Holy Trinity (Fraulautern)

Fraulautern, Church of the Most Holy Trinity

Fraulautern, Holy Trinity, Neo-Gothic church by Wilhelm Hector before and after the bombardment in World War II

The Church of the Holy Trinity (also Trinity Church ) is a Roman Catholic church in the Fraulautern district of the city of Saarlouis . It was built between 1949 and 1954 after the ruins of the neo-Gothic predecessor church, which was almost completely destroyed in the Second World War , had been blown up.

The Dreifaltigkeitskirche belongs to the parish community on the right of the Saar, which was founded in 2011 . The parish community consists of the Saarlouiser districts of Fraulautern , Fraulautern-Kreuzberg , Roden and Steinrausch with their churches Holy Trinity (Fraulautern), St. Josef (Fraulautern-Kreuzberg) , Assumption of Mary (Roden), Christkönig (Roden) and St. Johannes ( Stone rush) . The parish community is assigned to the diocese of Trier . The patronage festival of the Fraulautern Trinity Church is the solemn festival of the Most Holy Trinity , which is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost .

history

First mention and founding of a monastery

Woman loudspeakers; still existing Romanesque inner gable of the demolished monastery church; Today the outer gable of the primary school with a modern school clock showing the Virgin Mary with the newborn baby Jesus on the dial

The place Fraulautern was first mentioned in a document from Archbishop of Trier Ruotbertus (931-956). Here is spoken of an "ecclesia parochialis" (parish church), which, like other parishes in the area, is obliged to make an annual pilgrimage to Mettlach to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher of St. Liutwin in what is now the Old Tower of Mettlach Abbey . The original document of Bishop Ruotbertus is only available today as a copy from the time of Archbishop Albero von Montreuil (12th century) and its content is confirmed by the document of Trier Archbishop Theoderich II von Wied (13th century).

Fraulautern itself, however, was settled earlier. Grave goods found during excavations prove a settlement in the late Hallstatt period . In 1129, the noble Adalbert, who resided on the Tiefenbach estate in the neighboring town of Ensdorf , handed over his possessions in Fraulautern to the Archbishop of Trier Meginher von Falmagne , so that the monks from the Mettlach Abbey could build a church and a monastery in what is now Fraulautern.

Tradition tells that Adalbert lost his little son while hunting, who got lost in the large woods in the area. Since all search for the lost child was unsuccessful, the desperate Adalbert made the vow that he would found a monastery at the place where he would find his son again. When the child's body was found two years later at the confluence of the Fraulautern brook in the Saar, the nobleman built a first chapel there in honor of the Holy Trinity and in memory of his dead child, which became the nucleus of the later Fraulautern monastery. This tradition is documented in a document from Archbishop Hillin von Falmagne of Trier from 1154.

Since the Mettlach Abbey was reluctant to set up a branch in what is now Fraulautern, Adelbert bought back his foundation for 15 pounds and gave it to the Archbishop of Trier, Albero von Montreuil, who installed an Augustinian monastery in Fraulautern around 1142 . Archbishop Hillin von Falmagne established a noble chapter in 1154 , which was confirmed on January 23, 1155 by Pope Hadrian IV , who came from England . The protection of the Fraulautern monastery was granted in 1249 by Pope Innocent IV , in 1334 by Pope Johannes XXII. , in 1342 by Pope Clement VI. and in 1354 by Pope Innocent VI. approved.

Around 1160, the Fraulautern Abbey was occupied by Augustinian nuns. The monastery with the patronage of the Holy Trinity was located on the site of today's elementary school "In the old monastery". At that time both monks and nuns lived in a double monastery in Fraulautern. The educated Cistercian monk and novice master in the Cistercian monastery Heisterbach near Königswinter , Caesarius von Heisterbach, reports about the women's monastery Fraulautern that only girls under the age of seven would have been accepted. The women's convent was a noble women's monastery. The first seal of the monastery, dating from 1225, shows the symbol of the "Most Holy Trinity", under whose patronage the monastery stood.

First parish church

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  Fraulautern, old parish church "Heiligste Dreifaltigkeit" from the 16th century, today St. Apollonia's cemetery chapel

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  Fraulautern, St. Apollonia chapel, interior with octagonal central pillar and late Gothic vault in the pre-war state

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  Fraulautern, St. Apollonia Chapel with Romanesque tower after reconstruction

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  Fraulautern, St. Apollonia Chapel, memorial stone of the reconstruction in 1953/1954

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  Fraulautern, St. Apollonia Chapel, memorial for the pastors of Fraulautern

For the rural population of the village of Fraulautern, the St. Apollonia Church, now used as a cemetery chapel in Lebacher Strasse, was rebuilt and consecrated as a parish church in the late Gothic style in 1540 instead of an earlier Romanesque sacred building . When it was built in 1540, the old Romanesque tower has been preserved to this day. This Fraulauterner parish church, which originally bore the patronage of the Holy Trinity like the monastery church, was probably rededicated by Abbess Apollonia von Gressnich (term of office: 1587–1598) in honor of her namesake, the early Christian virgin and martyr Apollonia of Alexandria . The patronage festival of the Fraulauterner Kapelle is the day of remembrance of the saints on February 9th . The church was administratively connected with Wallerfangen together with St. Barbara and Niederlimberg and later with Beaumarais . To distinguish it from the monastery area, the district was called "Kirchhofen". Until 1814, when the Fraulautern monastery church was rededicated as a parish church, St. Apollonia was the parish church of Fraulauterns. After severe destruction during the shelling by the US Army from 1944 to 1945, the St. Apollonia Church was secured under the tenure of Pastor Josef Gilles (1921 to 1948) and under Pastor Alois Pyroth (1948 to 1970) ) rebuilt between 1953 and 1954. The earlier late Gothic pointed arch of the 16th century was replaced by a simple flat wooden ceiling.

