hall

Christkönig Church (Saarbrücken), Christkönig Church (Saarbrücken), side portal with relief of the apocalyptic entry of Christ into the heavenly Jerusalem

The side arcaded portal hall in the southeast rests on a collection of winged lions that were carved out of basalt cubes and are to be understood as a reference to the lion of Judah . In the Christian tradition this lion is interpreted as a symbol of Jesus Christ. The corresponding text passage is contained in the Revelation of John ( Rev 5,5  EU ): “One of the elders said to me: Don't cry! Behold, the lion from the tribe of Judah has triumphed, the scion from the root of David; he can open the book and its seven seals. "

The tympanum made of light sandstone shows the entry of Jesus Christ as King into the heavenly Jerusalem . Christ, crowned and crossed, rides a horse into the holy city, followed by seven mounted men who symbolize the heavenly host. While the head of Christ is surrounded by several crowns, a sharp two-edged sword extends from his mouth. His right hand blesses the viewer, his left hand holds an orb. The text on which the illustration is based is taken from the Revelation of John ( Rev 19 : 11-16  EU ): “Then I saw heaven open and, behold, there was a white horse and the one who sat on it is called: Faithful and true ; justly he judges and wages war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and he wore many tiaras on his head; and on it was written a name which he alone knows. He was dressed in a robe soaked in blood; and his name is called: The Word of God. The armies of heaven followed him on white horses; they were dressed in pure white linen. A sharp sword came out of his mouth; with him he will strike the peoples. And he tends them with an iron scepter and he treads the press of wine, the avenging wrath of God, the ruler over all creation. His name is written on his garment and on his hip: King of kings and Lord of lords. "

The depiction of Jesus Christ as an apocalyptic rider is quite rare in art history. A prominent forerunner of this type of representation could be named the Christ sculpture above the portal of the Church of St. Anna im Lehel in Munich , donated by Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria in 1910 and made by Ferdinand Freiherr von Miller .

In the depicted heaven above Christ riding in in the side portal hall of the Christ the King's Church, an angel hovers with the key who is supposed to bind the devil's dragon and lock it in the abyss. Rev 20 : 1-3  EU : “Then I saw an angel descending from heaven; in his hand he carried the key to the abyss and a heavy chain. He overpowered the dragon, the old serpent - that is the devil or Satan - and he bound him for a thousand years. He threw it into the abyss, closed it and pressed a seal on it so that the dragon could no longer seduce the peoples until the thousand years are completed. ”The flying angel also waves a censer to make atonement.

Christ rides towards the tower of David , whereby he is staged as the "son of David". In the dynasty promise to King David it says: “Your house and your kingship shall endure forever through me” ( 2 Sam 7,16  EU ). In front of the tower of David the brazen serpent rises ( Num 21,6-9  EU ), with the help of which Jesus Christ is interpreted as the new Moses: “And as Moses exalted the serpent in the desert, so the Son of man must be exalted with it everyone who believes (in him) has eternal life in him. ”( Joh 3,14–15  EU ) The relief was designed by Erwin Haller from Cologne and made by Latterner in Saarbrücken. The representation of the triumphant victory of Christ the King on the tympanum corresponds to a representation on the same portal inside the church. In the interior, Karl Colombo had a pietà depicting the painful mother with her dead son on her lap. The architect puts Jesus' death on the cross and the redemption of the world in a direct context.

Interior (architecture and equipment)

Lay room

  • Apostle chandelier

  • One of the four confessionals with reliefs of penance symbols

  • Station of the Cross, Jesus dies on the cross

The interior of the sacred space, deliberately designed as a basilica complex ( King's Hall ), is determined by a wide central nave (16.50 meters), while the side aisles are very narrow (2.5 meters) as walkways. From the conception of the ideas of the building, Schlich, Herwegen and Stock, the room is designed as a throne room of the kingship of Christ. For example, Johann Ludger Schlich and Ambrosius Stock write in their writing on the consecration of the church in 1929: “The lay ship is the 'basilica', the king's hall, the audience hall in which Christ receives his followers with grace, where they appear before him, theirs Present requests and be able to receive his courtesy. The ship, too, is therefore dominated by the idea of ​​the Christian kingship. ”Square and octagonal pillars made of concrete with yellowish stone plaster (two nine pillars) refer to the Romanesque column change . Fighter and capitals are designed like blocks. Half columns on small wall brackets structure the wall surfaces of the upper aisle . The consoles of the wall services are made of heads. Among them are two with the portraits of dean Johannes Ludger Schlich and architect Karl Colombo.

At the lower edge of the upper aisle, an inscription (manufactured by Villeroy & Boch, Mettlach) runs around the entire space of the central nave: “He will be great and be called a son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his kingship. ”The text is taken from the Gospel of Luke ( Lk 1.32  EU ). These are the words of the Archangel Gabriel when he proclaimed the birth of Jesus to Mary .

The text is interrupted in the middle of the arched organ stand. A text by the prophet Zechariah appears in a rectangular field with the central monogram of Christ : “Look, your King has come, the Holy One , the Savior of the world. Sing joy psalms, you daughter Sion, jubilees, you daughter Jerusalem! ”( Sach 9,9  EU ) The inscription is surrounded by depictions of Pope Gregory the Great , the patron of Gregorian chant (left, donated by the Catholic men's choir Concordia) and the Saint Caecilia , the patroness of church music (right, donated by the church choir St. Jakob). Both saints hold their consecration gifts against the Christogram. Radbod Commandeur from Maria Laach made the drafts in 1928.

The capitals of the half-columns carry the consoles of the lateral horizontal ledges, over which a relatively low (14.25 meters) segment-arched Rabitz vault spans over lateral inclined ledges. Round services ascending over consoles are based on the structure of the heel band with its rectangular cassettes. The segmental arch vault is structured by a grid of regular squares. The side walkways are closed by a flat coffered ceiling .

On the inside of the tower portal there is a depiction of Jesus as a good shepherd . The surrounding Bible saying is: “Do not be afraid, you little flock! Because it pleased your father to give you the kingdom. "( Lk 12,32  EU )

Originally, according to Colombo's plan, the interior of the church was provided with a coarse rust-brown spray plaster in an expressionist manner , so that the color of the mosaics stood out all the more radiant. In the choir, red marble was to be placed on the wall below the large mosaic. For cost reasons, a marbled red paint was first applied as a marble substitute. The wall zone was later covered with blue-green marble. In the later color versions of the interior in 1962, the original layout of the church as a total work of art was no longer considered. The entire room was also painted blue-green to match the blue-green marble covering of the apse. At the end of the 1990s, the original color scheme was restored.

