Christ Church (Hanau)

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Christ Church seen from the "Ehrensäule" roundabout
Christ Church interior

The Christ Church in Hanau is a church building of the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck .

location

The church is located at the " Ehrensäule " roundabout , opposite the main cemetery . It occupies a dominant position there in terms of urban development .

history

The community was founded in 1929 from the Marienkirche . At that time, your municipality was a residential area expanding towards the east, the so-called "Freigericht-Viertel". By 1934, the congregation erected a rather simple, hall-like church building on Akademiestrasse, west of the current location, for around 270 worshipers. This first church came from the architect Carl Cost . It was badly damaged in a bombing raid during World War II and was restored by 1948. Today it is structurally partially preserved in the community center, the former church interior is now the community hall.

The community has been a district of the Evangelical City Church Community of Hanau since January 1, 2014 .

The building

The current building was erected in 1961 and the foundation stone was laid on March 5, 1961. The architect was Johannes Ludwig , Munich .

The church appears to be a closed block from the outside, the outer walls have no windows. The lighting comes from a row of densely arranged gables in the roof area. This repellent-looking shape is certainly also due to the location of the church, the east wall of which borders the busy and therefore noisy B 43 . The slightly offset church tower repeats the triangular motif of the gable in its roof shape. Its bells must not sound in full, since - as it later turned out - one of the bells coincides with the natural frequency of the tower and could therefore cause it to collapse.

The interior, which has about 600 seats, was designed as a conventional three-aisled basilica with an organ gallery and pews. In retrospect, this leaves the impression that the builders tried to protect themselves against the surging innovations with traditional forms: From about the time the church was completed, the “Freigericht district” turned into a preferred district for migrants . The number of members of the community decreased dramatically from around 8,000 to around 1,800 (2005). The church soon was, and is even more so today, far too large for the number of parishioners. The building is part of the overall Birkenhainer Straße complex , the main cemetery and the roundabout honor column .

The altar cross and the altar candlesticks, which were created by Albrecht Glenz , are remarkable in the church's artistic furnishings .

Worth knowing

A parish of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch is visiting the rooms of the Christ Church .

literature

  • 75 years of Christ Church . Festschrift. Hanau 2005:
    • Günter Rauch: The history of the Christ Church , pp. 12–21.
    • Kerstin Schröder: The Christ Church Community Today - Change and Continuity , pp. 22–28.
  • Max Aschkewitz: Pastor history of the Hanau district ("Hanauer Union") until 1986, part 1 = publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse 33. Marburg 1984, p. 73f.
  • Carolin Krumm: Cultural monuments in Hessen - City of Hanau . Ed .: State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen. Wiesbaden 2006. p. 96. ISBN 3-8062-2054-9

Web links

Commons : Christ Church  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aschkewitz
  2. ↑ Aschkewitz speaks of a capacity of 400 seats.
  3. ^ Fried Lübbecke : Hanau. City and county. Cologne, 1951, p. 435f.
  4. ↑ Krumm, p. 95.

Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ′ 34 "  N , 8 ° 55 ′ 38.3"  E