Baroque monastery church becomes parish church

Abbey Fraulautern, engraved around 1865, in the foreground the new railway line, on the left the monastery mill, in the middle the baroque monastery church, on the right the gate

In 1739, at the instigation of the abbess Marie-Therèse Baroness of Saintignon (term of office: 1730–1757), construction of the baroque monastery church began. It was built on the same site as the old monastery church, which was badly damaged in the turmoil of the 17th century. The new church had three altars, three bells, three chalices and a silver monstrance . In 1787 a carved choir stalls had been made.

With the escape of the nuns on February 23, 1791 from the troops of the French Revolution and the subsequent abolition of the monastery, the centuries-old tradition of Fraulautern ended. The extensive Fraulautern monastery properties were confiscated by the French nation and used for other purposes. The entire monastery property with monastery buildings, land, quarries, mills, barns, stables, orangery, ponds, orchards, etc. a. m. was publicly auctioned on September 1, 1796 (15th Fructidor of year IV). The buyer was the dealer Andreas Rouply from Oberlimberg and his wife Margarethe Fourmann, who paid a total of 24,000 francs for the monastery property and then resold individual goods piece by piece. In 1817 a tannery was set up in the former monastery buildings . In the following year 1818 a military cooking establishment was added, in 1823 a beer brewery and later stables, the parish apartment, a parish hall, the school, apartments and a tin goods factory. Andreas Rouply sold a large part of the valuable church inventory. The elaborate baroque paneling of the church stalls from 1787 and the paintings of the four evangelists are now in Villeroy de Galhau Castle in Wallerfangen .

In 1814 the former monastery church was designated as a parish church, although at that time all the monastery buildings were still privately owned. It was not until February 5, 1818, that the owner Andreas Rouply and his sons Michael and Heinrich sold the former monastery church to the then independent community of Fraulautern for 10,000 francs and 2,520 thalers Preussisch-Courant, respectively. For years, the municipality had to sell construction and timber from the municipal forests in public auctions to pay the purchase price.

In addition to the purchase price, the Fraulautern parish had to grant their sons Michael and Heinrich Rouply parish rights and provide them with pews for six people in the church. The monastery church then served as a parish church for 80 years. From 1820 onwards, the Rouply family auctioned off the rest of the Fraulautern monastery property piece by piece on their estate in Oberlimberg “when the light went out” (acceptance of offers until a candle had burned down).

New building planning

Fraulautern, Holy Trinity, rectory with a facade figure of St. Joseph with the baby Jesus

With the rapid growth of the village of Fraulautern during the industrialization , the monastery church gradually became too small for the population. Therefore, in 1885, Pastor Rischar (in Fraulautern until 1891) decided to build a new church building. In March 1886, the architect Wilhelm Hector, who came from the neighboring town of Roden, was commissioned to draw up a plan and a cost estimate for the construction of a new church for women speakers.

During the tenure of Pastor Josef Heydinger (1891 to 1916 in Fraulautern), it was decided in 1892 that the new church and the rectory should be built in the parcel in the "Oberer Wieschen" in Puhlstrasse. Other locations that were discussed were a place in Saarbrücker Straße (near the house of the farmer Schmitt -lern) and an area near the old St. Apollonia church in the cemetery.

Construction of a neo-Gothic church

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  Tower front of the neo-Gothic church in 1895

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  Inside from the gallery with a view of the apse

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  Interior with a view of the apse

On August 20, 1893, the foundation stone for the new church was ceremonially laid and on June 2, 1895, Dechant Alexander Subtil (1846–1933) consecrated the massive neo-Gothic building with great sympathy from the population. A large procession moved from the old monastery church through the festively decorated place to the new parish church.

On February 21, 1897, demolition work began on the baroque monastery church. In 1926, with great effort, the neo-Gothic furnishings of the new church were completed and an organ was installed.

Destruction of the neo-Gothic church

In a bombing raid on the night of September 1st to 2nd, 1942, a large part of the town was destroyed and 30 inhabitants were killed by women. The Church of the Most Holy Trinity suffered damage to the roofing and the blast waves from the explosions shattered all windows. On December 1, 1944, the nave of the church was badly damaged in a devastating bomb attack. In the last months of the war the church, like the whole town, was the target of almost incessant shell impacts and bomb hits by the US artillery on the other side of the Saar. The old St. Apollonia Church and the monastery building were also destroyed. The total degree of destruction in the municipality of Saarlouis was 61 percent. Of the 1,650 buildings in Fraulautern, 337 were still preserved after the bombardment, which corresponds to a destruction of 80 percent.

When the largely fled population of Fraulautern returned to the devastated place at Pentecost 1945, Sunday masses could only be held in two small rooms in the ruins of the Hotel zur Post. In June 1945, pastor Gilles began building an emergency church with dimensions of 40 mx 8 m as a steel structure with pumice stone slabs in the rectory garden along Heydingerstraße. The first Holy Mass in the provisional sacred building took place on Palm Sunday in 1946. The reconstruction of the abbey building took place in the years 1949/1950 under the Saarlouis city planner Peter Focht (1907–1987) from Wallerfangen.