After the Second World War, the decor of the Christ the King's Church was enhanced by the Neunkirchen sculptor Hans Bogler (1910–1994) with a wooden sculpture of St. Anthony of Padua . In addition, the late Gothic wooden sculpture of a holy bishop was acquired, who is considered to be holy Arnual, the patron of the Saarbrücken district of the Christ the King's Church. The Speyer sculptor P. Heid created a bronze bust of St. Therese von Lisieux.

Way of the Cross

Radbod Commandeur (1890–1955) from Maria Laach provided the drafts for the glazing of the side aisle windows with the fourteen Stations of the Cross . The execution was the responsibility of the Saarbrücker company Angel & Co. Karl Colombo would have preferred stations painted on blackboards. The windows of the Stations of the Cross shattered during the heavy bombing and the artillery fire on the city of Saarbrücken in World War II. The Stations of the Cross windows, newly created in 1950, are the work of the Hungarian architect and glass painter György Lehoczky (Saarbrücken). On the left side there is a picture window with the homecoming of the prodigal son ( Luke 15.11–32  EU ).

In connection with the Way of the Cross , the Silesian artist Alfred Gottwald has installed a large mosaic depicting the painful Mother of God above the right side portal . The mosaic laying department of the Mettlach company Villeroy & Boch was responsible for the execution.

pulpit

  • Pulpit (Lukas and Johannes)

  • Pulpit (Matthew and Mark)

  • Pulpit access

The pulpit was designed in 1930 by Rabod Commandeur from Maria Laach. The pulpit is made of light marble and rests on red-brown marble columns. Christological signs are engraved in the capitals. The mosaic pictures of the four evangelists, Matthew , Mark , Luke and John, are set in rectangular picture fields. The white-robed and nimbled evangelists are depicted on a dark blue background. They each hold their gospel in their hands. The open pages show passages from the corresponding Gospels based on the Latin text of the Vulgate :

  • The book of Matthew contains the text "Liber generationis Iesu Christi" (German translation: "Book of the origin of Jesus Christ", Mt 1,1 EU ).
  • Mark's writing shows the inscription “Vox clamantis in deserto” (German translation: “A voice calls in the desert”, Mk 1.3 EU ).
  • The Gospel of Luke presents the lines "Fuit in diebus Herodis" (German translation: "There was in the days of Herod", LK 1.5 EU )
  • The Gospel of John begins with the prologue words “In principio erat Verbum” (German translation: “In the beginning was the word”, Joh 1,1 EU ).

On the hanging sashes of the evangelists' clothing their respective evangelist symbol can be seen. Above that, silver-colored, embossed metal plates give the names of the respective evangelists. The marble work on the pulpit was carried out by the Schachenmühle company in Strasbourg in Alsace. The spherical fish that form the column base were supplied by the Cologne company Halle.

Altar area

Triumphal arch and apse
apse
Communion bench

The triumphal arch rises on supports and reveals the choir. This has a three-quarter-round floor plan and rounded side choirs, the floor of which is covered with Solnhofen tiles . The choir opening is inspired by the Palladio motif . The three-quarter circle of the apse is completed by the choir staircases arching into the church interior to form a full circle.

The main choir is vaulted by a blue-tinted dome with golden rays, which is illuminated by a skylight lantern . The Holy Spirit window (a star motif after it was destroyed in the war) was a gift from the St. Jacob's Elisabeth and Mothers' Association. As in the Paradise vestibule and in the nave, columns separate a narrow walkway in the apse area. There are six slender octagonal pillars about ten meters high. The effect of the wide triumphal arch is increased by the extended space of the choir compared to the width of the nave and thus becomes a passage to a new part of the room, the holy of holies with the high altar, which is designed like a grail hall.

Inside the church there are mosaics reminiscent of Byzantine art , which were designed by the architect Karl Colombo and Abbot Ildefons Herwegen at the time of construction. The triumphal arch mosaic (design: Radbod Commandeur; production: Beyer & Sohn, Cologne, 1930) is made as a plaster mosaic and shows the adoration of the apocalyptic lamb by the 24 elders who offer the lamb golden crowns ( Revelation 5,6–14  EU ).

“And I saw that between the throne and the four living creatures, and among the elders, stood a lamb; it looked as if it had been slaughtered, and had seven horns and seven eyes; the eyes are the seven spirits of God sent out over all the earth. The Lamb came and received the book in the right hand of the one on the throne. When it received the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb; they all carried harps and golden bowls full of incense; these are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals; for you were slaughtered, and with your blood you acquired people for God from every tribe and tongue, from every nation and people, and you made them a kingdom and priests for our God; and they will rule the earth. I saw and heard the voice of many angels around the throne and around the living creatures and the elders; the number of angels was ten thousand times ten thousand and a thousand times a thousand. They shouted with a loud voice: The lamb that is slain is worthy to receive power, riches and wisdom, strength and honor, praise and glory. And all creatures in heaven and on earth, under the earth and on the sea, everything that is in them, I heard saying: To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb are due praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever . And the four living beings said, Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped. "

A jeweled gold cross rises behind the gold-shimmered Agnus Dei , which is flanked by the Greek letters Alpha and Omega as symbols of God's eternity ( Rev. 22:13  EU ). Under the feet of the lamb - symbol of the self-sacrificing high priest - the four rivers of paradise arise ( Gen 2: 10-14  EU ).

Brother Radbod Commandeur's depiction of the source streams on the triumphal arch and the fruit-bearing trees in the apse by Brother Radbod Commandeur takes up the source metaphor of the paradise rivers Pishon, Gihon , Tigris and Eufrat as well as the motif of the paradisiacal tree with reference to the Revelation of St. Text passages recurs:

“And he showed me a stream, the water of life, clear as crystal; he proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb. Between the city street and the river, over here and there, stands a tree of life. It bears fruit twelve times, it gives its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree serve to heal the peoples. ( Rev 22 : 1-2  EU ) "

“He who sat on the throne said: See, I'm doing everything new. And he said: Write it down, for these words are reliable and true! He said to me: You happened. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. If you are thirsty, I will let you drink free of charge from the spring from which the water of life flows. Whoever wins will receive this as a share: I will be his God and he will be my son. ( Rev 21,5-7  EU ) "

  • Choir arch mosaic: The 24 elders offer their crowns to the apocalyptic lamb

  • Ravenna, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, procession of the martyrs with crown hoops

  • Angel in the apse mosaic (left)

  • Depiction of Christ the King in the apse mosaic

  • Cappella Palatina (Palermo), Christ on throne

  • Christ enthroned with angels, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna

  • Emperor Justinian I , jeweled crown circlet with pearl hangings, San Vitale, Ravenna

  • Angel in the apse mosaic (right)

  • Choir arch (inside)

The stepping motion of the 24 white-clad elders to the radiant lamb above the triumphal arch opening, which reveals the representation of Christ with the fruit-bearing trees in the apse, is a conscious reference of the commanders to the description of the new world of God in the Apocalypse of John. The choir arch is staged by the artist as the city gate of the heavenly Jerusalem with reference to Rev 22 : 14.16 b  EU .

