Gustav-Adolf-Church (Voitsberg)

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The Gustav Adolf Church in September 2011

The Gustav Adolf Church is an Evangelical Lutheran church building in the municipality of Voitsberg in western Styria . It was built in the mid-1930s and is a listed building . The area of ​​the Evangelical Parish AB Voitsberg includes the entire Voitsberg district .

location

The church is at Bahnhofstrasse 12 in the Voitsberg Vorstadt cadastral community, which belongs to the municipality of Voitsberg.

history

The history of the Protestants in Voitsberg can be traced back to the year 1858, when Moritz Franz Ritter von Horstig dedicated a small plot of land near today's Luthergasse as a cemetery for Protestants and other non-Catholic Christians. The pastoral care took place from the Grazer Heilandskirche , a pastor only came to Voitsberg for funerals. The Protestant cemetery was abandoned after the opening of the new city cemetery on October 11, 1885 and most of the gravestones were used as building material. The first Protestant service in Voitsberg was held at Christmas 1899 by Vicar Roehling in the hall of the district council. From Christmas in 1904, the old city ​​tower served as a place for worship. From 1905 pastoral responsibility for Voitsberg lay with the pastor of Stainz , who had a preaching position in his pastoral office here. Since the Stainz pastor Heinrich Haase filed a complaint with the Oberkirchenrat in 1918 that he alone could not cover the large parish area, a vicar responsible for the Voitsberg area was approved who began his work in 1921. The office of vicar was filled by a certain Perner, who was already writing his own matriculation books for Voitsberg from January 1, 1922 and was also allowed to move there on April 1 of the same year.

On October 15, 1923, the Oberkirchenrat approved the establishment of a separate parish in Voitsberg. The ecclesiastical body was created on November 1st in the Paulinz Inn in Köflach by a founding meeting, where the description of the Stainzer preaching station as the newly created parish Voitsberg was approved. A founding meeting also took place in the Puntigamer beer hall in Voitsberg on November 2nd. Voitsberg became an independent Protestant parish on January 1, 1924, which at that time comprised 420 believers. The foundation was also followed by the desire and preparation to build their own church. The planning was slowed down by the departure of the pastor and the previous curator, but on April 7, 1927, a plot of land was purchased by the city architect Alois Krichbaum in Bahnhofstrasse for the purpose of building a church. Krichbaum sold the property for about a third of its true value with the promise that he would be allowed to build the church later. This agreement led to disputes in 1935, which could only be settled through a settlement.

In 1930, the parish acquired a second building site at the foot of the Schlossberg, on the grounds that it was more beautiful than the one in Bahnhofstrasse and dominated the cityscape. Since there were quarrels in the parish between pastor Heinrich Bierle and his followers on the one hand and the presbytery on the other, senior Spannuth had the funds from the German Gustav Adolf child love gift that had already been collected for the construction of the church blocked in 1932. The church leadership dismissed Bierle on July 15, 1933 as a pastor from the Austrian church service. Since Spannuth was against the appointment of Vicar Erwin Kock as the new pastor on October 21, 1934, he had the donations blocked for a further 6 months. However, the tensions in the parish soon calmed down under the new pastor and the presbytery decided to use the property in Bahnhofstrasse for the construction of the church, since lower construction costs were estimated here due to the flat location. The congregation finally received the money for the building project in 1935, which was still too little for a complete church. It was therefore decided to build the rectory only in the first stage in order to save a third of the costs.

The ceremonial laying of the foundation stone took place on September 29, 1935 by the senior Spannuth. The evangelical community grew by 201 believers within a very short time, which resulted in an increased income despite the poor economic situation. As a result, the church could be completed after just under a year. Due to donations from the Gustav-Adolf-Verein , it was decided to name the church after the Swedish King Gustav II Adolf . The inauguration took place on September 27, 1936 by the superintendent Heinzelmann. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, the interior of the church was redesigned. From 1966 to 1969, the second construction phase of the rectory, which was planned in 1936, was carried out somewhat differently and a community center with a hall and a sister's apartment was built, and the parish apartment was also expanded.

The altar fresco was renovated in 1981 by the State Monuments Office and an electronic organ was installed. A flood in 1973 flooded the church. During a floor renovation in 2009/10, as yet unknown damage from this flood was discovered and repaired. The altar fresco, classified as anti-Semitic , repeatedly led to discussions in the 2010s, so a plaque was put up in 2014.

description

The church was built according to plans by the architect Viktor Hietzgern under the supervision of Hans Hönel. Together with the rectory, it forms a closed building complex and the stairs to the gallery and the bell tower also serve as access to the pastor's apartment. The tower houses a bell, the history of which is unknown, but which bears the inscription "Magdeburg 1780", which could make it the oldest bell of a Protestant church in Styria.

The large-format altarpiece was created by Ernst or Erich Hönig as a fresco in a bold, naive style. It shows the life of Jesus with scenes from his birth to his crucifixion . Parishioners stood as models for the figures in the fresco. On the right, in the background of the crucifixion scene, a burning synagogue or the burning temple of Jerusalem is shown. This representation is in the anti-Semitic tradition of the Christian churches and led to the installation of a memorial plaque in 2014. Three other wall paintings also come from Hönig, which show the outpouring of the Holy Spirit , Christ on the cross and the Annunciation of the Lord . The pews are arranged so that they form a stylized semicircle.

The gift table, including the Lord's Supper, and the paraments were provided by the Gustav Adolf Association in 1936. An altar cross made of marble, used on some holidays, was donated in 1929 by Walther Freiherr von Khainach.

literature

  • Ernst Lasnik: Voitsberg - portrait of a city and its surroundings . tape 3 . Municipality of Voitsberg, Voitsberg 2012, p. 245-263 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Monuments Office : Styria - immovable and archaeological monuments under monument protection. (PDF) In: www.bda.gv.at. Retrieved October 8, 2019 .
  2. ^ Evangelical in Voitsberg. In: evang-voitsberg.at. Retrieved October 12, 2019 .
  3. ^ Walter Brunner (ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 3 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 246 .
  4. ^ A b Walter Brunner (Ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 3 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 247 .
  5. ^ A b c Walter Brunner (Ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 3 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 248 .
  6. ^ Walter Brunner (ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 3 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 249 .
  7. ^ A b Walter Brunner (Ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 3 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 250 .
  8. ^ A b c d Walter Brunner (Ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 3 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 252 .
  9. ^ A b c Walter Brunner (Ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 3 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 259 .
  10. ^ Walter Brunner (ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 3 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 260 .
  11. ↑ a b c About our parish. In: evang-voitsberg.at. Retrieved October 12, 2019 .
  12. ^ A b Walter Brunner (Ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 3 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 262 .
  13. ^ Walter Brunner (ed.): History and topography of the Voitsberg district . tape 1 . Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 2011, p. 218 .

Web links

Commons : Gustav-Adolf-Kirche (Voitsberg)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 2 ′ 48.5 ″  N , 15 ° 8 ′ 52.8 ″  E