Reconstruction and establishment of branches

On October 12, 1947, a building committee was formed from members of the newly elected church council, which initially planned to rebuild the destroyed neo-Gothic church building according to Wilhelm Hector's old plans. After clearing the rubble, however, it became clear that a neo-Gothic reconstruction in keeping with the style would cause great difficulties in a time of economic hardship. After Pastor Josef Gilles suddenly died on October 28, 1948, a few hours before the 9th meeting of the building committee met, his successor, Pastor Alois Piroth, had to continue the task he had started on November 18, 1948 after taking up the pastor's position. On January 23, 1949, the Saarwellingen architects Heinrich Latz and Toni Laub were commissioned to design a new church on the foundations of Hector's sacred building with the most economical means. After the ruins were blown up, the foundation stone for the construction of a new parish church was laid in a solemn ceremony on October 9, 1949 on the foundations of the neo-Gothic parish church from 1895, which was destroyed in the war. At least the foundations of the previous Hector building, which were founded in 1895 to a depth of 4 m due to the swampy subsoil, could be used. The construction work had already started in August 1949 by the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fraulauterner Unternehmer” under master builder Johann Leick.

On September 10, 1950, the first Holy Mass took place in the overcrowded church, which was still unfinished and had no floor covering. It was not until 1954 that the bell tower with its bronze bells could be built, and in 1959 the new organ was installed. The post-war organ, which was built by the organ building firm Hugo Mayer from Heusweiler, had a total of 3,046 pipes, including 180 wooden pipes, 324 zinc pipes and 2542 tin pipes. The organ consecration could be celebrated in a festive setting on Palm Sunday, March 22, 1959.

In 1961 the parish of St. Josef (church building by the architect Toni Laub from Saarwellingen) was established as a subsidiary of the Fraulautern parish church Heiligste Dreifaltigkeit.

On November 16, 1960, the Trinity Church in Fraulautern was consecrated by the Trier auxiliary bishop Bernhard Stein . On May 1, 1963, the St. Josef subsidiary was consecrated by Trier Bishop Matthias Wehr .

Remodeling

In the wake of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council , the interior of the church and the windows of the Trinity Church were redesigned between 1979 and 1980 by the architect and master builder of the Trier cathedral, Karl Peter Böhr (* 1925) from Polch .

In 1981 the parish community Hl. Dreifaltigkeit and St. Josef Saarlouis-Fraulautern was formed as a pastoral care unit with a pastor. For the purpose of building a new organ, the Saarlouis-Fraulautern Association of Organ Builders was founded on April 21, 1987, and achieved its goal with the inauguration of the new organ on October 14, 2001. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Trinity Church, a large parish festival was celebrated in 1995.

Architecture of the neo-Gothic church

Neo-Gothic parish church of the Holy Trinity, built in 1895 by the architect Wilhelm Hector from Roden (Saar)

Exterior

The architect Wilhelm Hector , who was born in neighboring Roden , designed the new Roden parish church of the Assumption of Mary in 1895 as a three-aisled basilica with a transept and facade tower in neo-Gothic style. The early Gothic repertoire of forms predominated.

The outer skin of the church was made of ashlar, with wall surfaces and buttresses made of yellowish sandstone with a rough surface. The cornices, cloaks, and buttress covers were made of smooth-hewn red sandstone. The tracery were made of yellow sandstone. The roofs were slated .

The massive church tower, richly framed with multi-stepped buttresses, on a square floor plan, was divided into five floors, which were visually separated from each other by cornices. The corners of the tower were accentuated on the lower three floors by two buttresses each, which were at right angles to each other and jumped back one floor at a time. On the left side of the tower was a small, polygonal apse chapel. A stair tower with a conical roof was built on the right side of the three lower tower floors.

The central entrance gate in the tower served as wimpergbekröntes stepped portal with maßwerkfenstergeschmücktem tympanum decorated. Directly above the tower opened in an eight-spoke tracery rose . Two three-pass passes adorned the wall surface up to the final cornice. This overlying cornice took up the eaves height of the nave, the transept and the apse.

Further up, on the third floor of the tower, there was a two-lane tracery window on the front and on the left side of the tower. In the low fourth floor of the tower - the tower clock floor - the wall surfaces receded slightly. The buttresses culminated here in pinnacles. The tower floor plan merged into the octagon here. Small, suggested buttresses led from the buttresses at the corners into the octagonal bell storey. All eight sides of the bell storey opened in lancet windows, each of which was raised by a gable. A tall, slated eight-sided pyramid helmet rose above it.

The nave closed on the entrance side with a cross-sectional facade, to which buttresses were placed at right angles at the outer corners. The sloping roofs of the aisles were covered with stone slabs and connected to the facade tower. The facades of the side aisles each opened in a pointed arched portal with an overlapping profile.

The five bays of the nave and the corners of the transept as well as those of the choir were emphasized by supporting pillars. The structure of the outer wall by buttresses corresponded to the yoke division inside . The walls of the aisles opened up in simple two-lane tracery windows. The buttresses of the side aisles jumped back at the level of the surrounding cornice, in the uppermost area they only rested on the wall in the depth of the pilaster strips. In the area of ​​the upper aisle, the wall was pierced by staggered lancet triple windows modeled on Salisbury Cathedral . Here, too, in the upper storey of the Fraulautern Church, the wall was structured by buttresses that lay flat on the wall surface like pilaster strips. An ornamental cornice ran below the eaves in the upper storey. The side aisles closed off with pent roofs .

The gable transept, which was just closing, stepped far beyond the dimensions of the aisles at both ends in a buttress-accentuated flat connection. It had the same eaves height as the central nave and opened on both sides in a large three-lane tracery window. Below the transept windows there were additional side portals that closed straight. The gable fields of the transept had coupled lancet windows with a common overlap profile. The sloping gable was accentuated with a stepped wall beam and each culminated in a finial. An open staircase on a square floor plan rose above the crossing.

