Church of the Redeemer (Bad Homburg)
The Erlöserkirche ( ) in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe is the main Protestant church of the spa town. It is an outstanding example of Wilhelmine neo-Romanesque under the influence of Art Nouveau , in which the idea of a Christian empire with stylistic devices from Byzantine art and German High Romanesque is presented. It is the world's best preserved testimony to Kaiser Wilhelm II's church building program . The cemetery belonging to the parish is the Evangelical Cemetery Bad Homburg vor der Höhe .
history
The plans to build a Protestant parish church in Bad Homburg had existed since the beginning of the 19th century, but were not implemented until the beginning of the 20th century with the support of the project by the imperial couple Wilhelm II and Auguste Viktoria . They made the construction possible with funds and took a personal part in the preliminary planning. The main reason for this was a promise made by the Hesse-Homburg Landgrave House , whose legal successor Prussia had become, and the importance of Bad Homburg as an imperial summer residence.
In 1864 the last Landgrave Ferdinand , who remained childless, had committed himself to support a new church building with 15 annual endowments of 2000 guilders, since his ancestor, Landgrave Friedrich II , had illegally removed the old town church from the construction of Bad Homburg Neustadt in 1684. But since then the citizens had also collected considerable funds through the church building council and the Elisabethenverein, which was established in 1865.
Thus, in 1901, the Berlin architect Max Spitta was commissioned to design a high-quality Hohenzollern building. Since he died shortly after his draft was submitted in December 1902 , the architect Franz Schwechten , who also worked in Berlin and became famous for the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church , took over the construction management for the new church in Dorotheenstrasse . After the foundation stone was laid in 1903, the new building was inaugurated on May 17, 1908 in the presence of the imperial couple. The company Philipp Holzmann from Frankfurt was mainly responsible for the shell construction, which was completed in 1905 . The numerous handicrafts were carried out by local craft workshops,
architecture
The Church of the Redeemer is a four-towered, cross-shaped gallery basilica . Blind arcade friezes and pilaster strips as well as a high two-door portal arch with tympanum are intended to demonstrate the prestigious character of the building. The towers on the side of the altar are larger and higher than those on the portal side, which results in noticeable shifts in perspective, especially from a distance.
The exterior makes you think of models from Rhenish cathedrals, the interior design and painting are reminiscent of Hagia Sophia . The spatial design, a central building, reflects the most modern Protestant church building discussions of the late 19th century. The interior is a mixture of Byzantinism and Art Nouveau. A Christocentric image program, culminating in the pantocrator mosaic of the apse vault , reflects the redeeming theme of the church name. The theme of the Redeemer is also part of the recurring cycle of the Wheel of Life, which can be found in the dome.
Furnishing
Altar and altar barrier
As a structural unit, the altar and rood screen separate the choir from the apse, which closes it in the south-west. In front of the actual altar is the elongated altar table, which is slightly recessed at the sides. Underlying pillars, whose bases and capitals, as well as the surrounding front of the table, show romanized leaf decorations, form its support. The areas between the columns that can be seen from the main nave, already wall surfaces of the altar, are provided with simple geometric gold decorations.
The plan of the altar is a small rectangle. The outer frame of the front to the main nave consists of pilasters, above which an arch spans from about half the height of the overall structure. Like the capitals of the pilasters, the arch is based on the Romanesque design language, but its effect is exaggerated by a partial gilding of leaves. In the arched spandrels there are depictions of kneeling angels in high relief above a protruding cornice that is led around at right angles and again with Romanesque decoration. The end of the construction is a broad, antique-style gable field with a circumferential kymation. In its center it shows a gold monogram of Christ, which is flanked by Alpha and Omega. On the sides the gable rests on the representations of angels, in the middle on four small columns with marble shafts.
The center of the altar is the field between the tabletop, pilasters and the arch of the structure. Its decoration is formed in the lower part by three red, rectangular marble slabs that separate mosaic mother-of-pearl ribbons. In front of the middle plate, slightly higher and wider than the flanking one, is a modern crucifix on which there is a Romanesque body. Above it, a mother-of-pearl mosaic on a gold background addresses the revelation: on a book with seven seals stands the lamb with a red halo and cross-staff within circular bands. The inscription “Come to me all who are troublesome and burdened” is distributed on the sides .