“Blessed are those who wash their robes: they have a part in the tree of life and they will be able to enter the city through the gates. (...) I am the root and the tribe of David, the shining morning star. "

The depiction of the elders walking with crown hoops in Saarbrücken has its model in the procession of the martyrs with white robes and crown hoops in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna . Under the triumphal mosaic is the inscription: + Summum Regem Gloriae + + Christum adoremus (Let us worship the supreme King of glory, Christ.)

The apse mosaic above the high altar (design: Radbod Commandeur; production: Beyer & Sohn, Cologne, 1929) shows, on a gold background, Christ in a frontal pose with penetrating gaze as a late antique Byzantine ruler and at the same time royal high priest , dressed in a crown and splendid robes Seated Throne ( Majestas Domini ). The Christ mosaic in the Capella Palatina in Palazzo Reale in Palermo or in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna could be used as models in Byzantine art . In Saarbrücken, however, the royal elements are emphasized even more strongly. The jeweled Kronreif Christ with Perlbehang- pendilia is based on the representation of the crowned Emperor Justinian I in San Vitale in Ravenna .

While Christ's left hand holds an orb towering over a cross as a symbol of the universe, his right hand is stretched out in a gesture of blessing. The golden footstool (Byzantine king's suppedaneum) of the gem-studded throne is carried by depressed predator's feet, which symbolize the defeat of evil by good. The motif, which comes from ancient oriental iconography, relates to the depiction of the establishment of the Priest- King by God on Zion in Psalm 110 ( Ps 110 : 1-4  EU ).

“Sit on my right and I will put your enemies as stools under your feet. The Lord stretches out the scepter of your power from Zion: Rule in the midst of your enemies! You are surrounded by rulership on the day of your power, in the splendor of the sanctuary. I fathered you from my lap before the morning star. The Lord has sworn and he will never repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. "

The mosaic was already placed in the apse for the consecration of Christ the King's Church. Ambrosius Stock interprets the depiction of Christ the King and the high altar as a unit when, as one of the concept givers of the design of the Saarbrücken church, he explains:

“The altar is Christ. This explains the awe that is shown to the consecrated altar by kneeling or even by throwing it down completely (as on Good Friday): it is a homage and adoration of the divine majesty who has set up its mercy seat here. This presence of God is enhanced by the tabernacle in which our Emmanuel , our 'God with us' personally dwells to receive the homage and petitions of the believers and to give them graces. But the altar is essentially a place of sacrifice. At the sacrifice of St. At the Mass, Christ appears as the transfigured King of eternity on the altar in the midst of the congregation, in order to visualize his sacrifice on the cross and the work of redemption under the veil of the separate figures of bread and wine, to let the believers participate in it and to reappear again and again the blessings of redemption To turn new ones to them. "

Jesus Christ is surrounded by youthful angels in Byzantine court costume (white undergarment adorned with gold stripes and purple cloak) with cross bars and biblical banners between fruit-bearing palms as a symbol of the blessings of redemption. The two angels on the throne stand as a sign that the pantocrator Christ rules the universe not only through his word, but also through the heavenly forces. The banner of the angel on the left contains the inscription “Regnum tuum regnum omnium saeculorum” (Your kingdom is a kingdom of all times). The banner of the right angel contains the inscription “Dominatio tua in omni generatione et generationum” (Your rule lasts from sex to sex). Both verses come from the 13th verse of the 145th Psalm ( Ps 145.13  EU ), which sings of the kingship of the Messiah. Radbod Commandeur used the Saarbrücken conception of the two angels with banners again, albeit in archaic form, on the inside of the double doors of his Maria Laacher Staurothek in 1937.

St. Remigius, Bliesen, apse painting "Christ with Throne Angels"

The apse painting of the Bliesen Remigius Church could be seen as a quasi local "forerunner" of the iconographic conception of the apse of the Saarbrücken Christ the King's Church within today's Saarland . The painting was designed by the director of the Beuron art school, Father Paulus Krebs (1849–1935) and executed in 1912 by the Merzig painter Heinrich Klein. Here, too, thrones accompany Christ as Pantocrator. Since Maria Laach, who gave the idea of ​​the Christ the King's Church, and the Beuron Archabbey were in very close contact and are organizationally linked by the Beuron Congregation , a conceptual nexus of the design of the two apses is conceivable.

The wall cladding made of marble slabs in the altar zone of the Christ the King's Church and the mosaic band of jagged patterns above could be inspired by the similarly designed apse of the cathedral in Monreale in Sicily.

  • Baroque representation of Christ on an apse pillar

  • Eternal light with a cross held by the beaks of two doves as a symbol of the invisible presence of God

  • Apse, sediles

  • Lecture cross in the apse; scaled-down copy of the Cross of San Damino

High altar

  • High altar

  • High altar retable (left)

  • High altar retable (right)

  • Expositorium niche with mirror-backed slats

The high altar (design: Karl Colombo) made of marble with a reredos in drifting with spherical cut turquoise and red stone trimmings and a central metal tower in silver and gold optics takes up the tower motif of Saarbrücken's Christ the King's Church in its center. The place of celebration is designed as a “house of heaven”, as God's dwelling among people. The slats of the exposition niche are backed with mirrors so that there are twinkling effects when lighting. The cross in the exposure niche bears the inscription "Consu (m) matum est" (Eng. "It is finished" - In the Vulgate , Jn 19:30 , Jesus' last words on the cross). In the "window niches" of the structure there are figural reliefs. Emblems wreathed with stone indicate Christ's kingship. The encrusted metalwork made Cologne Goldschmiedewerkstatt Zehgruber from Monel , a nickel - copper - alloy . Compared to real silver, Monel has the advantage that it does not oxidize and thus retains its silvery sheen. Karl Colombo designed the altar altar in its entirety in 1928.

