Holy Cross Church (Büchenbronn)
The Holy Cross Church in Büchenbronn , a district of Pforzheim in Baden-Württemberg , was built in 1964/65.
history
Büchenbronn had been Protestant since the Reformation. Catholics only settled back in large numbers in the course of industrialization and railway construction in the 19th century. The Catholics of Dillweißstein , Büchenbronn and Huchenfeld were initially looked after by the Pforzheimer municipality, which initially used the Barefoot Church and inaugurated the Church of St. Franziskus in 1891 . Since the communities continued to grow due to the further increase in population and the way from the outlying places to the Franziskuskirche in the city center was a long way, a separate parish office was established for Dillweißstein, Büchenbronn and Huchenfeld in 1905, which was able to inaugurate the Liebfrauenkirche in Dillweißstein in 1910 . Until before the Second World War, the number of Catholics in Büchenbronn was less than 100, due to the influx of Catholic expellees after the Second World War, their number grew to almost 500 by 1950.
From 1946 catholic services were held in the evangelical mountain church . In 1958 the Catholic community acquired a 30 acre building plot in Roßwiesle . In 1964 the construction of the Holy Cross Church finally began, which was completed in 1965. The total construction costs amounted to around 1.3 million DM. The church was built according to the stipulations of the Second Vatican Council , which demanded the community character of the service and the use of modern architecture, and was consecrated on November 6, 1966 by Auxiliary Bishop Karl Gnädinger .
The exposed concrete used to build the church has not proven to be durable, so that in 1991 an extensive general renovation of the church was necessary.
description
The Holy Cross Church is a polygonal exposed concrete building with a free-standing bell tower. The nave of the church has a hexagonal floor plan with a length of 38 meters and a width of 21 meters, with a triangular extension for the chancel, baptistery, sacristy and confessional chapel being built on four of the outer sides. The defining geometric element of the architecture is the triangle as a symbol of the trinity , which can be found not only in the floor plan of the side extensions, but also in the multiple broken roof landscape as well as in the floor plan and the helmet-sized sound opening of the 33 meter high bell tower.
The interior of the church is structured by colored concrete glass. The Pforzheim sculptor Rolf Gröger created the decorations on the main portal and partition .
literature
- Parish of St. Franziskus Pforzheim (Ed.): 100 years of St. Francis 1891–1991. Catholic life in Pforzheim . Pforzheim 1991.
- Günter Heinz: Berggemeinde Büchenbronn , Pforzheim 1975, pp. 149–151.
Coordinates: 48 ° 51 ′ 26.8 ″ N , 8 ° 39 ′ 40.1 ″ E