Gethsemane Church (Frankfurt am Main)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gethsemane Church

The Protestant Gethsemane Church in Frankfurt am Main (Nordend) is the last large new church in Frankfurt in the 20th century.

history

The building site on which the church stands today was bought by St. Petersgemeinde in 1901 and a parish hall was built there from 1903 , which was inaugurated in 1906. It still stands today. After the Gethsemane congregation was spun off from St. Peters Congregation in 1964 , the services were initially held in its large hall. In 1965 an architectural competition for a new church took place. This was not without controversy, since even then the decline in membership of the popular churches became apparent. Ultimately, however, the congregation decided to build a church that can also be clearly recognized as such from the outside. From the competition went Hans Georg Heimel the winner. Its planning was then implemented. Between 1968, the foundation stone was laid on June 9, 1968, and in 1970 the present church was built. It was inaugurated on March 1, 1970 with a festive service .

Church building

The building consists of three structures: the east- facing church on a rectangular floor plan , a semicircular staircase on the north side and the 31 meter high church tower on the south-west corner . Typical of the time, the building is constructed as a concrete - steel frame construction. The interior of the church and the pulpit are largely made of clinker bricks in a warm brown tone. These clinker brick surfaces contrast with surfaces made of light-colored exposed concrete . Overall, is architecture in a post- Bauhaus - aesthetics maintained. A special architectural feature of the building is that the church service room is on the first floor, while the ground floor has functional and community rooms. The roof is covered with sheet copper .

The church building is now a cultural monument due to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . In the justification it is particularly emphasized that the room concept and the equipment have remained almost unchanged from the construction period. However, in 2012/2013 - as the parish hall was given up - the ground floor was redesigned in consultation with the preservation authorities and converted for more intensive use. The architect of this conversion was Matthias Heimel, son of Hans Georg Heimel, the architect of the original building. During the renovation, the glass walls on the ground floor were moved slightly outwards.

Outer shape

On the outside, the tower dominates Eckenheimer Landstrasse in a prominent position in its corner position on Neuhofstrasse and represents an urban planning mark when looking from the city center out of the city over Eckenheimer Landstrasse. The building closed a vacant lot. The height of the building takes up adjacent building lines. The church tower is based on the structure of the church, as is the staircase. The latter, with its semicircular shape, placed on the side, breaks through the overall cubic impression of the building. The tower and staircase, both made of exposed concrete, contrast significantly with the main body of the building, which is otherwise predominantly warm brown-red made of clinker bricks.

Church interior

The inner floor plan is almost square. The church interior has an L-shaped gallery on the north and west sides . The space under the main part of the gallery is designed in such a way that it can also be used as a separate worship room, as a chapel . The church space is defined by nearly closed wall surfaces that are eight meters high. The altar , altar cross, altar candlesticks and " chandeliers " are also designed by Hans Georg Heimel. Daylight enters the altar area indirectly from the roof zone and through three relatively small openings that are designed with colored glass collages by Bernd Rosenheim : under the gallery, to the side of the pulpit and in the tower area. They were carried out by Derix stained glass , Düsseldorf . Bernd Rosenheim also designed the paraments . On the front wall of the church, in the altar area, there is an iron sculpture by Hermann Tomada , a stylized crown of thorns . The Lord's Supper is made of pewter and was manufactured according to designs by Michael Voss from the pewter workshop H. Buchdrucker in Ludwigsburg . From the beginning, flexible seating was used, no pews . There is space for around 300 visitors. The church interior is provided with underfloor heating .

organ

The mechanical organ with 1390 pipes is on the gallery. It comes from GF Steinmeyer & Co. in Öttingen , Bavaria . The organ prospectus also comes from the church's architect, Hans Georg Heimel. The organ has 23 registers , divided into two manuals and a pedal .

Function rooms

In contrast to the church with its eight meter high almost closed wall surfaces, the ground floor is characterized by large glass surfaces facing the street and the inner courtyard. A meeting and community room on the ground floor enables the church service congregation to stay together even after the service and opens up interesting liturgical design options.