Ambrosius Stock from Maria Laach explains the church-like shape of the altar structure: “At the sacrifice ceremony, under the waving of the Holy Spirit, the marriage of Christ with his church takes place, as it is represented in the parish, and this in turn grows into a living community the triumphant Church of Eternity, who appears in the wake of the heavenly King and Bridegroom. "

The high altar was donated by Johann Ludger Schlich for the silver jubilee of priests, which was celebrated on April 18, 1926. The Elisabethenverein had collected 26,000 francs for the occasion and donated it to Pastor Schlich. He then invested the amount in a fund and was able to use the money with interest to finance the high altar. The corresponding wrought iron communion bench depicting the miraculous multiplication of bread (left door wing, Mt 14,13–21  EU , Mk 6,34–44  EU ) and Jesus breaking bread with the Emmaus disciples (right door wing, Lk 24,13–35  EU ) was a foundation of the men's congregation of the parish of St. Jakob.

The theme of the high altar is the kingship of Christ. On both sides of the tabernacle with its silver-colored doors in drifting work there are three representations from the Old and New Testament, which are supposed to be related to the kingship of Christ. The marble work was made by the Schüller company from Trier. The following scenes are shown from left to right:

1. Adam and Eve after the fall of man as a prerequisite for the incarnation of Jesus and the redemption of mankind: While the serpent of paradise winds on the ground at the couple's feet, a glory shines in a halo above the tree of paradise as a promise of overcoming original sin through Christ Immaculate Conception . Adam and Eve, however, look down ashamed and do not recognize the promising apparition.

2. The sacrifice of the Priest- King Melchizedek and the feeding of Abraham with bread and wine as a prefiguration of the Eucharist ( Gen 14: 18-20  EU ) and the high priesthood and kingship of Jesus Christ; The Priest-King accordingly points with his raised hand to the depiction of Christ as the eschatological high priest and king above the altar, while Abraham sinks down in adoration.

3. The prophet Isaiah with a scroll on which the prophecy “Filius datus est nobis. Cuius imperium super humerum eius. ”(German translation:“ A child was born to us, a son was given to us ”). “The rulership rests on his shoulders” ( Isa 9,6  EU ) as a reference to the divine mission of the Messiah

4. The transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain with the prophets Moses and Elijah as glorification of the humanity of Jesus Christ ( Lk 9.28-36  EU ), ( Mk 9.2-9  EU ), ( Matt 17.1-8  EU )

5. The confession of the kingship of Jesus before Pilate ( Joh 18,36-37  EU )

6. The resurrection of Jesus Christ as the manifestation of his divinity

The tabernacle shows the four in God's vision of the Prophet Ezekiel described worshipers before the throne of God ( Ezek 1.4 to 28  EU ), which is also the author of the New Testament apocalypse were taken ( Rev 4,6-8  EU ). In a clockwise direction, these are on the copper plate of the tabernacle: a winged human being, a winged lion , a winged bull and an eagle . All four beings each carry a book. The gaze of her nimbly head is directed to the central cross of the tabernacle door. According to the testimony of the Bible, they proclaim the holiness of God. The four heavenly beings are associated with the four evangelists John , Luke , Mark and Matthew in Christian theology . The human-faced being stands for the incarnation of Jesus, the bull-faced being for his sacrificial death, the lion-faced being for the resurrection and the eagle-faced being for Jesus' return to the Father.

A Latin inscription on the architrave and the predella comes from the 1st Timothy of the Apostle Paul: “Regi saecolorum immortali et invisibili - soli deo honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen. "(German translation: To the king of eternity, the immortal and invisible, only God be honor and glory in all eternity. ( 1 Tim 1,17  EU ))

Side chapels

The side altars in the Christ the King's Church are not laid out in the width and the alignment of the same due to the narrowness of the side aisles. Thus, their central axis is exactly in line with the ship's piers. From the direction of the central axis of the chapel there is consequently no direct insight into what creates a dim, mystical atmosphere. An unhindered view of both chapels is only possible from a certain point in the central axis of the lay room. The walls are painted in red and orange zigzag patterns , the ceilings with a large star motif. Karl Colombo provided the designs for the altar blocks.

Mary Altar

  • Lady Chapel

  • Hagia Sophia, foundation mosaic as a model for the Marian altar in the Christ the King's Church

  • Marian mosaic with thrones in the apse of Monreale Cathedral

  • Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Mary with child flanked by angels

The left side altar shows the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus surrounded by angels as Sedes sapientiae on a throne chair against the background of the stylized Hagia Sophia . While Jesus' right hand is raised to a blessing or teaching, his left hand holds a scroll. This portrayal coincides with what the Gospel of Matthew Jesus has said of himself to the scribes: “The Queen of the South will stand up against this generation in judgment and condemn it; for she came from the end of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And see, there is more here than Solomon! ”( Mt 12:42  EU ). Solomon is considered the wise king of the Old Testament on the throne of wisdom ("Thronus Salomonis", Eng. "Throne Solomos"). In the sense of prefiguration theology, however, Jesus is the ungenerated divine wisdom in person. Accordingly, the Hagia Sophia as the Church of the “Holy Wisdom” also forms the architectural framework of the throne chair.

The Saarbrücken depiction of the Mother of God with Child is strongly based on the depiction of Mary in the foundation mosaic of Hagia Sophia. The donor mosaic there from the 11th century shows Maria flanked by the church donor Emperor Justinian I with the model of Hagia Sophia and by Emperor Constantine as the city founder with the model of Constantinople. In the Saarbrücken adaptation, serving angels in white robes and green togas replace the two emperors. In this respect, depictions of Mary with child and flanking thrones, for example in the apis of the cathedral of Monreale in Sicily or in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, can also be used as models for the altar mosaic. In the nimbus of the baby Jesus in Saarbrücken, the Christogram appears instead of the usual cross . Radbod Commandeur from Maria Laach provided the design for the Saarbrücken mosaic picture in 1934. He had received the order for this in the previous year. The Cologne company Beyer carried out the execution.

Joseph Altar

  • Joseph Chapel

  • Depiction of Noah's Ark as a symbol of the Church as a whole in the Joseph's Chapel

The right side altar - designed by Radbod Commandeur in 1938 and manufactured by the Cologne company Beyer - shows Saint Joseph with a lily in his right hand as a symbol of his chastity . The saint's left hand is raised in an ornamental position . The mosaic inscription describes him as the patron of the Church as a whole ("Sancte Joseph Patronus Ecclesiae opn"; German translation: Saint Joseph, patron of the church, pray for us.). Accordingly, two kneeling angels in white robes hold a model of Noah's Ark with a rainbow and a dove as the Old Testament prefiguration of the Church to the foster father of Jesus .