The choir bay had three aisles. The middle apse had a 5/8 end, buttresses at the corners and tracery windows. The aisles of the choir bay closed in polygons, had buttresses placed diagonally at the corners and were covered with tent roofs. The sacristy was on the right in the corner between the choir bay and the main apse.

Interior

The rectangular cross rib vaults of the nave corresponded to almost square yokes in the aisles. The floor plan of the crossing was a square. The floor plan of the central nave choir was rectangular. The two yokes of the transept were each rectangular. All yokes - including the square crossing - were vaulted with ribs. The yoke on the tower side accommodated the stone organ gallery. The apse had a six-pointed ribbed vault, the side apse a five-pointed one. The vault in the nave rested on kantonierten round pillars with rich foliage capitals . These capitals were cut through in the central nave by vault operators on the nave wall.

The nave was structured by five bays. Of the pillars of the dividing arcades up to the nave walls round services up, on which the belt and diagonal ribs were the central nave. The capitals of these circular services were at the height of the apex of the arcades of the central nave. In the side aisles, the vaults rested both on the capitals of the round pillars of the separating arcades and on pilasters on the walls.

The crossing was delimited by square pillars decorated for service, on which belt arches rest. The choir area expanded into side choirs, which were open to both the transept and the choir. In the apse and the two transept polygons the vaults rested on services decorated with capitals. A sill cornice ran through the apse and transept halfway up the services.

New building after the Second World War

In the last months of the war, the previous church, consecrated in 1895, as well as the entire village of Fraulautern, were victims of grenade and bomb attacks. The central nave was badly damaged on December 1, 1944. Due to the destruction, the community initially had the Apollonia Chapel , which was damaged in such a way that services were only possible in the emergency church on Heydingerstraße.

The rebuilding of the destroyed church was carried out by Pastor Josef Gilles after the war. After his death in 1948, his successor Alois Piroth (1908–1983) continued the task. During the clean-up work, it was discovered that the old church could no longer be rebuilt and that the costs would be too high. On January 23, 1949, the architects Heinrich Latz and Toni Laub from Saarwellingen took on the task of planning a new church. A worthy, clear and contemporary solution should be found with the most economical means.

The four meter deep foundations of the previous church were used for the reconstruction. Because of the tightness of the emergency church, the episcopal authority approved services in the church, which was still under construction.

Fraulautern, Most Holy Trinity, view inside the church towards the apse

The interior of the church was given its current appearance in 1979/1980. The sober functional building of the post-war period underwent a profound transformation under Pastor Willi Rodermann (1929–2007) according to the plans of the architect Karl-Peter Böhr from Trier, guided by the guidelines and the spirit of Vatican II and supported by the artistic ideas of the time a sacred space that should invite you to linger and meditate.

architecture

Fraulautern, Most Holy Trinity, choir tower with apse

Fraulautern, Most Holy Trinity, church bell tower

The current church is a hall building with neo-Romanesque elements (arched arcades with columns and cube capitals at the entrance hall and in the two-bay transept hall) of abstraction historicism . Likewise, the side choirs, which open up to the choir area and the nave with large round arches, convey a traditional interior design. The ceiling of the nave is a modern grid beam ceiling whose cross-section forms a flat parabola . The choir area is vaulted with a historicizing wooden slat vault. The church itself is about 25 meters high. In the choir area there is a tower about 30 meters high, which opens in two arched rows of five windows on three of its four sides. The row of windows facing the nave roof is only designed in one row. The buttresses on the outside walls of the church are connected by basket arches. The upright rectangular west window also closes in a basket arch.

Bell tower

About 4 meters from the church there is a 42-meter high campanile (also called Marienturm ), which houses the bells. It shapes the townscape and is a landmark of Fraulautern. Up until the 1980s there was a Lady Chapel on the first floor of the tower , today the room is used as a storage room. All higher floors can be reached via a bridge between the church building and the tower, which leads to a second entrance into the tower. Construction began in the summer of 1954. The church tower on a rectangular floor plan has a church tower clock with golden hour and minute hands on each of the four sides below the bell storey . The tower has a striking mechanism with a Viennese strike. The Marian crown with the initial "M" for Mary and the cross on the copper-covered pyramid roof of the church tower recalls the first Marian year 1953 to 1954, which was the preparation for the centenary of the solemn proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception ( Immaculata ) and from Pope Pius XII. was solemnly proclaimed in the encyclical Fulgens corona ( Latin for the shining crown ) of September 8, 1953. The Marienkrone also refers to the ecclesiastical feast of Mary Queen ( Latin Maria Regina ), which was held by Pope Pius XII. was introduced in 1954 at the close of the Marian Year .

Furnishing

Fraulautern, Most Holy Trinity, altar area

Fraulautern, Most Holy Trinity, baptismal font in the apse

In the church there are numerous works of art from the previous buildings and newly made sacred furnishings.

Pieces from the neo-Gothic previous building

Only a preserved Pieta, which was created in 1926 by the artist Mettler from Morbach and today adorns the Marienkapelle to the left of the main portal, the baptismal font by the sculptor Kiefer from Trier from 1890 and a fragment of a column, reminds of the neo-Gothic furnishings of the previous church is visibly walled in in the choir.

Way of the Cross

The new Way of the Cross, created in the workshop of the "Ars liturgica" in Maria Laach by the sculptor Alphons Biermann, was inaugurated on March 13, 1958. The 14 stations are each 60 cm wide and 90 cm high, carved in Laacher tuff. The figures on the half-reliefs are lightly colored.

