Christ Church (Rome)

The Christ Church (chiesa di Cristo) is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Rome in the Ludovisi district . The church was built between 1910 and 1922. The architect was Franz Schwechten , who also planned the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin.

Christ Church Rome

Building history

Protestant services have been held in Rome since 1817. In the summer of 1819 the evangelical Christians, all of whom were foreign, received their own clergy. Originally located in a chapel of the Prussian Embassy on the Capitol, the establishment of its own community was gradually pursued. Located in the embassy chapel of Palazzo Caffarelli from 1870 to 1915 , in 1899 a collection in Germany bought the space needed to build the church on the parceled grounds of the Villa Ludovisi . The execution was severely delayed by the First World War. The simple facade of the church consists of travertine and three niches, each containing a statue of Peter, Christ and Paul. Two stair towers frame the facade, and a large bell tower on the apse side completes the overall picture.

Furnishing

The three-aisled basilica is entered through a small atrium set into the front, each with an opposite entrance door on the narrow side. The building material for the interior was donated by the Luther cities of Central Germany and is characterized by the Romanesque style. The nave ends with a raised semicircular apse. On the right side is the marble pulpit , which is decorated with reliefs of Isaiah, John the Baptist, the first martyr Stephen and John the Evangelist. In the middle of the choir is the altar, which is crowned by a bronze crucifix. The vaults of the nave and the upper aisle are covered with golden mosaics in naturalistic motifs and geometric patterns. The apse itself has a richer mosaic decoration. In the middle of the tree of life in the vault of the apse there is a Christ Pantocrator . The altarpiece comes from the embassy chapel and has retained its place in the new building.

Baptismal font

The baptismal font has been located in the apse of the right aisle since 1828, the base of which is the original terracotta model by Bertel Thorvaldsen from 1822, the final version of which has been in Reykjavík Cathedral since 1839 . Thorvaldsen's original work has been in the chapel of Brahetrolleborg Castle in Denmark since 1817 . The basin is a design by the architect Johann Michael Knapp and the work of the bronze caster Wilhelm Hopfgartens (1779–1860), the uncle and mentor Emil Alexander Hopfgarten in Rome.

organ

The Steinmeyer organ Opus 1515 was installed in 1930.

Main work
Bourdon	16 ′
Principal	08th'
Gamba	08th'
Gemshorn	08th'
Tube flute	08th'
octave	04 ′
Night horn	04 ′
octave	02 ′
Solo cornet III-V
Mixture VI-V
Trumpet	08th'

Swell
Silent	16 ′
Violin principal	08th'
Aeoline	08th'
Solo flute	08th'
Night horn	08th'
Fugara	04 ′
recorder	04 ′
Forest flute	02 ′
Schwiegel	01'
Fifth	02 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
third	01 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′
Mixture IV-V
Cymbel III
Krummhorn	08th'

pedal
Violon	16 ′
Sub bass	16 ′
Subtle bass	16 ′
Octave bass	08th'
violoncello	08th'
Bass flute	08th'
Choral bass	04 ′
Mixture IV-V
trombone	16 ′

Peal

The three bronze - bells were in 1913 in Apolda in the bell foundry Franz Schilling sons cast by Otto Schilling, by truck they came to Rome. In 1914 they were installed in the iron belfry , which was also manufactured in Apolda, and from 1922 onwards they ring regularly.

The chimes of the bells with h ⁰ , d ¹ and e ¹ are identical to those of the bells of the castle church of Wittenberg. The financial means for the casting of the three bronze bells were raised by the women and virgins of the Gustav-Adolf-Verein in Wittenberg and other communities in the then church province of Saxony by means of donations:

Large bell , also known as the Christ bell , nominal h ⁰ , weight 2,720 kg, lower diameter 1.66 m. Inscription: “Jesus Christ yesterday and today and the same forever. Hebrew 13 V 8. “It is adorned with a Latin cross on the flank.

Middle bell , also called Luther bell , nominal d ¹ , weight 1,600 kg, lower diameter 1.39 m. Inscription: “XXXI. X. MDXVII. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. "A Luther Rose -relief decorates the bell.

Small bell , also called the Wittenberg bell , nominal e ¹ , weight 1,103 kg, lower diameter 1.23 m. Inscription: "Gustav-Adolf-Frauen- und Jungfrauenverein zu Wittenberg anno MCMXIV." On the flank it bears the city arms of Wittenberg.

From 2008 to 2010 the ailing iron bell cage was replaced and a new one made of oak was installed. The construction work was carried out by companies from Saxony, Thuringia and Berlin-Brandenburg. On March 7, 2010, Bishop Jochen Bohl consecrated the bells again. A week later Pope Benedict XVI visited the church after Pope John Paul II preached a sermon in the church in 1983 .

Pope visits

Pope John Paul II was the first Pope after the Reformation to visit an Evangelical Lutheran church here in 1983 and preached from the pulpit . Pope Benedict XVI attended Church on March 14, 2010. On November 15, 2015, Pope Francis visited the church.

owner

The church is owned by the Evangelical Church in Germany - it is also the owner of the Reconciliation Church (Dachau) and the Castle Church (Lutherstadt Wittenberg) .

Clergy

Jens-Martin Kruse 2002/03 (vacancy replacement), 2008–2017
Michael Jonas since 2018

literature

Jürgen Krüger : Evangelical Lutheran Christ Church Rome. Dietrich-Coelde-Verlag, Werl 1988.
Andreas Puchta: The German Evangelical Church in Rome. Planning, building history, furnishings (= studies on ancient art and its afterlife, Vol. 2). Weiss, Bamberg 1997, ISBN 3-928591-81-9 .
Jürgen Krüger: Evangelical Lutheran Christ Church Rome (= Small Art Guide No. 2397). Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 1999, ISBN 3-7954-6226-6 .
Nina Bewerunge (text), Stephan Kölliker (photos): The Christ Church in Rome. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2016, ISBN 978-3-95976-037-9 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

↑ Lively and reliable ecumenism. Pastor Jens-Martin Kruse on the anniversary of the Protestant community in Rome. In: domradio.de. April 3, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017 .
↑ Ernst Fauer: Apolda bells ring in Rome . In: Apoldaer Geschichtsverein e. V. (Hrsg.): Apoldaer Heimat - Contributions to the nature and local history of the city of Apolda and its surroundings . Issue 34. Apolda 2016, p. 30-33 .
↑ Katja Schmidtke: Prussia's splendor - the Wittenberg Castle Church is the ultimate memorial of the Reformation. After four years of construction, it will reopen on October 2nd with great glory. Denmark's queen is making an altar cloth, and the EKD is getting a new, third church building. In: Glaube und Heimat , print edition, September 25, 2016, p. 13 (4-column article).

41.908817 12.49164Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 31.7 " N , 12 ° 29 ′ 29.9" E

[1] Lively and reliable ecumenism. Pastor Jens-Martin Kruse on the anniversary of the Protestant community in Rome. In: domradio.de. April 3, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017 .

[2] Ernst Fauer: Apolda bells ring in Rome . In: Apoldaer Geschichtsverein e. V. (Hrsg.): Apoldaer Heimat - Contributions to the nature and local history of the city of Apolda and its surroundings . Issue 34. Apolda 2016, p. 30-33 .

[3] Katja Schmidtke: Prussia's splendor - the Wittenberg Castle Church is the ultimate memorial of the Reformation. After four years of construction, it will reopen on October 2nd with great glory. Denmark's queen is making an altar cloth, and the EKD is getting a new, third church building. In: Glaube und Heimat , print edition, September 25, 2016, p. 13 (4-column article).