Pope Pius IX had St. Joseph on 8 December 1870 the wake of the dogma of the Pontifical infallibility (Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus on the First Vatican Council on July 18, 1870) at the time of incipient culture war in the recently newly established and strong Protestant dominated German Reich to Declared patron saint of the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIII. In his encyclical Quamquam Pluries of August 15, 1889, emphatically praised the outstanding devotion to St. Joseph as the heavenly protector and defender of the Church of Christ.

Especially in Saarbrücken, which was shaped by industrialization, St. Joseph should be given to the workers and employees, who largely earned their livelihood in the steel industry and in mining, as a figure of identification. St. Joseph should serve as an example of workers who lived in the view of the Church in constant danger, the lure of atheistic socialism or communism or liberalism succumbing.

Cross of San Damiano

The lecture cross in the apse is a scaled-down copy of the cross of San Damino , in front of which St. Francis of Assisi was commissioned around 1205 to restore the church of San Damiano . The cross from San Damiano hangs today in the Basilica di Santa Chiara in Assisi. The original wooden cross was from an unknown Italian master of the 11th / 12th centuries. Century was painted in the Byzantine style .

crypt

  • Look into the crypt

  • Representation of Mary

  • Johannesminne

  • Altar icon

  • Incense collection in the crypt

The crypt was the first part of Christ the King's Church, which was completed just three months after the foundation work began, which began on August 1, 1927. The circular lower church is located under the choir rotunda of the church. The interior is determined by eight huge concrete pillars and just as many radial concrete girders that support the ceiling. From the choir staircase in the apse of the church, two staircases lead to the sides from the Joseph Chapel and the Lady Chapel to the crypt, the floor area of ​​which measures around 125 square meters. The crypt was designed as a liturgical space from the start. While the upper church was richly decorated after the completion of the construction work, no such equipment in the crypt was made for cost reasons.

The sacred space was used as a holy grave, especially in the Good Friday liturgy . A veiled cross was brought into the crypt and carried back to the upper church on Easter vigil . With the neglect of the classical Catholic liturgy after the Second Vatican Council , the crypt became inoperative and then used as a storage room.

In the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the church, on the initiative of the pastor Hermann Josef Reckenthäler and the then deacon Rolf Dillschneider, several architects were commissioned to work out proposals for a redesign of the church. From 1979 to 1982, the Saarbrücken artist Ernst Alt redesigned the crypt. His work, however, remained unfinished with regard to the baptismal font and the tabernacle. On the ceiling of the crypt Ernst Alt installed a wheel candlestick that he had built from a large twelve-spoke wooden wagon wheel. The positioning and conception of the wheel chandelier within the circular chapel is inspired by the design of the Carolingian Palatine Chapel in Aachen . The twelve-number symbolism is intended to remind of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles . Ernst Alt had designed the crypt as a baptistery by placing an old millstone in the center as the upper part of a baptismal font to be created. Alt set up a historical baking trough as an altar table, which refers in a special way to the Eucharistic bread and the sourdough parable of Jesus. The parable of leaven ( Mt 13.33  EU par. Luke 13.20-21  EU ) describes the kingdom of God as a process that, like leaven, creates constant and inexorable change, even if the beginning seems small. The constellation of baptismal font and altar should correspond to each other like water and flour containers as a sign of the production of life-giving elements.

Ernst Alt added a silver-adorned icon ( acheiropoieton of the countenance of Jesus) in front of a Jewish menorah , a copy of a Romanesque Sedes-Sapientiae Madonna and a depiction of the Christ-Johannes group by Gerhard Marcks .

The crypt's collection of incense was officially listed in the Guinness Book of Records 2000 as the largest collection of incense in the world in November 1999 .

organ

View of the organ gallery with the largest organ in Saarland
Four manual main gaming table

The organ of the church was built in 1933 by the Johannes Klais Orgelbau workshop in Bonn . The then three manual instrument with 45 registers was inaugurated on October 1st, 1933. In 1953 an extension followed and in 1960 a reconstruction by the original builder. Since this renovation, the organ, which was inaugurated on February 21, 1960, has 71 registers spread over 4 manuals and pedal . In 1997 the organ was restored by the Hugo Mayer Orgelbau workshop in Heusweiler , with an electronic setter system with a floppy disk drive installed.

The instrument is placed on the organ gallery and has a free-standing console . The case is a free pipe prospectus . A special feature of the organ is the emergency console in the lower case, from which the front drawer of the upper work can be played.

The work is the largest organ in the Trier diocese and the largest organ in the Saarland. With regard to the number of registers, the Christkönig organ is followed by the organ of the St. Johann basilica in Saarbrücken-St. Johann as the second largest organ in Saarland with 62 registers and the organ of the Mettlach Lutwinuskirche as the third largest organ in Saarland with 60 registers.

The disposition is as follows:

I positive C-g 3
1. Lovely Gedackt 8th'
2. Quintadena 8th'
3. Principal 4 ′
4th recorder 4 ′
5. octave 2 ′
6th octave 1'
7th Sesquialter II
8th. Scharff III – IV
9. Vox humana 8th'
Tremulant
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
10. Principal 16 ′
11. Cane quintadena 16 ′
12. octave 8th'
13. Wooden flute 8th'
14th Gemshorn 8th'
15th octave 4 ′
16. Reed flute 4 ′
17th Chamois fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
18th Super octave 2 ′
19th Hollow flute 2 ′
20th Mixture IV-VI 2 ′
21st Scharff IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
22nd Bombard 16 ′
23. Trumpet 8th'
24. Clairon 4 ′
III Oberwerk C – g 3
25th Principal 8th'
26th Reed flute 8th'
27. Silent 8th'
28. octave 4 ′
29 Quintadena 4 ′
30th Schwegel 2 ′
31. Forest flute 2 ′
32. third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
33. Nasard 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
34. Scharff IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
35. Terzcymbel III 1'
36. Dulcian 16 ′
37. Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
IV Schwellwerke C – g 3
Swell 1
38. Silent 16 ′
39. Principal 8th'
40. Coupling flute 4 ′
41. Principal 2 ′
42. Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
43. bassoon 16 ′
44. Trompette harmonique 8th'
Swell 2
45. Bourdon 8th'
46. Salicional 8th'
47. Beat 8th'
48. octave 4 ′
49. recorder 2 ′
50. Sesquialter II
51. Nonencymbel IV 8 ⁄ 9 ′
52. Schalmey oboe 8th'
53. Hopper shelf 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
54. Pedestal 32 ′
55. Principal bass (= No. 10) 16 ′
56. Contrabass 16 '
57. Sub bass 16 '
58. Echobass (= No. 38) 16 ′
59. Octave bass 8th'
60. Dacked bass 8th'
61. octave 4 ′
62. Quintadena 4 ′
63. Night horn 2 ′
64. Backseat III – VII 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
65. Mixture IV 2 ′
66. Contraposaune 32 ′
67. trombone 16 ′
68. Bassoon (= No. 43) 16 ′
69. Trumpet 8th'
70. Clarine 4 ′
71. Singing Cornett 2 ′
  • Coupling : II / I, III / I, IV / I, SW 2 / I, I / II, III / II, IV / II, SW 2 / II, IV / III, SW 2 / III, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P, SW 2 / P
  • Playing aids : three free combinations, one split combination, tutti, automatic piano pedal, crescendo, crescendo ab, individual tongue storage

Bells

Original peal

The Christkönigkirche received the first bronze bells in 1931. At that time, the Grüninger foundry in Villingen cast four bells, which were inaugurated in the same year. In 1940 three of the four bells were confiscated and melted down for armament purposes, only the smallest bell was allowed to keep the community.

