Dreikönigskirche (Frankfurt am Main)

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The Dreikönigskirche, seen from Mainkai at the height of the Eiserner Steg, April 2011

The Dreikönigskirche is a Protestant church in Frankfurt am Main . The neo-Gothic building was built between 1875 and 1880 based on a design by master builder Franz Josef Denzinger on the southern bank of the Main in the Sachsenhausen district .

history

middle Ages

Dreikönigskirche and Old Bridge on the Merian engraving from 1628

In 1338 the citizen of Sachsenhausen, Heile Dymar, donated a chapel for the extension of the hospital of the Teutonic Knights . He built a simple, two-aisled hall church in the late Gothic style. On July 23, 1340 the chapel was consecrated to the Three Kings .

Throughout the Middle Ages, parish rights in Frankfurt lay exclusively with the Reichsstift St. Bartholomäus . His pleban was also the city pastor, to whom all official ecclesiastical acts - the so-called casualia - were reserved. This led to great dissatisfaction among the citizens of Sachsenhausen and Neustadt, because at night, when the gates of the Staufen wall and the old bridge were closed, no pastoral support was possible. Despite all the demands of the Council was not until 1452, on the mediation of Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa , the Epiphany Church and St. Peter's Church in the New Town to affiliated churches charged by St. Bartholomew.

Reformation time

From 1522 the Reformation spread in Frankfurt . In 1525, the Dreikönigskirche became the first church in Frankfurt to have exclusively Reformed preachers. In 1531, the council appointed a third full-time preacher, Peter Pfeiffer , who had previously been the guardian of the Barefoot Monastery , and assigned him to the Epiphany. This ended the centuries of discrimination against Christians in Sachsenhausen.

Modern times

Old Dreikönigskirche and Sachsenhäuser Mainufer, photograph by Carl Friedrich Mylius , 1859
Dreikönigskirche and Löhergasse, 1872

From 1715–1723 the pietistic edification writer Johann Friedrich Starck worked as a pastor at the Dreikönigskirche.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the small Dreikönigskirche gradually fell into disrepair. In 1821, the city master builder Friedrich Heß prepared a report in which he pleaded for a new building, as the church could no longer be renovated. There was opposition to this, and a number of counter-opinions followed.

In 1829/1830 the endowment agreement, unique in Germany, was signed between the city of Frankfurt and the Christian churches of Frankfurt. Since then, the city has been obliged to "keep the church buildings and their parts, such as organs and the like, in good condition".

City architect Heß himself stated in a further report in 1832 that renovation was possible. Even so, no measures were taken to overhaul the old church.

In 1869 Franz Josef Denzinger was called to Frankfurt as master builder to lead the reconstruction of the cathedral, which burned down in 1867 . He proposed a representative new building. In 1872 this plan was accepted by the magistrate against the resistance of the conservator . Last but not least, it was probably an attempt to strengthen the self-confidence of the Frankfurt citizens, which had been shaken by the loss of state independence.

On April 7, 1872, the last service took place in the old Epiphany Church . After that the church was closed and between May and August 1875 it was demolished. Then the new building began, which was completed at the end of 1880. The new Epiphany Church was consecrated on May 8, 1881. The high altar designed by Joseph Kaspar Correggio was not realized until the turn of the century.

During the Second World War , the church suffered only minor damage in the air raids on Frankfurt am Main , which were repaired in 1954. In the interior, the church is still largely in its neo-Gothic original state (apart from the windows and organ).

architecture

Outside

The Dreikönigskirche is a neo-Gothic hall church made of red Main sandstone . With its stepped buttresses, the pointed gables on the side aisles and the single-tower west facade, it is reminiscent of southern German city churches from the 15th century. The 81 m high tower was the second tallest building in Frankfurt at the time of its construction. He quotes the formal language of the opposite cathedral tower without disputing its rank. Like this one, an octagon rises over two floors with a square floor plan. The octagon has a pointed tower dome. In contrast to the small previous building, Denzinger's building does not merge with the nested maze of houses on the Sachsenhausen bank of the Main, but stands a little set back for itself.

Inside

Interior of the Dreikönigskirche
View from the south pore

The main portal of the church in the west tower opens into a small square. The main nave extends over five bays . The three front bays are flanked by side aisles with mighty sandstone galleries. The galleries rest on pressed basket arches , their balustrades are decorated with filigree tracery . While Denzinger took these stylistic elements as well as the net vault of the main nave and the 5/8 choir from the formal language of the late Gothic , the ancient round pillars belong to an earlier era.

Artistic arrangement

The colored glass windows of the Epiphany Church were created in 1956 by Charles Crodel . They show the five main parts of the catechism in the chancel - the ten commandments , the creed , the Lord's Prayer , baptism and the Lord's Supper - and in the side windows the adoration of the three kings. In the detail of the imagery after a self-testimony by Ch. Crodel 1968, a confrontation between the self and the other: 10 years ago, for example, in the windows of the 3 Königskirche I had the theme “I and the other” or “You and the other” in a few variations drilled through. The other, but also the celestial body, the angel who can or is God. I feel confirmed in this idea (by the now deceased Adorno ).

In 1994 the artist Petra Falk designed three monochrome panels for the choir of the Dreikönigskirche, which symbolize the Trinity: God the Father (gold for eternity), God the Son (earth-colored copper for incarnation), God the Holy Spirit (silver conveys the message that God cannot be grasped).

The Dreikönigskirche in Frankfurt has already entered modern art history with three paintings by Max Beckmann : The artist painted the church in the pictures Der Eiserner Steg , 1922, Mainufer and Church , 1925 and Mondlandschaft , 1925. The Mainufer and Church motif is in the Collection of the Frankfurt Städel Museum .

