Holy Spirit Church and Community Center

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Holy Spirit Church from the west, the community center in front of it
View from the east
Interior with altar

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit and community center was inaugurated in 1962 by Alvar Aalto in Wolfsburg - Klieversberg in Lower Saxony . It is considered to be "outstanding testimony to international modernity "; at the same time, architecture is ascribed an "anti-sentimental tendency".

history

On November 5, 1958, the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto was commissioned to plan the church and the community center. Aalto had already started planning the cultural center in downtown Wolfsburg. On January 1, 1961, the Evangelical Lutheran parish "Heilig-Geist" in the Klieversberg district became independent. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on August 12, 1961; the community center was opened in March 1962 and the church was consecrated on June 6 of the same year. The building complex is one of six structures or ensembles that Aalto had erected in Germany. The affiliated daycare center, also designed by Aalto, opened in October 1964. In 1999 the tower had to be extensively renovated. Since 2015 the church has belonged to the Lukas Congregation, which was formed from three parishes west of the city center.

Architecture, equipment and use

The Heilig-Geist-Kirche at Röntgenstrasse 81 is a protected monument as a modern sacred building. Church, parish hall, day-care center and pastorate form a complex that stands relatively alone in the garden city-like environment. Except for the tower, the buildings are made of brickwork . The church is a white painted central building with an approximately trapezoidal floor plan that runs towards the altar . The roof is covered with copper plates and is inclined towards the side of the altar. There the curved roof reaches almost to the ground. The entrance to the church is in a porch and is offset laterally opposite the altar when viewed from the interior. On part of the northeast side there is an irregularly structured window front with curved wooden slats on the upper edge. On the northwest side there is a large window front, the panes of which are separated from each other by the extension of the ribs in the interior. Through them the view falls on the high, white, free-standing tower with free-hanging bells on top of each other. An irregularly shaped skylight is located in the area of ​​the baptistery.

The interior is characterized by the wood-paneled ceiling, sloping to match the roof, and the contrast between wood paneling and white walls. The five longitudinally reddish-brown ceiling segments made of Douglas fir wood taper towards the altar and are separated by white ribs. The walls have both curves and straight edges. The benches stand in short or long rows corresponding to the entrance, which also taper towards the altar. The long rows of benches have a kink so that you can look towards the altar and pulpit from all seats . There are around 300 seats and 100 additional seats. The choir is separated from the community room by three steps. A figure of Christ hangs behind the broad altar made of light gray marble . Several antependia were designed by Elissa Aalto , the architect's wife. The predominantly white, simple pulpit stands on the wall to the left of the altar. To the right of the altar is a three-part candlestick, also made of marble.

The organ , built by the Flentrop company in 1965, is located on a gallery to the right of the altar, which is followed by a choir gallery . The slider chest instrument has 20 stops on two manuals and a pedal . The playing and stop actions are mechanical.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
1. Reed flute 8th'
2. Principal 4 ′
3. Pointed flute 4 ′
4th Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
5. octave 2 ′
6th Mixture III-IV
7th Trumpet shelf 8th'
II breastwork C – g 3
8th. Wooden dacked 8th'
9. Flute 4 ′
10. Forest flute 2 ′
11. octave 1'
12. Sesquialter II
13. Zymbel I-II
14th Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
15th Sub bass 16 ′
16. Principal 8th'
17th Dumped 8th'
18th octave 4 ′
19th Bell tone IV
20th Dulcian 16 ′

In a niche between the altar and the organ is the baptistery with a baptismal font made of the same material as the altar and candle holder, but with a concrete base. The community room is tiled in red, while the choir is equipped with gray, elongated natural stones. The room is sparsely decorated, including four lithographs or etchings by Marc Chagall from the extensive property of the parish. The furnishings, including details such as lamps and doorknobs, were designed by Aalto. Some side rooms can be reached via two doors from the interior of the church.

The 32 meter high tower is made of concrete and is located northwest of the church directly on the street. The four bells hang in the open tower, from bottom to top in the following order:

  • Dominica, chime it, 600 kg
  • Vespertina, strike f, 430 kg
  • Per pace, strike tone as, 310 kg
  • Matutina, strike note b, 220 kg.

The bells come from the Rincker in Sinn bell and art foundry . All four bells are only rung on high church festivals and on Easter Sundays.

To the west of the church is the single-storey community center, which encloses a square with the church and the tower. It is also designed in white with brown wooden elements and consists of three segments with straight and round shapes, which are reflected in the floor plan. The also single-storey, flat-roofed day-care center is also located southwest of the community center. The pastorate is to the south and thus furthest from the street . The houses also have copper roofs. The entire ensemble is a listed building. The area is greened by numerous trees.

literature

  • Holger Brülls: Heilig-Geist-Kirche, Stephanuskirche, Wolfsburg. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 1999, ISBN 3-933784-43-3 .
  • Nicole Froberg, Ulrich Knufinke, Susanne Kreykenboom: Wolfsburg. The architecture guide. Braun Publishing, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-03768-055-1 , pp. 104-105.

Web links

Commons : Heilig-Geist-Kirche (Wolfsburg)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Building history and equipment of the Holy Spirit Church and the community center ( Memento from February 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Holger Brülls: Heilig-Geist-Kirche, Stephanuskirche, Wolfsburg. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 1999, ISBN 3-933784-43-3 , p. 16.
  3. ↑ Heilig-Geist-Kirchengemeinde at kirche-wolfsburg.de , accessed on January 16, 2013
  4. ^ Website of the Lukas Congregation , accessed on January 7, 2015
  5. ↑ Information on Aalto's buildings in Germany at dfg-sachsen-anhalt.de (PDF file; 151 kB), accessed on January 16, 2013
  6. ^ Forgotten monuments of the modern age. Report of the Evangelical Press Service of September 12, 2012 , accessed on January 16, 2013
  7. ↑ Holger Brülls: Heilig-Geist-Kirche, Stephanuskirche, Wolfsburg. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 1999, ISBN 3-933784-43-3 , p. 18.
  8. ↑ More information about the organ on the website of the organ builder
  9. ↑ Video of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk on the Heilig-Geist-Kirche , accessed on January 17, 2013
  10. ↑ Holger Brülls: Heilig-Geist-Kirche, Stephanuskirche, Wolfsburg. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 1999, ISBN 3-933784-43-3 , pp. 20-21.

Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 34.6 ″  N , 10 ° 46 ′ 11 ″  E