Church window

The modern church windows were created in 1979/1980 according to the designs of the Mainz artist Alois Johannes Plum by the workshops for glass designs Wilhelm Derix , Rottweil . The three windows of the apse symbolize the Most Holy Trinity. The ten windows in the nave, held in the shades of brown, blue and yellow, represent in an abstract, symbolic form God's work on people in the Old Testament (seen from the entrance to the left) and in the New Testament (seen from the entrance to the right) Plum arranged the windows in pairs. On the right-hand side, Old Testament events are shown in an abstract way, each of which has its counterpart in the New Testament in the opposite window.

1. Pair of windows

The window of the Old Testament shows the cloud column of the Exodus from Egypt with the tablets of the Ten Commandments ( Ex 19-20  EU ). The parallel window of the New Testament, with the representation of the shining city on the mountain from the Sermon on the Mount ( Mt 5 : 1–12  EU ), addresses the new commandments of Jesus' charity in the form of the eight Beatitudes .

2. Pair of windows

The window of the Old Testament shows a sacrificial altar and Abraham's path into the unknown, after he had received an order from God to move to the land that he would show him ( Gen 12: 1-9  EU ). The parallel window of the New Testament shows the way to Bethlehem, which is illuminated by the star of Bethlehem ( Mt 2,1-12  EU ).

3. Pair of windows

The Old Testament window deals with the Israelites' strife against God and Moses and the subsequent Manna rain ( Ex 16.1–36  EU ). The parallel window of the New Testament shows bread and fish in relation to the feeding of 5,000 people during the miraculous multiplication of bread ( Mk 6,35-44  EU ).

4. Pair of windows

The Old Testament window shows a fish with the prophet Jonah in its belly, and above it rises the silhouette of the city of Nineveh ( Jonah 1-4  EU ). The parallel window of the New Testament thematizes, symbolized by a vortex with tongues of fire, the resurrection ( Mk 16.1–8  EU ) and ascension of Jesus ( Lk 24.50–53  EU , Acts 1.1–11  EU ) as well as the sending of the spirit to the Disciples at Pentecost ( Acts 2: 1–41  EU ).

5. Pair of windows

The window of the Old Testament thematizes a scene that is actually New Testament, the battle of the seven-headed dragon as a symbol of the manifold evil with the apocalyptic woman. The star above it shows the apocalyptic sun woman, surrounded by a crown of 12 small stars ( Rev 12 : 1–18  EU ). With the representation of twelve pearls and a circle of light, the parallel window of the New Testament addresses the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem through which the righteous will enter after the end of the world ( Rev 21–22  EU ).

altar

The new altar was made of sandstone by Johann Baptist Lenz from Oberkail in the Eifel . The four parts of the bronze cladding of the altar table depict biblical scenes, one from the Old Testament and three scenes from the New Testament. The front and back of the altar compare the Old Testament and New Testament understanding of sacrifice:

• The front of the altar table facing the congregation shows Jesus breaking bread with the Emmaus disciples ( Lk 24 : 13–35  EU ).
• On the back of the altar one sees the priest-king of Salem, Melchizedek , handing bread and wine to Abraham . The animal sacrifice is exchanged for the vegetable sacrifice in anticipation of the Eucharist in both forms instead of the bloody temple sacrifice ( Gen 14.17–19  EU ).

The sides of the altar deal with the forgiving, reconciling and community-building character of the Eucharist .

• On the left side of the altar the encounter between Jesus and the sinner is depicted ( Lk 7.36–50  EU ).
• The right side of the altar table deals with the meeting between Jesus and the tax collector Zacchaeus ( Lk 19.1–10  EU ).

Ambo

On the ambo, John the Baptist is depicted as a “caller in the desert” ( Mt 3,2-3  EU ).

Triumphal cross

A mighty crucifix hangs above the chancel, the body of which was made from chestnut wood by Luis Piccolruaz in Ortisei in Val Gardena in 1980 . The cross is based on the Romanesque-Burgundian style of the 12th century. At the ends of the cross bars are the symbols of the four evangelists carved in wood and colored by the sculptor Matthias Rech, also from Ortisei.

Choir room

The choir was redesigned to become a baptistery by moving the altar forward. The neo-Gothic baptismal font from the previous building found its place here after the base was reworked by the Stonemason Anton Knauf from Fraulautern. The crowning of the baptismal font, which carries the Easter candle , was designed and executed by Johann Baptist Lenz, as was the altar cladding.

Four statues are set up in the choir on both sides of the altar of the weekday chapel. The two back ones come from the previous church:

• right: Emperor Heinrich II , holding a model of Bamberg Cathedral in his hand and protecting it at the same time
• left: an indeterminable pope

Eternal light

The eternal light in front of the tabernacle is a baroque light of a Lorraine Church, which after the acquisition by the former pastor of him was restored, Johannes Scholtes, the goldsmith Hans Alof from Trier. Two adoring angels, which still come from the former baroque Fraulautern monastery church, direct your gaze to the expansive, three-part bronze tabernacle, which was created after the war by sculptor Johann Scherl from Wittlich for the parish of St. Gangolf in Trier and from there by Pastor Rodermann for the Fraulautern Church.

On the doors of the tabernacle is an oval field, framed by eight acanthus-like ornaments, depicting the Lord's Supper ( Mk 14.17–25  EU ). In addition, on two flanking bronze panels in two round fields, each framed by six acanthus-like ornaments, you can see the encounter of the risen Jesus with Mary Magdalene ( Jn 20 : 11-18  EU ) and the encounter of the risen Jesus with the unbelieving Thomas ( Jn 20 : 24-29  EU ).

Statues

Virgin Mary statue

The Madonna “La vierge à l'enfant” was made from Swiss stone pine by the South Tyrolean sculptor Matthias Resch from Ortisei in Val Gardena. The original of this early Gothic depiction was originally in the church of Celle ( Seine-et-Marne department , France ) and is now in the Louvre in Paris .