Furnishing

organ

organ

In 1961 the church received a new organ from the well-known Berlin organ builder Karl Schuke, following a plan by Prof. Helmut Walcha . The organ's 47 registers are divided into three manuals and pedal . The listed organ was completely renovated in 2003.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
1. Quintadena 16 ′
2. Principal 8th'
3. Playing flute 8th'
4th Reed flute 8th'
5. octave 4 ′
6th Night horn 4 ′
7th Nassat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
8th. octave 2 ′
9. Flat flute 2 ′
10. Mixture V-VI
11. Trumpet 8th'
II Swell C – g 3
12. Wooden dacked 8th'
13. recorder 4 ′
14th Quintadena 4 ′
15th Forest flute 2 ′
16. Fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
17th octave 1'
18th Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
19th Cymbel III
20th shelf 8th'
21st shelf 4 ′
Tremulant
III Oberwerk C – g 3
22nd Metal dacked 8th'
23. Quintadena 8th'
24. Principal 4 ′
25th Reed flute 4 ′
26th Fifth flute 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
27. octave 2 ′
28. Night horn 2 ′
29 third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
30th Sif flute 1'
31. Scharff IV
32. Rankett 16 ′
33. Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
34. Principal 16 ′
35. Sub-bass 16 ′
36. Fifth bass 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′
37. octave 8th'
38. Dumped 8th'
39. octave 4 ′
40. Coupling flute 4 ′
41. Peasant flute 2 ′
42. Rauschpfeife III
43. Mixture V
44. trombone 16 ′
45. Trumpet 8th'
46. shawm 4 ′
47. Cornett 2 ′
Tremulant

Bells

The bells of the old Dreikönigskirche were melted down in 1881. The new church was peal from four bells in e ′, a ′, h ′ and cis ″ with a weight of 2760 kg, which were supplied by Hermann Große's bell foundry in Dresden . Because of its musical value, this bell was placed under protection during the First World War . However, three bells had to be delivered during the Second World War. They were melted down in 1942.

In 1956, the Dreikönigskirche received a new ring of five bells, which were cast by the Bachert bell foundry in Bad Friedrichshall- Kochendorf with inscriptions by Charles Crodel . The total weight of the bells is 3,984 kg. The bells of the Dreikönigskirche are part of the Frankfurt city bell .

No. Surname Nominal
(16th note) 		Weight
(kg) 		Diameter
(mm) 		inscription
1 Redeemer Bell e 1 −5 1398 1310 Comfort, comfort my people. Be reconciled to God.
2 Evangelist bell f sharp 1 −6 929 1160 The word of the Lord endures forever. God's word is not bound.
3 Epiphany Bell g 1 −4 724 1090 We have seen his star and have come to worship him.
4th Luther bell a 1 −7 542 975 God is our confidence and strength. Is God for us - who can be against us?
5 Reminder bell h 1 −6 391 865 See, I come soon, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.

Church life

Communion service with Church President Peter Steinacker

The church is used by the Evangelical Lutheran Dreikönigsgemeinde, the largest Evangelical parish in Frankfurt. Church music has been a focus since the Second World War . The important church musicians who worked at the Dreikönigskirche include Kurt Thomas ( cantor from 1945 to 1957) and Helmut Walcha ( organist from 1946 to 1981). The parish hall in Tucholskystraße is available for other key areas of community work.

literature

  • Friedrich Bothe : History of the city of Frankfurt am Main . Frankfurt 1977. Verlag Wolfgang Weidlich, ISBN 3-8035-8920-7
  • Konrad Bund (ed.): Frankfurter Glockenbuch . Frankfurt 1986. Waldemar Kramer Verlag, ISBN 3-7829-0211-0
  • Frankfurt Historical Commission (ed.): Frankfurt am Main - The history of the city in nine contributions. (=  Publications of the Frankfurt Historical Commission . Volume XVII ). Jan Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1991, ISBN 3-7995-4158-6 .
  • Bernhard Müller, picture atlas on the history of the city of Frankfurt am Main . Frankfurt 1916. Moritz Diesterweg publishing house
  • Joachim Proescholdt: Your sky is like a carpet. Glass paintings by Charles Crodel in Frankfurt am Main . Frankfurt 1986. Verlag Waldemar Kramer, p. 44f. ISBN 3-7829-0362-5
  • Wolf-Christian Setzepfandt : Architecture Guide Frankfurt am Main / Architectural Guide . 3. Edition. Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-496-01236-6 , p. 31 (German, English).
  • Festschrift 450 Years of the Evangelical Three Kings Congregation. 100 years of the new Epiphany Congregation . Frankfurt 1981

Web links

The church seen from the north bank in winter.
Commons : Dreikönigskirche (Frankfurt)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dreikönigskirche. In: City of Frankfurt am Main (ed.): The dotation churches of the city of Frankfurt am Main - At a glance. Frankfurt am Main, 2nd ed. 2013. p. 15.
  2. ^ The Frankfurt endowment contract. In: City of Frankfurt am Main (ed.): The dotation churches of the city of Frankfurt am Main - At a glance. Frankfurt am Main, 2nd ed. 2013. p. 3.
  3. ↑ dreikoenigsgemeinde.de
  4. ↑ geocities.com ( Memento from March 5, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ History of the Dreikönigskirche in Frankfurt am Main . Rundfunk.evangelisch on February 2, 2012 for the ZDF service from Frankfurt am Main on February 26, 2012.
  6. ↑ The Eiserner Steg on Lost Art Database
  7. ↑ Main riverbank and church on the Städel Museum website
  8. ↑ More information on the municipality's website

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 26 ″  N , 8 ° 41 ′ 6.5 ″  E