Holy Cross (Gelsenkirchen)

Tower, view from the south

The former Catholic parish church Heilig Kreuz is a listed church building in Ückendorf , a district of Gelsenkirchen ( North Rhine-Westphalia ).

History and architecture

Parish Church of the Holy Cross, view from the southwest

Cross on the church

The parish of St. Josef had grown so much by 1919 that a new church had to be built. The congregation was founded as a vicarie in 1927 and was a parish from 1948 to 2007 .

The block-like building made of clinker brick and plastered reinforced concrete is set apart from the street by a courtyard with residential and commercial buildings to the side. The layout is an idiosyncratic combination of forms of Expressionism and New Objectivity . It was built from 1927 to 1929 according to plans by Josef Franke and consecrated on October 2nd, 1929 by Archbishop Caspar Klein .

The church with the parabola as its basic shape, which is repeated many times in the church, is considered the most important work of Josef Franke, who built other brick structures in the Ruhr area.

The northern courtyard development could only be realized in 1957. The high west facade, ending in two turrets, stands between cubes with chapels and halls. It is crowned by a monumental, brick crucifix with a clothed body. It was made according to designs by Hans Meier. The central portal and the large window are combined by a steep parabolic arch with decorations in the drapery . The figures of the crucifixion and the apostles above the portal are made in rough shapes. The building in the east is staggered by extensions, stepped gables and the squat choir tower. The parapet is intricately bricked and decorated with verses from the hymn Vexilla regis by Venantius Fortunatus and crosses. In the uniform 19 meter high interior, a parabola barrel vault rests on belt arches. The side compartments are opened between wall tongues like pillar walls in parabolic arches towards the main house and connected to each other to form side passages. The retracted rectangular choir , reaching up into the tower , is flanked by low side rooms. It is closed off by a double-shell, indirectly illuminated east wall with an arcature made of interlocking parabolic arches .

The expressionist Gewölbeausmalung in the nave with verses of Vexilla registered and gold crosses on blue-green background - a work by Andreas Ballin - was excavated from 1993 to 1994, the remaining areas were newly adopted . For these efforts, the community received the Europa Nostra honorary diploma .

The uniformity of the lay room as well as the accentuation of the altar by the tower and the demarcation of the light area of ​​the altar from the dark parish area were done in accordance with the writing Christocentric Church Art by Johannes van Acken . Five bells ring in the 41-meter-high tower. Behind the church are the sacristy and the assembly rooms, they are architecturally integrated into the building.

Profanation and future use

In the course of the reorganization of the parishes in the diocese of Essen, the church was " decommissioned " on August 19, 2007 . Since May 2013 it has been on the route of industrial culture , themed route sacred buildings . After long debates about its further use, the city of Gelsenkirchen submitted a proposal for a conversion into a "multifunctional house" in accordance with the listed building standards. It should be used for cultural events, meetings and seminars. The district government Münster approved the end of 2016 a grant of 9.7 million euros from funds of the promotional program "Strong quarters - strong man" of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the course of the renovation work, the bell was dismantled in June 2019.

literature

• Wilhelm Zimmermann, Heinz Dohmen : Parish Church of the Holy Cross, Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf . In: Heinz Dohmen (ed.): Image of the sky. 1000 years of church building in the diocese of Essen . Verlag Hoppe and Werry, Mülheim an der Ruhr 1977, pp. 197-199.
• Rudolf Brock: Churches gave the city its name. History on both sides of the Emscher. Catholic City Secretariat Gelsenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen 1986, pp. 95–99.
• Ursula Quednau (arrangement): Dehio-Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, North Rhine-Westphalia, Volume II: Westphalia. Deutscher Kunstverlag , Berlin / Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-422-03114-2 , p. 344.
• Hildegard Schneiders: Hans Meier and his sons - The discovery of a forgotten family of sculptors , series of publications by the Heimatbund Gelsenkirchen eV, issue 15, 2018, page 43 ff.

Footnotes

1. ^ Andreas Rossmann : Parable culture. Holy Cross in Gelsenkirchen . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of January 10, 2017, p. 12.
2. ↑ Press release of the Münster district government of December 30, 2016: Holy Cross Church in Gelsenkirchen is funded with 9.718 million , accessed on January 23, 2017.
3. ↑ Bells fall silent , Hendrik Niebuhr in WAZ Gelsenkirchen, June 17, 2019, accessed on June 19, 2019

Web links

Commons : Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche (Gelsenkirchen)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Story and photos , accessed August 13, 2012
• Description of this sight on the route of industrial culturehttp: //vorlage.rik.test/~26~12625
• 360 ° panoramic image from the Holy Cross Church in the Westphalian Cultural Atlas (requires Flash player )

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 0.6 ″  N , 7 ° 6 ′ 40.1 ″  E