Gustav Adolf Memorial Church (Schweinfurt)
The Gustav-Adolf-Gedächtniskirche is an Evangelical Lutheran parish church in the southwest of the Schweinfurt city center in the Friedenstraße. The church was built in the course of city expansion in the first half of the 20th century.
history
At the beginning of the 20th century, the urban area of Schweinfurt expanded to the west, particularly due to the flourishing large-scale industry . As early as 1908, the construction of a church in the new residential areas around Ludwigstrasse was therefore considered. The property for the future church was bought by the community, parts of which were also donated by the Magistrate Müller. The plans were initially not implemented because of the First World War and the subsequent emergency.
The first plans were not drawn until 1926, but they were quickly rejected as being too expensive. Three years later, on the day of Ascension Day in 1929, the foundation stone was laid. The Schweinfurters were able to win over the Swiss Hans Hofmann as architects ; the plans were drawn up by Professor Otto Schulz from Nuremberg. As early as December 15, 1929, the church was consecrated by the Bayreuth Church Councilor Prieser.
The church was named in honor of the 17th century King of Sweden Gustav Adolf Memorial Church. In the first years of its existence the church received donations from many Schweinfurt families. In 1934 she received the 36 m high tower. It goes back to a donation from Betty Sachs, the wife of the industrialist Ernst Sachs . During the Second World War , the church was badly affected because it was located right next to the Schweinfurt ball bearing factories.
The memorial church was poorly restored under Pastor Heinrich Schorn until 1948. It was not until 1951 that the altar, recovered from the rubble, was consecrated again. In 1954 the congregation acquired a neighboring building to set up the rectory there. At the same time, the community also received a community hall, built by Franz Göger. Between 1971 and 1972 the church was rebuilt according to the designs of Gustav Gsaenger . Today the church is classified as an architectural monument .
architecture
The church presents itself as a simple hall building and ends with a hipped roof . The choir tower with an onion dome was built in 1934 in the north of the complex. The main portal in the south can be reached by stairs and is covered by a canopy. The only decoration on the portal side is a keystone with the depiction of the blessing Christ and the inscription "I AM D WEG D TRUTH AND D LIFE". The staircase was rebuilt in 1979 by Heinz Gassmann.
Inside, the church was originally dominated by an altar niche in the north. However, the niche was walled up in the course of a renovation and instead an altar island was built on a pedestal in the center of the church. The house of God is illuminated by simple rectangular windows. The Memorial Church has a flat ceiling with beams. An L-shaped community center was added to the church in the east.
Furnishing
Originally the interior of the church consisted of several murals by the Nuremberg artist August Kellner from 1930/1931. Two pictures were destroyed in World War II, the depiction of the baptism of Jesus survived the war, but was removed from the church in 1971. The five lead glass windows made by the Franz Wetzel company in Coburg have only survived in fragments. In contrast, the red marble baptismal font with the representation of the four evangelists was saved from the ruins of the destroyed church .
In the post-war period the church furnishings were added. In 1968, for example, the new lectern created by Karl Hemmeter from a halved oak trunk came into the church. It shows a messenger carrying the Bible on his shoulders. The congregation received a baroque crucifix from the Matthäuskirche in Zell, which was hung on the north side. In 1986 Friedel Renn donated a christening lamp made of bronze by the artist Peter Vollert from Üchtelhausen .
On November 11, 1933, the newly built Gustav Adolf Church received its first organ from the Steinmeyer company in Oetting . After the destruction in World War II, the church remained without such an instrument for some time. A new organ could not be purchased until 1974. The Retzbach organ building company Krieger created the instrument using parts of the previous organ.
Bells were only purchased after the tower was built in the 1930s. The original four-part bell was financed by foundations of the Evangelical Women's Association . In 1942, three of the bells had to be melted down. Only a small baptismal bell survived the Second World War, which was donated by Ms. Emmy Rahn. In 1952 the community acquired the so-called Our Father Bell. A third bell, the so-called godfather bell, came to Schweinfurt from Bernstadt in Silesia.
literature
- Denis André Chevalley: Lower Franconia. Ensembles, architectural monuments, archaeological site monuments (= Monuments in Bavaria Volume VI) . Munich 1985.
- Parish Gustav-Adolf-Gedächtniskirche (Ed.): 50 years Gustav-Adolf-Gedächtniskirche Schweinfurt: 1929–1979 . Schweinfurt 1979.
- Erich Schneider : Evangelical churches in Schweinfurt . In: Great Art Guides . tape 201 . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 1997, ISBN 978-3-7954-1143-5 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Schneider, Erich: Evangelical churches in Schweinfurt . P. 30.
- ^ Schneider, Erich: Evangelical Churches in Schweinfurt . P. 31.
- ^ Schneider, Erich: Evangelical Churches in Schweinfurt . P. 33.
- ^ Schneider, Erich: Evangelical Churches in Schweinfurt . P. 32.
Coordinates: 50 ° 2 ′ 38.8 ″ N , 10 ° 13 ′ 24.1 ″ E