Evangelical St. Thomas Church (Frankfurt am Main)
The Protestant St. Thomas Church in Heddernheim , a district of Frankfurt am Main , was built in 1898 and is a Hessian cultural monument .
prehistory
In the village of Heddernheim, first mentioned in 802, there was a stone church that was destroyed in the Thirty Years War . The Protestant Heddernheimers initially belonged to the Lutheran community in Praunheim before they were assigned to Eschborn at the beginning of the 19th century . During this time, a small church was built on today's corner of Heddernheimer Landstrasse and Heddernheimer Kirchstrasse and inaugurated as the Georgs Chapel on January 28, 1821. It was dilapidated after seventy years and was closed in 1893.
From 1897 a new church was built fifty meters further south on Heddernheimer Kirchstrasse , based on a design by Wiesbaden architect Josef Dormann (1865–1905) with funds from the Gustav Adolf factory . The significantly larger three-aisled basilica in neo-Gothic style was inaugurated on October 12, 1898. The outer facade consists of exposed brickwork , the bricks came from brick factories in the vicinity.
During the air raids on Frankfurt am Main in World War II , the church burned down to the walls on March 22, 1944, the bell tower was largely preserved. From 1948 it was rebuilt by the church building administration according to plans by the architect Ernst Görcke, but with a smaller spire. A year later the community was named after St. Thomas . Against the initial reservations of the Church President Martin Niemöller , the Saint was able to prevail. On October 26, 1950, the rebuilt St. Thomas Church was consecrated. In 1964 a sacristy was added as an extension of the left aisle.
architecture
Due to its location on Heddernheimer Kirchstrasse and the bell tower that can be seen from afar, the Thomaskirche characterizes the townscape. Parts of the church, which was destroyed in 1944, could be used for the reconstruction. The brown brick enclosing walls and the inner walls remained largely unchanged. Compared to the earlier building, the high spire, the baptistery and the sacristy, in the place of which a choir was created, are missing. The neo-Gothic appearance was otherwise retained. Buttresses emphasize the vertical facade design. The tracery of the windows and other special structural and decorative elements are made of red sandstone. The steeply inclined gable roof is covered with slate.
Directly from the street you enter the three-aisled interior via an anteroom. It is characterized by two rows of columns and the galleries above. Their arrangement means that the soaring main nave stands out clearly from the side aisles. Above the rows of columns there are walls with large openings in the shape of pointed arches . They also have a groin vault that covers the aisles. The main nave has been vaulted with a wooden coffered ceiling since 1958. The choir is raised by five steps. The pulpit was moved to the first column in the front left in the course of the reconstruction. Since 1950, the choir has been shaped by an oversized figure of Jesus on the cross made of copper, which was created by the Offenbach art professor Eduard Fischer.
In 1958 the large altar window was walled up so that the view of the artistically valuable figure of Christ is not disturbed. The previously simple glazing was replaced in 1964 by stained glass windows made by Bernd Gossel based on a design by Wolfgang Germroth . In 1986 the church painter Karl-Bernd Beierlein restored the interior. Walls, pillars and ceilings were given a new color: individual structures were accentuated using a traditional color palette consisting of white, light gray, dark blue, dark red and gold. The columns were laid out in dark red and rise to deep blue ribbed vaults. The arcades and ribs appear in a warm shade of gray, the cassettes of the woodwork on the gallery are also laid out in various light gray tones and set off with a golden band. Golden rings structure the massive columns. This painting from 1986 marked the end of the redesign of the church begun in 1950.
Furnishing
In front of the altar wall there is a large, copper crucifix by Eduard Fischer. The Heddernheim stonemason company Heinrich Knorr made the altar from diabase . Knud Knudsen created a relief for the left aisle that commemorates the war dead. A group of sculptures made of oak. The congregation , which is kept in the choir showcase, was made by the sculptor Michael Siebel .
The organ with 22 registers and two manuals comes from Förster & Nicolaus Orgelbau from 1952.
Bells
The bells were manufactured by the Bochum Association in 1921 and 1951. They sound in the notes:
| No. | Nominal | designation | year |
| 5 | c 2 | Watch and pray | 1951 |
| 4th | b 1 | Sing a new song to the Lord who works miracles | 1921 |
| 3 | g 1 | O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord | 1921 |
| 2 | f 1 | He who remains in love remains in God | 1951 |
| 1 | it 1 | A Mighty Fortress Is Our God | 1951 |
Stained glass window
The abstractly designed stained glass windows by Wolfgang Germroth are assigned biblical quotations that can be read on the windowsill. Window No. 1–4: left aisle beginning at the entrance and window No. 5–9: right aisle beginning at the altar.
| No. | Window name | Bible passage |
| 1 | Pentecost miracle | ( Joel 3.1 EU ) |
| 2 | Suffering and glory of Jesus | ( Eph 1.7 EU ) |
| 3 | Jesus the bread of life | ( Joh 6,35 EU ) |
| 4th | Baptismal window | ( Mk 16.16 EU ) |
| 5 | Jesus overcomes death | ( 1 Cor 15.55 EU ) |
| 6th | The Last Judgement | ( Joh 3,18 EU ) |
| 7th | Jesus in Jerusalem | ( Psalm 118.26 EU ) |
| 8th | Temptation of jesus | ( Heb. 4.15 EU ) |
| 9 | Praise the Lord | ( Psalm 103.1 EU ) |
local community
The Protestant parish Heddernheim has been an independent parish since 1874. Her pastors were: 1864–1920 Karl Hartmann, 1921–1929 Hermann Steubing, 1930–1936 Alwin Ufer, 1936–1957 Peter Heinemann, 1957–1973 Kurt Kirmes (1961 division of the parish into an eastern and a western district), 1961–1977 Kurt Davidson (West), 1973–1987 Hellmuth Martino (East), 1978–1984 Horst Ackermann (W.), 1985–2000 Angelika Beck, 1988–1995 Ulrich Schaffert (O.), 1994–2007 Alexander Kaestner, 1996– Reiner Dietrich-Zender, 2007–2010 Karl Reinhold, 2010–2012 Sabine Fröhlich, 2015– Anja Harzke.
Kirchstrasse and Thomaskirche from the south
Kirchstrasse and Thomaskirche from the north
Bell tower from the west
Interior, organ loft
See also
The Catholic Church in Heddernheim St. Peter and Paul , which was built in 1892-1893 in a similar style.
literature
- Joachim Proescholdt and Jürgen Telschow: Frankfurt's Protestant Churches through the ages , Frankfurter Societätsverlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-942921-11-4 , pp. 218–222
- Church council of St. Thomas parish: 100 years St. Thomas Church Frankfurt am Main - Heddernheim. Festschrift , 1998
Web links
- Website of the Thomas parish
- State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen (Ed.): Ev. Thomaskirche In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hessen
Individual evidence
- ↑ Who is afraid of blue, red, gold? . In: Der Thomasbote , Volume 23, No. 5/2016 - September / October / November 2016, pp. 6–8
- ↑ The artist Michael Siebel . In: Der Thomasbote , Volume 22, No. 6/2015 - October / November, pp. 12-14
Coordinates: 50 ° 9 ′ 34.3 " N , 8 ° 38 ′ 50.2" E