No. volume Casting year Foundry, casting location Weight
(kg) 		Diameter
(cm) 		comment
1 h 0 1931 Grüninger, Villingen 2450 166 Taken for war purposes in 1940
2 d 1 1400 137.5
3 e 1 950 120
4th g 1 620 102 preserved to this day

Current bell

After the war, the smallest bell was spared for the time being and was not allowed to be melted down when a new bell was purchased in 1956. The Glockengießerei Mabilon in Saarburg formed - to the existing bell in percussive g 1 suitable - four bells with the tones h 0 , d 1 , e 1 and a 1 . Some time later these new bells were also inaugurated. In 1996 the third largest bell was damaged and was replaced by a new cast by Wolfgang Hausen-Mabilon. The sound of the five-part bell is arranged according to the motif of the double Te Deum .

No. volume Casting year Foundry, casting location Weight
(kg) 		Diameter
(cm)
1 h 0 1956 Mabilon, Saarburg 2800 164
2 d 1 1650 143
3 e 1 1996 1150 125
4th g 1 1931 Grüninger, Villingen 620 102
5 a 1 1956 Mabilon, Saarburg 460 93

Chaplain

The pastoral care of the parish of Christ the King has so far been provided by the following people:

Pastor
  • Johannes Ludger Schlich: 1929 to December 1, 1935 (dismissed under pressure from the NSDAP)
  • Peter Schubach: 1936 to 1948
  • Michael Kettel: 1949 to 1977
  • Hermann Josef Reckenthäler: 1978 to 1985
  • Peter Rudoph: 1986 to 2013
  • Benedikt Welter : since 2013
Chaplains
  • Heinrich Wirth: 1929 to 1933
  • Alois Schneider: 1933 to 1937
  • Ernst Günther: 1937 to 1940
  • Josef Michels: 1935 to 1941
  • Peter Hammes: 1940 to 1945
  • Peter Schmitt: June to December 1941 and 1945 to 1946
  • Josef Rau: 1946 to 1947
  • Emil Berberich: 1952 to 1953
  • Franz Ronig : 1954 to 1957
  • Josef Koch: 1957 to 1961
  • Erhard Bertel: 1962 to 1965
  • Hermann Münzel: 1965
  • Josef Karst: 1966
Subsidiar
  • Josef Willwersch: 1969 to 1981
  • Raimund Moßmann: 2002 to 2004 (cooperator)
Hospital chaplain
  • Edmunt Kütten: 1951 to 1953 (Winterberg Clinic, Red Cross Clinic)
  • Markus Wirth: 2013 to 2018 (Winterbergklinik, Sonnenbergklinik)

literature

  • Institute for regional studies in Saarland (ed.), Marlen Dittmann: The building culture in Saarland 1904–1945. (= Saarland-Hefte. Volume 3). Saarbrücken 2004.
  • Karl Freckmann: Church building, advice and examples. Freiburg im Breisgau 1931, p. 113.
  • György Lehoczky working group (ed.): György Lehoczky 1901–1979. Saarbrücken 2010, ISBN 978-3-938070-49-9 , Online = http://institut-aktuelle-kunst.de/publikationen/gyoergy-lehoczky-architektur-malerei-kunst-im-oefflichen-raum-kunst-im- Sacred Room Book Illustration.Retrieved February 27, 2020
  • Institute for regional studies in Saarland (ed.), Kristine Marschall: Sacred buildings of classicism and historicism in Saarland. Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 322–323 and 559.
  • Johann Joseph Morper : Catholic Church Buildings on the Saar. Saarbrücken 1935, pp. 32-35.
  • Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (Ed.): 25 years of the parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, an anniversary booklet. (= Special number of the parish letter "Joy into the house" ). Saarbrücken 1954.
  • Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (Ed.): 1989, 60 years of the church and parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken, voices about the church from the beginning and the present. Saarbrücken 1989.
  • Franz Ronig : The Catholic parish church of Christ the King in Saarbrücken. In: 50 Years of the Christkönig Parish in Saarbrücken 1929–1979: a parish in the light and under the claims of the Second Vatican Council. Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  • Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Sheets of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929. Saarbrücken 1929.
  • Frederik Simon: Environment management as pastoral care, Pastor Dr. Johann Ludger Schlich and Catholicism on the Saar from 1913 to 1935. Dissertation. Trier 2019.
  • Board of Directors Parish Christkönig (publisher): 1929–2019 Christkönig, 90 years Christkönig Saarbrücken. Saarbrücken 2019.
  • Maria Zenner: 50 years of the Christkönig parish, a city parish in the course of historical and political changes. In: 50 years of Christkönig parish in Saarbrücken 1929–1979. Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 49-60.

swell

  • Institute for contemporary art in Saarland, archive, holdings Saarbrücken, Christkönig (Dossier K 870)
  • Parish archive Christkönig Saarbrücken
  • Diocese archive Trier, parishes of the parish Christkönig-Saarbrücken