The altar barrier, in this form an invention by Franz Schwechten, was a novelty in Protestant church construction at the time of construction. Models can be found in the iconostats of the Eastern Church, but also in the choir barriers and rood screens of medieval churches.
Organs
Sauer organ (1908)
The large romantic organ of the Erlöserkirche was built in 1908 by Wilhelm Sauer ( Frankfurt / Oder ). The remote control is located in a sound chamber above the main organ. The sound outlet is located above the altar. The instrument has pneumatic action . In the years 1992–1993 the instrument was expanded by the organ building company Förster & Nicolaus ( Lich ) to include another manual (recit) with a romantic-symphonic disposition . At the same time, the instrument was given a second, electric console, which also enables the additional work to be played.
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- Coupling : II / I; III / I; III / II; II 16 ′ / I; I 4 ′ / I; I / P; II / P; III / P.
- Playing aids : Tutti, 5 × 1024-fold setting system , programmable crescendo roller .
Woehl organ (1990)
In 1990 Gerald Woehl created the "Bach organ" with 31 registers on two manuals and a pedal , for which Johann Sebastian Bach implemented a disposition draft. The work stands in the gallery parapet and forms a compositional unit with the Sauer organ.
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- Couple
- Tremulant on the whole work
- unequal temperature control according to Johann Georg Neidhardt
Bells
The Erlöserkirche has a five-part fundamental bell with the large, around 6,400 kg heavy imperial bell as the base. In 1905, the Andreas Hamm bell foundry in Frankenthal cast four bells , of which bells 1, 3 and 4 survived both wars. In the 1920s, the Zwingli bell was taken over from the neighboring village of Kirdorf and has served as a clock chime ever since . It was originally a bell and still hangs on its original, cranked bell yoke; the clapper is also still there. In 1932, the small resurrection bell was added to the peal. The landgrave bell (bell 2) survived the First World War , but broke in the Second World War . The Schilling bell foundry in Apolda re- cast the bell in 1948 from the broken pieces .
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No. |
Surname |
Casting year |
Foundry , casting location |
Weight (in kg) |
Nominal (16th note) |
| 1 | Emperor Bell | 1905 | Hamm, Frankenthal | 6400 | g 0 +4 |
| 2 | Landgrave Bell | 1948 | Schilling, Apolda | 2958 | h 0 +1 |
| 3 | Elizabeth Bell | 1905 | Hamm, Frankenthal | 1900 | d 1 −4 |
| 4th | Marianne Bell | 1905 | Hamm, Frankenthal | 1500 | e 1 −3 |
| 5 | Resurrection bell | 1932 | Rincker, Sinn | 800 | g 1 +5 |
| - | Zwingliglocke | 1912 | Schilling, Apolda | ? | it 2 |
literature
- Georg Ulrich Großmann : Central and South Hesse: Lahntal, Taunus, Rheingau, Wetterau, Frankfurt and Maintal, Kinzig, Vogelsberg, Rhön, Bergstrasse and Odenwald. DuMont, Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-7701-2957-1 (= DuMont art travel guide ), p. 85f.
- Jürgen Krüger: The Church of the Redeemer in Bad Homburg v. d. H. - Key to the church building program of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Langewiesche publishing house (" The Blue Books " imprint), Königstein i. Ts. 2008, ISBN 978-3-7845-2135-0 .
- Manfred Pohl: Philipp Holzmann - history of a construction company 1849-1899, ISBN 3406467881
Web links
- Internet presence of the parish
- Evangelical Church of the Redeemer. Bad Homburg , in: Hochtaunuskreis - District Committee (ed.), Church leaders. Kirchen im Hochtaunuskreis , 2006, pp. 4–5.
Individual evidence
- ↑ p. 123 , accessed on July 22, 2012
- ↑ More about the Sauer organ
- ↑ To the disposition
- ↑ Jürgen Krüger: The Church of the Redeemer in Bad Homburg v. d. H. - Key to Kaiser Wilhelm II's church building program. Langewiesche “The Blue Books”, Königstein 2008, pp. 72–73.
- ↑ Margarete Schilling: Art, ore and sound. The works of the Ulrich / Schilling bell foundry family from the 17th century to the present day . Henschel, Berlin 1992, p. 224, ISBN 3-362-00617-5 .
- ↑ Hubert Foersch: Limburger bells book . Limburg 1996, p. 43.
Coordinates: 50 ° 13 ′ 35.5 ″ N , 8 ° 36 ′ 42 ″ E