Clemens Church (Münster)

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Portal side of the Clemenskirche
General view with the bell tower in the form of a campanile, the small park in front
Baroque dome fresco in the church

The Clement Church in the Westphalian city ​​of Münster is a monastery and hospital church built for the Brothers of Mercy according to plans by Johann Conrad Schlaun between 1745 and 1753 . The monastery was dissolved in 1811.

history

The Clemenskirche was the corner building of a building complex to which the wings of the Clemenshospital were attached. This is visible in the interior because there are large double doors in the niches to the left and right of the main altar, which allow access to the adjoining corridors.

The entire building complex was largely destroyed in the air raids on Münster in World War II. Only the facade and parts of the surrounding walls were preserved. The hospital was rebuilt in the south of Münster after the war. The reconstruction and the faithful restoration of the Clement Church with its rich interior began in 1956 and was completed in 1973. The Münster-based sculptor Siegfried Springer reconstructed all the groups of figures in the interior and, together with the Viennese painter Paul Reckendorfer, created the colorful sky of figures with its lively Rococo style.

Today the church belongs to the parish community of the inner city and is used especially for foreign language services and concerts. It is also particularly popular for wedding ceremonies .

architecture

With its exterior architecture in the Baroque style , the Clemenskirche is considered to be the most important baroque church building in northern Germany. On the other hand, Rococo style elements predominate inside .

The shape of a curved, irregular hexagon with a dome crowned by a lantern is characteristic of the Clement Church . The typical Schlaun combination of light sandstone and red brick was used as the building material.

To the southwest of the church, detached from the church interior, stands the bell tower in the form of a campanile .

Furnishing

View of the main altar
Left side altar and pulpit
Right side altar

The ceiling paintings inside were made by the Munich painter Johann Adam Schöpf , the stucco elements come from Jacob Rauch from Wessobrunn .

The altar of the Clemenskirche refers to the namesake of the church, St. Clemens . The altarpiece depicts his martyrdom. This theme is also taken up in the fresco of the dome. It shows the heavenly glorification ( apotheosis ) of St. Clement.

Another special feature of the interior are the blue columns, the color of the Wittelsbach family. They remember the Prince-Bishop of Münster, Clemens August I of Bavaria , who commissioned the building of the church and hospital. The Latin text “pro perenni verae misericordiae signo expensis suis erigebat augustus bavariae princeps pater patriae” is on his coat of arms above the entrance portal. Translated into German, this means something like “As a perpetual symbol of compassion, the father of the state, Elector August of Bavaria, built this church at his own expense”.

The Clemenskirche has no gallery , especially not for an organ. During the construction of the church, an organ chamber was created for an organ, which protruded into the laterally adjacent, not preserved building. Towards the church, the sound radiated into the room through a small window. This window with a prospectus has been preserved to the right of the chancel, above the side altar.

organ

Today's organ of the Clemenskirche is at ground level on the north side wall of the church. The instrument was built in 1973 by the organ builder Franz Breil (Dorsten) in a case from the second half of the 18th century that was not built for the Clemenskirche. The slider chest instrument has 16 stops on two manuals and pedal. The playing and stop actions are mechanical. In 2014 the instrument was extensively restored by the organ builder Klais (Bonn) , with the entire mechanics including the playing system being renewed. The stops of the manual works were laid out in two rows above the play area. The stops of the pedal are on the left of the console, those of the tremulants (no. 17 and 18) on the right of the console. The manual coupling was created as a sliding coupling. The positive pedal coupling has been omitted. The pitch ranges of all works were reduced to ensure accessibility and tunability for all pipes.

II Hauptwerk C – d 3
1. Trumpet 8th'
2. Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
3. Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
4th Forest flute 2 ′
5. Reed flute 8th'
6th Principal 4 ′
I positive C – d 3
7th Wooden shelf 8th'
8th. Cimbel II 1 ⁄ 2 ′
9. Octave 1'
10. Fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
11. Principal 2 ′
12. Pointed flute 4 ′
13. Wooden dacked 8th'
Pedals C – c 1
14th Sub bass 16 ′
15th Dumped 8th'
16. bassoon 16 ′
  • Coupling : manual slide coupler I / II, pedal coupler step II / P

Surroundings

The Church is free today. To the side behind the church is a small park, which was laid out in a baroque style based on a design by Schlaun.

literature

Web links

Commons : Clemenskirche (Münster)  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on the organ of the Clemenskirche ( Memento from July 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 51 ° 57 ′ 38.8 "  N , 7 ° 37 ′ 51.5"  E