Joseph statue

At the back of the church, where the small side doors used to be, there is a baroque depiction of St. Joseph with the baby Jesus by Matthias Resch on the left.

More statues

On the side walls, immediately before the end of the gallery, a statue of St. Anthony of Padua with the baby Jesus is set up on the right of the outer wall . The figure is made after a baroque original in the parish church of St. Martin zu Berus . On the left you can see St. Barbara of Nicomedia with a tower. Both sculptures were made by the sculptor Matthias Resch from Ortisei. On the gallery parapet there are statues of St. Joachim and St. Anna .

Organs

The parish church Heiligste Dreifaltigkeit Fraulautern has had several organs in the course of its existence.

Organ from 1874

Organ builder Heinrich Wilhelm Breidenfeld built the organ in 1874 for the former monastery church of the Holy Trinity Fraulautern. After the construction of the neo-Gothic Holy Trinity Church by the architect Wilhelm Hector, it was moved there in 1895 and replaced by a new organ in 1925/26. The parish sold the Breidenfeld organ in the same year for 5000 gold marks to Geislautern to the parish of the Assumption of Mary , where it was replaced in 1951 by a new building from the Sebald company. Some stops and windchests from the old Breidenfeld organ were probably taken over into the Sebald organ. The wind chests were slider chests. The game action and the stop action were mechanical. The organ had 23 registers (manuals: 2, pedal: 1).

Organ from 1926

The organ of the Georg Stahlhuth company was purchased in 1926 and destroyed in 1942 by the effects of the war. The action mechanism and the stop action were pneumatic. The organ had 37 registers.

Organ from 1959

Mayer organ (1959-2001)

The organ from 1959 came from the Hugo Mayer Orgelbau company . It was inaugurated on March 22, 1959. The organ was given to the diocese of Opole in Poland and replaced by the current Link organ in 2001. The wind chests were slider chests, the action mechanism and the stop action mechanism were electric. The organ had 45 registers with 3046 pipes (manuals: 3 C-g3, pedals: 1 C-f1)

Organ from 2001

Fraulautern, Most Holy Trinity; The organ built by Link-Orgelbau in 2001

On the initiative of Pastor Rolf Dehm , who worked in Fraulautern from 1985 to 2011 , of the Fraulauterner Orgelbauförderverein and the organist Erich Schommer who worked there until 2003 , after long consultations with the Diocese of Trier , the order to build a new organ was placed with Orgelbau Link GmbH in May 2000 from Giengen an der Brenz . The organ building association was founded on April 21, 1987.

When the old Mayer organ was dismantled in March 2001, the services were accompanied by a small positive organ until the arrival of the new instrument (in October 2001) . This small pipe organ had five registers, a manual and a pedal. It was made available by the Link company until the large church organ was ready for use.

The new instrument (Opus 1080) with its ribbon-wrapped, cylindrical organ towers flanking the large west window should have 33 registers in the final stage. The register loops in the wind chests of the new organ are not drawn mechanically, but are controlled electrically and supplemented by a setting system. This playing aid allows the organist to preselect certain registers and call them up at the push of a button. This means that there is no need to interrupt organ play when choosing new register combinations. The connection from the key on the keyboard or the pedal to the individual organ pipes is made by a mechanical action mechanism. This old and proven construction is very durable. At the organ consecration on October 14, 2001, the Trier cathedral organist Josef Still played .

The DM 100,000 instrument was not fully paid for until 2011 .

Numerous musicians and groups have given concerts in the Dreifaltigkeitskirche so far. Among others, Maurice André , Christian Schmitt , Andreas Rothkopf , in November 2013 Heino performed there as part of his “ Die Himmel Rühmen ” tour.

Peter Speth has been organist since 2018 .

The organ has the following disposition :

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 1. Praestant 16 ′ 2. Principal 8th' 3. Reed flute 8th' 4th Viola di gamba 8th' 5. Octave 4 ′ 6th recorder 4 ′ 7th Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 8th. Super octave 2 ′ 9. Mixture 4f 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′

II Swell C – g 3 10. Flûte Harmonique 8th' 11. Salicional 8th' 12. Voix Celeste 8th' 13. Praestant 4 ′ 14th Night horn 4 ′ 15th Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 16. Flageolet 2 ′ 17th Tierce 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ 18th Plein Jeu 4-5f 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 19th Basson 16 ′ 20th Hautbois 8th' Tremulant

III Solo C – g 3 21st Solo flute 8th' 22nd Flute Octaviante 4 ′ 23. Cornett 5f 8 ′ (from g) 24. Trumpet 8th' 25th horn 8th' 26th Cromorne 8th' Tremulant

Pedal C – f 1 27. Principal bass 16 ′ 28. Sub bass 16 ′ 29 Quintbass 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 30th Octavbass 8th' 31. Bass flute 8th' 32. Octave 4 ′ 33. Bombard 16 ′

• Coupling : II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P

church choir

The church choir Cäcilia in Fraulautern , which was founded in 1851 and expanded to a mixed choir in 1919, is used to help organize church services and other festive occasions such as B. the parish festival. The choir currently consists of around 30 active singers. Sandra Becker is currently the choirmaster in both Fraulautern parishes, Hl. Dreifaltigkeit and St. Josef .

Bells

Already in 1921 the Otto bell foundry from Hemelingen / Bremen cast three bronze bells for the old Trinity Church. Two of these bells were melted down during World War II.

