Gustav-Adolf-Gedächtniskirche
The Gustav-Adolf-Gedächtniskirche is a church designed by German Bestelmeyer in Lichtenhof , part of the urban area of Nuremberg . It is named after the Protestant King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden . The church, consecrated in 1930, was destroyed in an air raid in October 1944 and rebuilt between 1947 and 1949. The interior, which was originally equipped with 2500 seats, was greatly reduced in size between 1988 and 1990 by installing a community center in the nave in view of the declining number of worshipers. The church is a monument .
history
prehistory
With the beginning of industrialization , the population of Nuremberg rose sharply and new apartments were built, especially south of the previous city center outside the old city walls. This also greatly increased the number of members in the inner-city parishes. A church building association was founded in the parish of Sankt Peter in 1901 , and in 1910 he was given a building plot for the construction of another church building. Due to the First World War and the subsequent high inflation , church building was not pushed forward in the following years. Only in 1924 was a specific building draft drawn up. Discussions called for an "oratorio church" with at least 1,400 seats to be built in the city, in contrast to the previous churches. The existing building site was too small for this, so that after the successful search for a new plot of land, planning started all over again.
In the meantime, the district of Lichtenhof was separated from the parish of Sankt Peter in 1920 and raised to the status of a separate parish. This had moved into its own community center in 1925 . In 1927 construction began on a church with 2,500 seats for the then 3,000 parishioners. The church was consecrated on June 29, 1930.
Architecture and building history
The entire building has a length of 76 m and a width of 41 m. The roof ridge is 27 m high and the towers end at a height of 50 m. The church itself is 65 x 27 m with a ceiling height of 16 m. The nave is now 24 m long and 23 m wide. The building is based on Romanesque basilicas from the 12th century.
Original building in 1930
The building is a brick pillar church with two tall towers on the western side at the transition from the nave to the choir . On the eastern side there are two low stair towers at the corners . The outside and inside unplastered bricks do not have any decorative elements on the outside of the long sides, apart from the walls of the arched windows and an equestrian statue of Gustav Adolf on the south-eastern stair tower. The statue was built to a design by Konrad Roth as a work of the Nuremberg sculptor winter and Netter of a 15 t heavy limestone block . On the eastern gable is the elaborately designed main entrance area with a representative staircase that leads into the anteroom. Tower and portal sculptures are integrated into these stairs .
The square towers, eight meters long, are covered with green, oxidized copper sheet and have wind flags and decorated crosses at the top . The church has a total of five side entrance doors on different sides. It bears three brick motifs on the west side and one brick motif on the north side.
In the interior, the eight-bay nave has a flat wooden beam ceiling. The ceiling is structured by strong round arches that lie on pillars placed far into the room. The pillars also support two galleries, one above the other, on all sides of the nave except above the chancel in the west. On the outside, a spacious staircase leads to the room above for the choir and organ . The wall of this room is dominated by a round window with a diameter of 3.8 m, created in 1964 based on a design by Heinz Heiber, which is surrounded by the organ prospect.
Destruction and rebuilding
On October 19, 1944, the church was almost completely destroyed in a bomb attack and subsequent fires. Reconstruction began on July 20, 1947 and was completed with the re-inauguration on April 3, 1949. Almost all of the interior furnishings except the stone pulpit and parts of the chancel were removed. During the reconstruction, the original building was largely restored. The wooden galleries and the seating with pews in a central aisle and two side aisles were renewed. The exposed bricks on the walls were cleaned and left in this condition. The unevenly rough stones due to the effects of fire and cleaning are an essential design element in church rooms today. A 6.8 x 4.8 m crucifix, made by Heinz Heiber from linden wood in 1954/55 and called the “Triumphkreuz” by the artist, was hung on the choir arch .
Installation of the meeting house
The church building with 2500 seats was partly only used by 100 people attending church services in the 1980s. Even as a venue for concerts, it was rarely fully occupied, especially after the Meistersingerhalle was built . From 1982, in view of a renovation and refurbishment of the small parish hall, a proposal was made to integrate the parish hall complex in the nave, which was supported by the church building authority and the Nuremberg parish as a whole.
A first planning study was approved by the church council in 1985. After coordination, among others with the monument protection authority, Theo Steinhauser received the planning order for the installation of a four-storey parish hall, which was supposed to blend in with the existing building without changing it or affecting the previous acoustics .
Construction work began on October 17, 1988. The part of the nave facing the altar was separated with a dust protection wall during the construction period so that the service could continue there. Then a basement was built into four of the eight bays on the side of the main portal and a three-story, wood-clad steel structure was erected on top . The installation is vaulted with a wooden truss ceiling without any connection to the original ceiling . Towards the church, the installation was given a transparent facade and two side staircases. In the community center, a youth area and a mother / child area, offices including a tea kitchen and sanitary facilities are set up on the lower two floors. The upper two floors are used for communal work with seminar and group rooms on the third and a large communal room with 200 seats on the fourth floor, each with a kitchenette and sanitary facilities. The interior is designed in light colors.