Peal

The three bells - a 1 , h 1 and d 2 - were cast in Sinn on February 12, 1970 by the Rincker bell foundry .

local community

The Gethsemanegemeinde was founded in 1964 from the St. Petersgemeinde . At that time it had more than 6000 parish members, today there are around 1700. The two parish districts that existed when it was founded, each looked after by a pastor at the time , have long since been amalgamated. The municipality is located in the north end of Frankfurt between Schwarzburgstrasse , Oeder Weg , Koselstrasse and Friedberger Landstrasse . It is thus surrounded on three sides by the St. Peter's Congregation, which has now merged with the Epiphany congregation . Epiphany community and Gethsemane community jointly publish the magazine Gemeindeblick .

The community operates a kindergarten and a day care center .

The project community is not only a guest in the Gethsemane Church for lesbians and gays - Frankfurt am Main .

literature

  • Karin Berkemann : The last of its kind. In: Denkmalpflege und Kulturgeschichte 1/2014, p. 10f.
  • Karin Berkemann: Post-war churches in Frankfurt am Main (= monument topography Federal Republic of Germany. Cultural monuments in Hesse. Ed .: State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse ). Wiesbaden 2013, p. 148f.
  • Heinz Dressel: “Is it worth the effort?” In: Church council of the Evangelical Gethsemane Congregation (ed.): The new Gethsemane Church. Festschrift. Frankfurt 1970, pp. 8-10.
  • Evangelical public relations work Frankfurt: The Gethsemanegemeinde . Frankfurt undated
  • FR: The bell . In: Church council of the Evangelical Gethsemane Congregation (ed.): The new Gethsemane Church. Festschrift. Frankfurt 1970, pp. 20f.
  • FSt: The organ . In: Church council of the Evangelical Gethsemane Congregation (ed.): The new Gethsemane Church. Festschrift. Frankfurt 1970, p. 18.
  • Georg Heimel: The planning of the church . In: Church council of the Evangelical Gethsemane Congregation (ed.): The new Gethsemane Church. Festschrift. Frankfurt 1970, p. 12.
  • Christa Helmolt: A symbol full of mystery. In: Church council of the Evangelical Gethsemane Congregation (ed.): The new Gethsemane Church. Festschrift. Frankfurt 1970, p. 14.
  • Bernd Rosenheim: The stained glass windows and paraments. In: Church council of the Evangelical Gethsemane Congregation (ed.): The new Gethsemane Church. Festschrift. Frankfurt 1970, p. 16f.
  • Berthold Schubert: [ Greeting. ] In: Church council of the Evangelical Gethsemane Congregation (ed.): The new Gethsemane Church. Festschrift. Frankfurt 1970, p. 7.
  • Ulrike Schubert: Gethsemane. In: Wilhelm E. Opatz (Ed.): Once praised and almost forgotten. Modern churches in Frankfurt aM 1948–1973. Frankfurt 2012, ISBN 978-3-7212-0842-9 , pp. 154–157.
  • Stephanie von Selchow: More open to the district. In: Evangelisches Frankfurt 2014/3, p. 12.
  • Michael Voss: Community meal - single cup. In: Church council of the Evangelical Gethsemane Congregation (ed.): The new Gethsemane Church. Festschrift. Frankfurt 1970, p. 22.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schubert.
  2. ↑ a b c d Schubert: Gethsemane .
  3. ↑ a b Berkemann: Post-War Churches , p. 148.
  4. ^ Church council of the Evangelical Gethsemane Congregation. Frankfurt (ed.): The new Gethsemane Church. Festschrift. 1970, p. 32.
  5. ↑ Berkemann: Post-War Churches , p. 149.
  6. ↑ From Selchow.
  7. ↑ Berkemann: The last of its kind .
  8. ↑ Rosenheim, p. 17.
  9. ↑ Rosenheim; Execution of the paraments: Sister Marie-Ilse, Frankfurt Diakonissenhaus .
  10. ↑ Hemolt; DG German Society for Christian Art V. (Ed.) U. a .: initiative.art.church. An exhibition of the DG German Society for Christian Art in the 101st year of its existence in cooperation with the State Museum for Applied Arts . Munich 1995, p. 49.
  11. ^ Voss.
  12. ↑ Heimel.
  13. ↑ FSt.
  14. ↑ FR; Schubert: Gethsemane .
  15. ↑ Dressel; got: Frankfurter Neue Presse of February 26, 2010: A community protects its face , p. 15.
  16. ^ Homepage of the project community .

Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ′ 31 ″  N , 8 ° 41 ′ 12 ″  E