In 1954, the Saarlouiser bell foundry in Saarlouis-Fraulautern, which was founded by Karl (III) Otto from the Otto bell foundry in Bremen-Hemelingen and Alois Riewer from Saarland in 1953, cast five bronze bells for the new Trinity Church. The five bells were cast on November 16, 1954 in the Otto Fraulautern bell foundry and consecrated on November 28, 1954.

While the Dreifaltigkeitsglocke, the Marienglocke, the Josefsglocke and the Barbaraglocke were donated by the city of Saarlouis, the parish and the Fraulauterner bell foundry Otto bore the production costs for the Barbaraglocke . On December 8, 1954, the solemn feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin and Mother of God , the new bells were rung for the first time at the festive inauguration of the bell tower. The total weight of the bell ringing is 7,200 kg. The tone arrangement b d f g acorresponds to the entrance motif of the Marian antiphon Salve Regina .

Bell jar	Chime	Weight [kg]	Diameter [cm]	material	Bell foundry	Casting year	Others
Most Holy Trinity	b °	3300	172	bronze	Bell foundry "Otto" in Saarlouis-Fraulautern	1954	Beats the hour
Mary, queen of heaven and earth	d ′	1600	136	bronze	Bell foundry "Otto" in Saarlouis-Fraulautern	1954	Strikes the fishing stops at 7am, 12pm and 7pm
Saint Joseph	f ′	950	114	bronze	Bell foundry "Otto" in Saarlouis-Fraulautern	1954	Beats the quarter hour specification
Holy Apollonia	G'	675	102	bronze	Bell foundry "Otto" in Saarlouis-Fraulautern	1954
Saint Barbara	a ′	475	91	bronze	Bell foundry "Otto" in Saarlouis-Fraulautern	1954

In high offices ringing the bells done by 2, 3, 4 and 5. Thirty minutes before the bell rings 2 alone. The entire ringing can only be heard at church celebrations, such as Easter or Christmas . Thirty minutes before the start, the largest of all bells, bell 1, rings alone. Other services and Eucharistic celebrations only ring fifteen minutes before they begin. Bells 3 and 4 are often switched on here. At funerals, bell 2 is rung thirty minutes before the start, and bells 2, 3 and 4 ring fifteen minutes before the start.

Refurbishment since 2004

Since 2004, the congregation has been trying, in small steps, as far as the financial situation allows, to renovate the church's bell tower. Close-meshed grids were stretched in the tower to prevent pigeons from entering . The defective church tower clock was also repaired with a new clock control . At the end of 2011 the dilapidated concrete bridge between the church tower and the church building was removed and replaced with a new steel structure.

In 2019, after years of efforts, the parish had enough financial means to undertake a complete renovation of the tower. Repair work on the drives for the church bells began in mid-2019. The 42-meter-high tower was first restored from the inside, then the external renovation began. The tower had to be fully equipped for this . The facade was repaired and repainted. The clocks and their mechanisms were renewed, the dial and hands were restored. Finally, the old bell shutters were replaced by new ones. These are intended to give the ringing a softer and fuller sound. This change in particular gives the tower a new, lighter appearance in the upper area.

The work was finished in June 2020.

Pastor

List of pastors assigned to women since 1237 (for the second half of the 19th century the lists of R. Rudolf Rehanek and Gertrud Weyand contradict each other):

• Hugo of Lutra: 1237
• Bruno, dean of Lautern: 1289
• Andreas von Lautern: 1290 (appointed as vice pastor of the St. Laurentius Church in Trier)
• Johann Herriger, Peter Kirchner, Sebastian Didelop Theodor, Claudius Varsolier: 1630
• Matthias Johann Manderfeld: 1680 to 1695
• Michel François: 1695 to 1722
• Nicolaus André: 1722 to 1729
• Johann Baptist Saurbronn: 1729 to 1754
• Bartolomeus Lefebere: 1754 to 1792
• Wilhelm Stein (?): 1792
• Adam (?): 1798
• Jakob Bellois (?), Johann Emanuel Jacobi: 1800
• Robert Relinger: 1807
• FR Bichelberger: 1808
• Michael Hoff: 1809
• JN Berger: 1810 to 1812
• N. Lütgen: 1812 to 1817
• Peter Müller: 1818 to 1822
• Johann Seffern: 1823 to 1826
• Anton Binsfeld: 1826 to 1830
• Peter Wehr: 1830 to 1841
• Nikolaus Müller: 1841 to 1848
• Franz Baring 1849 to 1877
• Heinrich Feiten : 1866 to 1885
• Bircher, chaplain, then briefly parish administrator: 1885 to 1891
• Rischar: 1885 to 1891
• Josef Heydinger: 1891 to 1916
• Johann Erb: 1916 to 1921
• Josef Gilles: 1921 to 1948
• Alois Pyroth: 1948 to 1970
• Willi Rodermann: 1970 to 1984
• Rolf Dehm: 1985 to 2011
• Hans-Kurt Trapp: 2011 ad multos annos