For interior lighting, new windows were built into the historic, listed facade for the second and third floors; the existing arched windows could be used for the fourth floor. The first floor, newly constructed as a basement, with the youth room is artificially illuminated. All different usage areas can be reached through separate entrances, whereby an elevator has been installed for disabled access. After the renovation, the eastern main portal is again the only access for worshipers, for whom 1000 seats were still available.
Further construction activity
Between 2009 and 2012 the roof, facade and bell towers were renovated. From January to March 2015, the interior was converted and extensively renovated.
In 2016 it was decided to replace the previous pews with chairs. Of these, 250 are to be set up for normal church services and 500 for church festivals with a larger number of visitors.
Interior
The organ in the choir was installed between 1957 and 1961.
The shell limestone altar table was designed by German Bestelmeyer. It could be restored after the Second World War. The altarpiece originally consisted of six 1.55 m high angels, which were cast from brass by a Nuremberg foundry in 1930 based on a design by Joseph Wackerle . Two of them fell to the ground during the night of the fire in 1944 and are now standing in the back of the church to invite reflection. Six 0.5 m high candlesticks on the altar also date from 1930. The altar cross is a work created by Heinz Heiber in the 1960s from gilded bronze with glass fragments.
The font made of shell limestone, also based on a design by German Bestelmeyer, is a cube with an edge length of one meter. It bears an inscription on the back that states the year 1930 next to the founder.
Bells
In the two towers hang five bells cast by the Bochumer Verein in V7e rib from 1951, with the large Christ bell not following until 1957. In 2012/2013 the bells and the belfry were renovated and the sound openings were fitted with sound shutters. Bells 2-5 hang in the south tower, bell 1 in the north tower.
Bell 1: Christ bell Asº
Bell 2: Thank you bell c '
Bell 3: Luther bell it '
Bell 4: homecoming bell f '
Bell 5: baptism bell g '
Evangelical parish
The parish, which was spun off from the parish of Sankt Peter in 1920, had 40,000 members in the first years after the inauguration of the church. Due to the division of parishes, the emigration of parishioners and increasing secularization, this number sank to 10,000 in the mid-1990s. At that time, the Lichtenhof district already had a foreign share of 20 percent of the population. The number of people attending church services in the Gustav-Adolf-Gedächtniskirche fell even more, as many Christians preferred to visit the traditional churches of the old town. At the same time, there was a lively community life, for which there was too little space in the community hall before 1990.
In the opening of the parish hall, which was inaugurated on July 1, 1990, the previous offerings such as handicrafts and discussion groups, a "peace group", gymnastics, choir, "mothers & rascals" and meetings for young women and single parents were continuously continued and expanded. In order to better orientate oneself to the wishes of the community members, a member survey of the 20- to 50-year-old community members was carried out in 1992/93, as a result of which the offers were adapted and expanded in cooperation with the Rummelsberg community academy. Both the parish hall and the church building are also rented to external organizers. For example, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra give concerts in the church . After initial difficulties with acceptance, the community rooms had a utilization of 75 percent after a few years.
In 2013, the parish applied as the first in Bavaria to carry out social projects for those in need as a Vesper church within the church. In January and February 2016, discounted warm meals, further help and advice as well as a protected space for discussions, prayers and reflection were offered in the church.
photos
The sanctuary with the cafeteria , the angels and the altar cross; above the organ and the round window
The triumphal cross
the main entrance
The two-story gallery and the ceiling
literature
- Horst Schwebel , Matthias Ludwig (Hrgb.): Churches in the city. Volume 2 Examples and Models , Marburg, Institute for Church Construction and Church Art of the Present, 1996, ISBN 3-8185-0159-9 , pp. 59–74.
Web links
- Website of the Gustav-Adolf community
- Site of the Vesper Church in Nuremberg
- Lecture in particular on the renovation and later use including comments by Matthias Ludwig on kirchbautag.de (accessed on April 12, 2016)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Horst Schwebel , Matthias Ludwig (ed.): Churches in the city. Volume 2: Examples and Models. Institute for Church Construction and Church Art of the Present, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-8185-0159-9 , pp. 59–74. ( online at kirchbautag.de)
- ↑ a b c d e A building in brief on gustavadolfgedaechtniskirche.de (accessed on April 12, 2016)
- ↑ a b The church from the outside on gustavadolfgedaechtniskirche.de (accessed on April 12, 2016)
- ↑ a b c d e f interior views on gustavadolfgedaechtniskirche.de (accessed on April 12, 2016)
- ↑ Conversion of the interior of the church on gustavadolfgedaechtniskirche.de (accessed on April 12, 2016)
- ↑ Chair sponsorship on gustavadolfgedaechtniskirche.de (accessed on April 12, 2016)
- ↑ The church space as a temporary home in Nürnberger Nachrichten of October 30, 2013, p. 10 ( online as pdf )
- ↑ vesperkirche-nuernberg (accessed on April 12, 2016)
Coordinates: 49 ° 26 '16.1 " N , 11 ° 5' 22.7" E