Christ the King (Roden)

Roden, Christ the King, side view of the church building from the station forecourt

Roden, Christ the King, tower front

The Christkönig Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Roden district of the Saarland district town of Saarlouis . In the list of monuments of the Saarland, the church is a single monument listed.

history

Christkönig (Roden), view of the scaffolded church from the station square, summer 2015

The church is next to the Roden Church of the Assumption of Mary one of two church buildings of the Catholic Church in the district. Due to the growing population, it was decided in 1964 to build a second church. Before the construction work, plots were purchased for this purpose or by donation from the existing parish of Maria Himmelfahrt . The construction costs were borne by the parish of Maria Himmelfahrt ; the project was largely financed by donations from the community.

The church was on 26 October 1968 by the Trier Bishop Carl Schmidt ordained . In the course of the amalgamation of parishes in the diocese, Christkönig has been part of the Saarlouis parish right of the Saar since 2011 . Other churches in the community are the Holy Trinity ( Fraulautern ), St. Josef ( Fraulautern-Kreuzberg ), St. Johannes ( Steinrausch ), and Maria Himmelfahrt ( Roden ).

Due to the dilapidation of the church roof, which is only supported on the outer walls and on two pillars , the church was closed by the diocese in December 2008 and removed from the parish order of worship .

Pastors of the parish Christkönig in Roden were:

1968–1972: Tilmann Haag (1930–1990)
1973–1984: Ferdinand Christ (1937–2011)
1998–2008: Martin Münster

In April 2013 the baptismal font , the Way of the Cross and the altar cross were brought to the Steinrausch Church of St. John for further use . In 2015 the church was profaned by the Bishop of Trier.

In the meantime it was discussed whether the church should be demolished. The monument protection stood against this. According to a design by the Flosundk architects from Saarbrücken and in coordination with the architect Günter Kleinjohann , the church was converted into a day-care center, which also included the existing kindergarten attached to the church .

Church building

The church, designed by the Trier architect Günter Kleinjohann and built from 1966 to 1968, is one of the churches of the modern age and clearly shows the architectural style of the 1960s. It consists of 150 tons of reinforcing steel , 2000 cubic meters of reinforced concrete , a total of around 4500 cubic meters of earth was moved during construction . The church consists of a hall building about twelve meters high and a bell tower that is also about twelve meters high. The church building is on Bahnhofsplatz ; the church tower is about five meters from the church.

The nave of the Christkönig Church consists of an almost square concrete building, which from a height of about three meters consists of differently placed concrete blocks and transparent window glass . The pews are dark brown with red seats, consisting of a long seat cushion per pew. The church has a church organ and a very simply built altar . The floor is made of black stone . The tower has two bells ringing electronically, but it does not strike the time. There is also no church tower clock on the building.

The entire parish center Christkönig includes:

the church with 400 seats and 200 standing places
the pastor's apartment
a staff apartment
the kindergarten with four group rooms, a gym, a washroom and the staff rooms
the parish hall
the parish library (closed in 2009)
a room for our older citizens and a small tea kitchen
three youth recreation rooms and a work room

organ

Organ of Christ the King

The organ of Christ the King was established in 1979 by the Saarland company Hugo Mayer Orgelbau built. It has a mechanical play and stop action , and slide chests were used as wind chests. The pipes are in a dark stained and lacquered oak case.

The instrument has two manuals as well as a pedal and the following disposition :

I Hauptwerk C – g ³
1.	Reed flute	8th'
2.	Octave	4 ′
3.	Forest flute	2 ′
4th	Mixture 3-4f
5.	Trumpet	8th'

II Positive C-g ³
6th	Wooden dacked	8th'
7th	recorder	4 ′
8th.	Principal	2 ′
9.	Sesquialter 2f
10.	Octavlein	1'

Pedal C – f ¹
11.	Sub bass	16 ′
12.	Principal	8th'

Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P

Bells

The two bells of the church were both consecrated on October 5, 1980 by the then Pastor Christ. Each of the two bells is in one of the two concrete blocks on the tower.

literature

Bastian Müller: Architecture of the post-war period in Saarland (= preservation of monuments in Saarland 4). Saarbrücken 2011, p. 135.
Parish Christkönig Saarlouis-Roden (Ed.): Parish center Christkönig Saarlouis-Roden. Festschrift for the inauguration of the Christkönig parish church, Saarlouis-Roden on October 26, 1968, by auxiliary bishop, Mr. Carl Schmidt. Parish Christkönig, Saarlouis-Roden 1968, p. 32.