Web links

Commons : Christ the King Church  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of monuments of the Saarland, partial list of monuments state capital Saarbrücken (PDF; 653 kB), accessed on August 9, 2012.
  2. ^ 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. 12-13 with reference to the Chartularium Saraepontanum, p. 337, no. 64.
  3. ^ 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. 15-16.
  4. ^ Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (Ed.): 25 years of the parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, a jubilee booklet (special issue of the parish letter "Joy into the house"), Saarbrücken 1954, p. 15.
  5. ^ Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (Ed.): 25 years of the parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, a jubilee booklet (special issue of the parish letter "Joy into the house"), Saarbrücken 1954, p. 15.
  6. ↑ Frederik Simon: Milieu management as pastoral care, Pastor Dr. Johann Ludger Schlich and Catholicism on the Saar from 1913 to 1935, dissertation Trier 2019.
  7. ↑ Frederik Simon: Pastor Dr. Johann Ludger Schlich and the Catholic press work on the Saar 1920–1935, in: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History 68 (2016), pp. 337–362.
  8. ↑ Bernhard Haupert and Franz Josef Schäfer: Saarland Catholic clergy between adaptation and resistance 1933–1935, study on the political understanding and action of the Catholic clergy, in: Journal for the history of the Saar region 46 (1998), pp. 99–157, here 116 -118.
  9. ^ Edgar Schwer: The First Saarland Catholic Day on June 3, 1923, Background - Environment - Press, in: Journal for the History of the Saar Region 53/54 (2005/2006), pp. 193-230, here 201 f.
  10. ^ Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (ed.): 25 years parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, a jubilee booklet (special issue of the parish letter "Joy into the house"), Saarbrücken 1954, p. 16.
  11. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich: Zur Geschichte des Kirchenbaues, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (Hrsg.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 12-19, here p. 18.
  12. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich: Zur Geschichte des Kirchenbaues, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (Hrsg.): Leaves of the memory of the Benediction of the Christkönigkirche in Saarbrücken on July 7th 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 12-19, here p. 16 and 19th
  13. ↑ http://www.christkoenig.handshake.de/kirche/arch01.htm accessed on February 24, 2020.
  14. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  15. ^ Karl Lohmeyer: The sagas of the Saar from the source to the mouth. Saarbrücken 1951, p. 78.
  16. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  17. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  18. ↑ Christkönig parish archives, printed in: Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years Christkönig parish in Saarbrücken 1929–1979: a parish in the light and under the claims of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21–48 .
  19. ↑ Harald Siebenmorgen: The Beginnings of the »Beuron Art School«, Peter Lenz and Jakob Wüger 1850–1875, A Contribution to the Genesis of Form Abstraction in Modernism, Sigmaringen 1983.
  20. ↑ Maria Laach, Landscape - Art - History - Life, ed. by Drutmar Cremer, Regensburg 2000, p. 33.
  21. ↑ Maria Laach, Landscape - Art - History - Life, ed. by Drutmar Cremer, Regensburg 2000, p. 34.
  22. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  23. ↑ Marcel Albert: Ildefons Herwegen, in: Sebastian Cüppers (Ed.): Kölner Theologen, Cologne 2004, pp. 356–387.
  24. ↑ Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Article “Herwegen, Ildefons”, in: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, 2 (1990), Sp. 775-776.
  25. ↑ Martin Klöckener: Article “Herwegen”, in: Martin Klöckener, Bio-bibliographisches Repertorium der Liturgiewwissenschaft, in: Archiv für Liturgiewwissenschaft 41 (1999), pp. 63–120, here no. 2083, pp. 82–83.
  26. ↑ Emmanuel von Severus: Article "Herwegen", in: Bibliography of the German-speaking Benedictines, Volume 2, St. Ottilien 1987, pp. 650–652.
  27. ↑ http://www.rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de/Persoenitäten/ildefons-herwegen/DE-2086/lido/57c82e8ea97441.95455986 accessed on February 23, 2020.
  28. ↑ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, a work of the architect Karl Colombo from Cologne, in: Katholisches Pfarramt Christkönig: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929–1979: a parish in the light and under the claims of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  29. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 45.
  30. ↑ Ildefons Herwegen: The Kingship of Christ and the Liturgy, in: Ildefons Herwegen: Old sources of new power, collected essays, 2nd edition, Düsseldorf 1922, pp. 147–168.
  31. ↑ Klaus Breuning: The Vision of the Reich, German Catholicism between Democracy and Dictatorship (1929–1934), Munich 1969, pp. 207–209.
  32. ^ Dagmar Pöpping : Abendland, Christian Academics and the Utopia of Antimodern 1900–1945, Berlin 2001, 173 ff.
  33. ↑ Thomas Ruster: The lost usefulness of religion, Catholicism and modernity in the Weimar Republic, 2nd, supplemented edition 1998, Paderborn 1994, p. 105.
  34. ↑ Marcel Albert: The Benedictine Abbey Maria Laach and National Socialism, publications of the Commission for Contemporary History, Series B: Research, Volume. 95, Paderborn 2004, p. 103f.
  35. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich: The Kingship of Christ and the Christkönigkirche, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (Hrsg.): Leaves of the memory of the Benediction of the Christkönigkirche in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 8–11, here p. 10-11.
  36. ↑ Board of Directors Parish Christkönig (Ed.): 1929–2019 Christkönig, 90 Years Christkönig Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 2019, p. 16.
  37. ^ Karl Colombo: The architectural and artistic viewpoints, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7th 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 33.
  38. ^ The laying of the foundation stone of the Christkönigskirche, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christkönigskirche in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 20–28, here pp. 21–24.
  39. ↑ a b Historical overview of the Christkönig parish at www.christkoenig.handshake.de , accessed on August 9, 2012.
  40. ↑ Hubert Rauwald: Die Bauausführung, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 34-40.
  41. ^ Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 52–53.
  42. ↑ Karl Colombo: The architectural and artistic viewpoints, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 28–34.
  43. ^ Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (Hrsg.): 25 years parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, a jubilee booklet (special issue of the parish letter "joy into the house"), Saarbrücken 1954, pp. 20-26.
  44. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  45. ^ Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (ed.): 25 years of the parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, a jubilee booklet (special issue of the parish letter "Joy into the House"), Saarbrücken 1954, pp. 27-28.
  46. ↑ Franz Ronig: The Way of the Cross in the parish church Christkönig, in: Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (ed.): 25 years parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, an anniversary booklet (special number of the parish letter "Joy into the house"), Saarbrücken 1954, pp. 39-42.
  47. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 51.
  48. ↑ St. Pius Saarbrücken, ed. from the Catholic Parish Office St. Pius in Saarbrücken, Metzingen 1964.
  49. ↑ Board of Directors Parish Christkönig (Ed.): 1929–2019 Christkönig, 90 Years Christkönig Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 2019, pp. 31–33 and pp. 40–42.
