Bernhardskirche (Speyer)
The Catholic Church of Peace St. Bernhard in Speyer , usually referred to as the Bernhardskirche , was built between 1953 and 1954 and inaugurated as a peace church in the presence of French and German bishops, because it was intended to serve as a symbol of reconciliation between Germany and France .
The Friedenskirche, now a listed building , was built on a part of the site in the south-east of the Old Cemetery Speyer on Hirschgraben 3.
history
In 1952, the Speyer Cathedral Chapter discussed celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux , who called for a crusade in Speyer Cathedral on Christmas 1146 . The idea of a parish church soon emerged, which should serve as a peace church for international understanding . At the same time, this church was also intended as a burial church for the cathedral chapter. The small cemetery of the cathedral chapter is north of the church.
The Catholic peace movement Pax Christi
The Friedenskirche, especially its Pax Christi chapel in the crypt of the church, is a spiritual center of the peace movement Pax Christi (Peace of Christ), which was founded by French Catholics before the end of the peace and reconciliation with Germany, which was founded in World War II . After the war, it became a Franco-German center of reconciliation between the two peoples and very soon developed into an international peace movement (for more information, see the main article Pax Christi ).
The names and coats of arms of 42 countries in which people in sections had joined the Pax Christi movement up to 1944 can be seen in line drawings on the two central pillars of the crypt of St. Bernhard. The wall reliefs, like the 14 Stations of the Cross in the church, are the first religious works of art by the famous Speyer painter Günther Zeuner .
In small wall niches, stones from other parts of the world should symbolize the longing for a peaceful coexistence of the international community. In the church, soil from the battlefields of both world wars is kept as a reminder and commemoration of the victims.
Half of the construction costs were raised through collections from French Catholics.
On August 23, 1953, the Apostolic Nuncio Aloysius Muench laid in the presence of the German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer , the German Foreign Minister Heinrich von Brentano , the French Foreign Minister Robert Schumann , the French High Commissioner and Ambassador André François-Poncet and the Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate Peter Altmeier laid the foundation stone. The church was consecrated on September 26, 1954 by Cardinal Joseph Wendel together with other German and French bishops, namely Albert Stohr ( Mainz ), Joseph-Jean Heintz ( Metz ), Jean-Julien Weber ( Strasbourg ) and Isidor Markus Emanuel (Speyer ).
The parish of St. Bernhard
St. Bernhard was an independent parish until around 1982. When the last pastor, Roland Muy, who had headed the parish for many years, left church service for personal reasons, the parish was dissolved. The faithful were distributed to the surrounding parishes (especially the cathedral parish), depending on where they lived. The church then belonged to the cathedral parish and was used regularly for the main church services in the cathedral parish.
Parish of Pax Christi
Since the merging of the five parishes of Speyer on January 1, 2016 to form the parish Pax Christi, the Friedenskirche and the former parish members belong to it.
Spiritans
Since 1991 some members of the Spiritaner Order have lived and worked in the former rectory of the Bernhardskirche . On the Weidenberg , the hill on the other side of the Hirschgraben street , this order had continued the St. Guido Monastery , founded by Emperor Konrad II in 1030, as a mission convent until the lack of young people led to the abandonment of the monastery and a move to the rectory. A detailed description can be found in the background section in the article about the Speyer Spiritan Maria Joseph Weber .
Architecture and current use for worship
Planning and construction management were in the hands of the Speyer architect Ludwig Ihm. The revitalization and use of medieval and antique architectural elements that characterize the architecture of the building refers to the construction forms of the patron of the church, Bernhard von Clairvaux, who ensured the very simple but harmonious shapes of the Cistercian monasteries . Architect Ludwig Ihm, it was judged, had succeeded in merging the historical formal elements into a new, independent architectural style typical of the 1950s.
The church has, which is unusual in Germany, a free-standing bell tower. In it there is a room that is often used for children's services, the children's church in the tower on Sundays at 11 a.m.
The real center of the peace commemoration is the Pax-Christi chapel in the crypt of the church. It is related to the Pax Christi movement.
Wednesday services at 5 p.m. are always celebrations of the Eucharist for peace .
The hall was built alternately from brick and sandstone.
Furnishing
Bells
In the Campanile four bells in the Schlagtonfolge c 1 -it 1 -f 1 -as one . The large bell weighs 1,680 kg and was cast together with the two smaller bells in 1954 in the bell foundry in Hamm / Frankenthal. The second bell (es 1 ) had to be re-cast in 1987 in the Karlsruhe bell and art foundry after a crack. The death bell hangs in the open gable tower on the church roof (strike note es 2 , 1954 by Hamm); however, it is currently shut down.
literature
- Fr. Klotz: The Church of Peace St. Bernhard, Speyer am Rhein. Libertas Verlag für Kirche und Heimat, 1955.
Web links
- Church services in the St. Bernhard Church of Peace
- Spiritaner, branch on St. Bernhard
- Bells of the St. Bernhard Church on Youtube
- Open Monument Day: St. Bernhard Church of Peace open ( Memento from January 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Open Monument Day: St. Bernhard Church of Peace open ( Memento from January 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ History of the city of Speyer. Volume 3, Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-17-010490-X . P. 125.
- ↑ Canal Speyer - Rheinlokal: The new parish Pax Christi Speyer
- ↑ Open Monument Day: St. Bernhard Church of Peace open ( Memento from January 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.kirchen-in-speyer.de/de/was-angebote/gottesdienste/katholische-gottesdienste/in-st-bernhard/
Coordinates: 49 ° 19 ′ 22.9 " N , 8 ° 25 ′ 53.2" E