Christ Church (Wittlich)
The Christ Church Wittlich is a church of the Protestant parish in Wittlich of the Rheinische Landeskirche in the church district of Trier . It is one of the oldest new Protestant church buildings in the Prussian Rhineland, was largely destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt in a simplified manner after the war.
history
After the Eifel became part of Prussia after the Congress of Vienna , Protestants, mostly Prussian officials, gradually settled in the previously purely Catholic area around Wittlich and Daun in the southern Eifel from 1815. In terms of canon law, they initially belonged to the parish of Mülheim an der Mosel , and later to the newly founded parish of Prüm . Pastoral care has been provided by a parish administrator since 1852, and in the same year a prayer room was set up in the gendarmerie building. The Wittlich parish became independent on May 20, 1858. Immediately afterwards the foundation stone was laid for the church, but due to financial problems, the church was not completed until three years later. With the building of the church, the city of Wittlich began to expand into the foreland. The St. Elisabeth Hospital and the prison followed in the next few years .
Architecture and equipment
The church was built on the outskirts of the city of Wittlich at the time, a typical location for the construction of a new Protestant church in the diaspora. The construction of rubble with architectural elements made of red sandstone , without a tower and with drawn- 5 / 8 -Chor carried out according to plans by the municipal architect Gerhard from Moenchengladbach with amendments by the Building Officers Stiller from Berlin and Hoff from Trier. The architectural concept of the church is based on the Eisenach regulation published in 1858 , in which the position of the choir, pulpit and organ is regulated, as well as the medieval, mostly neo-Gothic architectural style of the church is prescribed.
The choir was vaulted, the interior was originally covered with a flat, coffered ceiling. The bell hung in a turret over the west gable. The choir apse was raised by three steps, the pulpit stood on the triumphal arch and the church stalls consisted of two blocks of straight cross benches. The organ with a Gothic-style prospect, which was acquired soon after the inauguration, was placed on the transverse porch on the west side of the church.
In March 1945 the church was severely damaged in the fighting at the end of World War II. After the war damage had been repaired, a hall was added to the building ensemble in 1954 and renovated in 1963. In this context, the church was repainted and modernized. A five-sided free-standing bell tower was built by HO Vogel in 1960 to replace the original ridge .
use
The church is the main church (of two churches) of the Protestant parish of Wittlich. There are regular church services on Sundays and church holidays. Furthermore the church is used for concerts, exhibitions and a rich community life. The church is barrier-free and equipped with an induction system for hearing aids.
Web links
- Entry on Christ Church in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region .
literature
- Ulrich Kerkhoff, Mechthild Ohmacht (editor): District of Bernkastel-Wittlich; City of Wittlich (= cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Volume 4.1 ). Schwamm, Düsseldorf 1987, ISBN 3-590-31033-2 , p. 30 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b no. 2 Christ Church Wittlich . In: Directory of the new Protestant church buildings in the Rhineland 1860–1914 (1927) . S. 7–8 ( duepublico.uni-duisburg-essen.de [PDF; accessed on January 30, 2016]).
- ↑ a b Ulrich Kerkhoff, Mechthild Ohmacht (editor): District of Bernkastel-Wittlich; City of Wittlich (= cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Volume 4.1 ). Schwamm, Düsseldorf 1987, ISBN 3-590-31033-2 , p. 30 .
- ^ Evangelical parish of Wittlich. Evangelical Church District Trier, accessed on January 30, 2016 .
Coordinates: 49 ° 58 ′ 56.6 " N , 6 ° 53 ′ 3.7" E