  50. ↑ Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (ed.): 25 years of the parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, a jubilee booklet (special issue of the parish letter "Freude ins Haus"), Saarbrücken 1954, pp. 26–34.
  51. ↑ Marlen Dittmann: Catholic parish church St. Pius, http://institut-aktuelle-kunst.de/kunstlexikon/saarbruecken- district- mitte-st-arnual-katholische-pfarrkirche- st-pius- 1800 accessed on February 15, 2020.
  52. ^ Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (ed.): 25 years parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, a jubilee booklet (special issue of the parish letter "Joy into the house"), Saarbrücken 1954, p. 31.
  53. ↑ Board of Directors Parish Christkönig (Ed.): 1929–2019 Christkönig, 90 Years Christkönig Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 2019, pp. 44–51.
  54. ↑ Frederik Simon: Building history of the Christkönigskirche, in: Verwaltungsrat Pfarrei Christkönig (Ed.): 1929–2019 Christkönig, 90 years Christkönig Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 2019, pp. 9-17.
  55. ^ Rolf Wittenbrock: The three Saar cities 1860-1908. In: Rolf Wittenbrock (ed.): History of the city of Saarbrücken. Volume 2: From the time of rapid growth to the present. Saarbrücken 1999, pp. 11-130, here pp. 28-29.
  56. ↑ Doris Seck : It began 40 years ago, the Saarland war years. Saarbrücken 1979, p. 18.
  57. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  58. ↑ Karl Colombo: The architectural and artistic viewpoints, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 28–34, here p. 30.
  59. ↑ Karl Colombo: The architectural and artistic viewpoints, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 28–34, here p. 28– 30th
  60. ↑ Karl Colombo: The architectural and artistic viewpoints, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 28–34, here p. 30.
  61. ↑ Karl Colombo: The architectural and artistic viewpoints, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 28–34.
  62. ↑ Board of Directors Parish Christkönig (Ed.): 1929–2019 Christkönig, 90 years Christkönig Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 2019, pp. 14–15.
  63. ↑ Frederik Simon: Building history of the Christkönigskirche, in: Verwaltungsrat Pfarrei Christkönig (Ed.): 1929–2019 Christkönig, 90 years Christkönig Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 2019, pp. 9–17, here pp. 14–15.
  64. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  65. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 50.
  66. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  67. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  68. ↑ Maria Laach, Landscape - Art - History - Life, ed. by Drutmar Cremer, Regensburg 2000, pp. 12, 36.
  69. ↑ Ambrosius Stock: Our Christkönigskirche in the language of its furnishings and mosaics, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Leaves of the memory of the Benediction of the Christkönigkirche in Saarbrücken on July 7th 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 45-50.
  70. ^ Josef H. Biller and Hans-Peter Rasp: Munich Art and Culture, 19th edition, Munich 2009, pp. 361–363.
  71. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  72. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich and Ambrosius Stock: Our Christkönigskirche in the language of its furnishings and mosaics, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christkönigkirche in Saarbrücken on July 7th 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 45 –50, here p. 48.
  73. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  74. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 51.
  75. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 51.
  76. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  77. ↑ Kristine Marschall: Sacred buildings of classicism and historicism in Saarland. Saarbrücken 2002, p. 322 f. and p. 559.
  78. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  79. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  80. ↑ http://www.maria-laach.de/kuenstlerbrueder/ accessed on March 15, 2018.
  81. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  82. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  83. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 51.
  84. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  85. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich and Ambrosius Stock: Our Christkönigkirche in the symbolism as a house of God, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christkönigkirche in Saarbrücken on July 7th 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 40-44 , here p. 44.
  86. ↑ Maria Laach, Landscape - Art - History - Life, ed. by Drutmar Cremer, Regensburg 2000, pp. 12, 36.
  87. ↑ Manfred Pfeiffer: The parish church of St. Remigius Bliesen, the "Bliestaldom". Ed .: Catholic Parish Office St. Remigius Bliesen, St. Wendel o. J.
  88. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  89. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich and Ambrosius Stock: Our Christkönigkirche in the symbolism as a house of God, in: Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christkönigkirche in Saarbrücken on July 7th 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, pp. 40-44 , here p. 44.
  90. ↑ Johann Ludger Schlich (Ed.): Pages of the memory of the Benediction of the Christ the King Church in Saarbrücken on July 7, 1929, Saarbrücken 1929, p. 46 and 51.
  91. ↑ Géza Jászai: Evangelist or God's symbols ?, On the iconology of the Maiestas Domini representation of the Carolingian Vivian Bible, in: Das Münster, Zeitschrift für Christian Kunst und Kunstwissenschaft, 1, 2019, 72nd year, Regensburg 2019, p 25-29.
  92. ^ Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (ed.): 25 years of the parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, a jubilee booklet (special issue of the parish letter "Freude ins Haus"), Saarbrücken 1954, p. 22.
  93. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  94. ^ Pfarramt Christkönig Saarbrücken (ed.): 25 years parish Christkönig Saarbrücken, A jubilee booklet (special issue of the parish letter "Joy into the house"), Saarbrücken 1954, p. 26.
  95. ^ Franz Ronig: The Catholic parish church Christkönig zu Saarbrücken, in: 50 years parish Christkönig in Saarbrücken 1929-1979: a parish in the light and under the claim of the Second Vatican Council, Saarbrücken 1979, pp. 21-48.
  96. ↑ First Dogmatic Constitution "Pastor aeternus" on the Church of Christ, July 18, 1870, in: Heinrich Denzinger: Compendium of Confessions of Faith and Church Doctrinal Decisions, improved, expanded, translated into German and edited by Peter Hünermann with the collaboration of Helmut Hoping, 37. Edition, Freiburg im Breisgau, Basel, Rome, Vienna 1991, 3050-3075, pp. 824-833.
  97. ↑ Decree "Quemadmodum Deus Josephum"
  98. ↑ Encyclical "Quamquam pluries", August 15, 1889, in: Heinrich Denzinger: Compendium of Confessions of Faith and Church Teaching Decisions, improved, expanded, translated into German and edited by Peter Hünermann, 37th edition, Freiburg im Breisgau, with the collaboration of Helmut Hoping, Basel, Rome, Vienna 1991, 3260-3263, pp. 875-876.
  99. ↑ Stephan Michaeli: The Christkönig Crypt - Construction, Concept, Shape, Intention and Legacy, in: Administrative Council Parish Christkönig (Ed.): 1929–2019 Christkönig, 90 Years of Christkönig Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 2019, pp. 18–29.
  100. ↑ http://www.christkoenig.handshake.de/weihrauch/index.html accessed on February 27, 2020.
  101. ↑ a b Klais organ of the Christkönig Church Entry of the organ in the OrganIndex database , accessed on May 30, 2015.
  102. ↑ Bernhard H. Bonkhoff: Historical Organs in Saarland. Regensburg 2015, p. 230.
  103. ↑ Board of Directors Parish Christkönig (Ed.): 1929–2019 Christkönig, 90 years Christkönig Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 2019, pp. 91–93.

Coordinates: 49 ° 13 ′ 31.5 ″  N , 7 ° 0 ′ 7.1 ″  E