literature

• Eduard Ausfeld: The beginnings of the Fraulautern monastery near Saarlouis, in: Yearbook of the Society for Lorraine History and Archeology, Metz 1900.
• Hans-Berthold Busse: Wilhelm Hector (1855–1918), in: Saarländische Lebensbilder, Vol. 4, Saarbrücken 1989, pp. 138ff.
• The Catholic Saarland, Home and Church, Ed .: L. Sudbrack and A. Jakob, Volume II / III, Saarbrücken 1954, p. 12f.
• Guido Fontaine: Heinrich Feiten, pastor in Fraulautern (1866–1885), priest and auxiliary bishop in the Kulturkampf, in: Unser Heimat, Mitteilungsblatt des Landkreis Saarlouis für Kultur und Landschaft, 19, 1995, pp. 45–57.
• Fraulauterner recollections on the 50th anniversary of the year 1925/26, o. O. 1976; contains photographs of the neo-Gothic sacred building
• Philipp de Lorenzi: Contributions to the history of all parishes in the Diocese of Trier, Trier 1887, pp. 559-561.
• Kristine Marschall: Sacred buildings of classicism and historicism in Saarland, (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 232–233 and p. 464–465.
• R. Rudolf Rehanek: Abbey Fraulautern, Saarbrücken 1930.
• R. Rudolf Rehanek: History of the district town of Saarlouis, Volume 1: The noble women's abbey and the village of Fraulautern, Saarlouis 1978.
• Alois Thomas and Ulrich Craemer: New Buildings in the Diocese of Trier (Monographs of the Building Industry, Volume 17), ed. from the department "Construction and Art" of the Episcopal Vicariate General Trier, Stuttgart 1961, p. 92. Document book on the history of the Middle Rhine territories that now form the Prussian administrative districts of Coblenz and Trier, ed. by Heinrich Beyer, (vol. 2. edited by Heinrich Beyer, Leopold Eltester and Adam Goerz.-vol. 3. edited by Leopold Eltester and Adam Goerz), Coblenz 1860–74.

Web links

Commons : Hl. Dreifaltigkeit (Fraulautern)  - More pictures

• Website of the church www.3faltigkeit-fraulautern.de
• Report on the renovation 2007 on www.3faltigkeit-fraulautern.de
• Report on the renewal of the bridge between the steeple and church on www.fraulautern.net
• Audio sample of the ringing of all five bells on YouTube.
• Website of the district of Fraulautern www.fraulautern.net
• Radio report of the Saarländischer Rundfunk from January 3, 2011 on the Fraulautern Church and the Ling organ

Individual evidence

1. ↑ R. Rudolf Rehanek: History of the town of Saarlouis , Volume 1: The aristocratic woman abbey and the village Fraulautern . Saarlouis 1978, pp. 17-21.
2. ↑ R. Rudolf Rehanek: History of the town of Saarlouis, Volume 1: The aristocratic woman abbey and the village Fraulautern, Saarlouis 1978 S. 98th
3. ^ Caesarius von Heisterbach: Dialogus Miraculorum, Liber VVV, c. 51.
4. ↑ R. Rudolf Rehanek: History of the town of Saarlouis, Volume 1: The aristocratic woman abbey and the village Fraulautern, Saarlouis 1978 S. 98th
5. ↑ R. Rudolf Rehanek: History of the town of Saarlouis, Volume 1: The aristocratic woman abbey and the village Fraulautern, Saarlouis 1978, pp 234-245.
6. ↑ R. Rudolf Rehanek: History of the town of Saarlouis , Volume 1: The aristocratic woman abbey and the village Fraulautern . Saarlouis 1978, pp. 234-237.
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e} http://www.frau-lautern.de/aus-der-geschichte/kirchen/ , accessed on June 21, 2015.
8. ↑ R. Rudolf Rehanek: History of the town of Saarlouis. Volume 1: The noble women's abbey and the village of Fraulautern . Saarlouis 1978, pp. 237-241.
9. ↑ http://www.kunstlexikonsaar.de/personen-az/artikel/-/focht-peter/ , accessed on June 22, 2015.
10. ↑ R. Rudolf Rehanek: History of the town of Saarlouis, Volume 1: The aristocratic woman abbey and the village Fraulautern, Saarlouis 1978, pp 258-263.
11. ↑ http://www.frau-lautern.de/aus-der-geschichte/kirchen/ , accessed on June 22, 2015.
12. ↑ http://www.frau-lautern.de/aus-der-geschichte/kirchen/ , accessed on June 22, 2015.
13. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 19, 2015. 
14. ^ Hans-Berthold Busse: The architect Wilhelm Hector, church building around 1900, Regensburg 2018, pp. 140–145.
15. ↑ Kristine Marschall: Sacral Buildings of Classicism and Historicism in Saarland, (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, Vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 232–233 and pp. 464–465.
16. ^ Hans-Berthold Busse: The architect Wilhelm Hector, church building around 1900, Regensburg 2018, pp. 140–145.
17. ↑ Kristine Marschall: Sacral Buildings of Classicism and Historicism in Saarland, (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, Vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 232–233 and pp. 464–465.
18. ↑ Kristine Marschall: Sacral Buildings of Classicism and Historicism in Saarland, (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, Vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 232–233 and pp. 464–465.
19. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of April 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 19, 2015.
20. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.organindex.de/index.php?title=Saarlouis/Fraulautern,_Heilige_Dreifaltigkeit , accessed on June 24, 2015.
21. ^ Gerhard Reinhold: Otto bells - family and company history of the bell foundry dynasty Otto . Self-published, Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-063109-2 , p. 588, here in particular pp. 87 to 95, 521, 567 .
22. ↑ Gerhard Reinhold: Church bells - Christian world cultural heritage, illustrated using the example of the bell founder Otto, Hemelingen / Bremen . Nijmegen / NL 2019, p. 556, here in particular pp. 105 to 112, 484, 517 , urn : nbn: nl: ui: 22-2066 / 204770 (dissertation at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen).
23. ↑ R. Rudolf Rehanek: History of the town of Saarlouis, Volume 1: The aristocratic woman abbey and the village Fraulautern, Saarlouis 1978, pp 241-242.
24. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , List by Gertrud Weyand, accessed June 20, 2015. 

Coordinates: 49 ° 19 ′ 32.8 ″  N , 6 ° 46 ′ 1.3 ″  E