Johanneskirche (Saarbrücken)

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Bells and Fialtürme (north side)
Rathausplatz St. Johann with Johanneskirche and Rathaus St. Johann in the Saarbrücken city model

The Johanneskirche is a Protestant church in Saarbrücken, which was completed in 1898 . It is located in the St. Johann (Saar) district , across from the St. Johann town hall . The neo-Gothic church survived the Second World War with almost no damage, although the air raids on Saarbrücken had largely destroyed the city. The church underwent a purifying transformation in the post-war period . Today, not only church services are held in the Johanneskirche , but also rallies and cultural events. In the list of monuments of the Saarland, the church is a single monument listed. The church is assigned to the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland . The tower of the Johanneskirche with its height of 74 m is currently the highest church tower in Saarland after the war destruction of the tower of Saarbrücken's Josefskirche with originally 75 m height.

history

Figure of Arnulf von Metz ; Legend has it that Arnulf resigned his bishopric in 629 and retired to the so-called Heidenkapelle (former Mithraeum ) on Halberg , where his alleged father, St. Arnual , already lived as a hermit. From there he initiated the building of the chapel dedicated to John the Baptist (today the location of the St. Johann Basilica ) in the fishing village of St. Johann. The fishing village then took over the place name St. Johann from the title saint of this chapel.

Return of the Johanneskapelle to the Catholics

Under pressure from French sovereignty under King Louis XIV , the small medieval church of St. Johann, which had become Protestant during the Reformation (today the location of the St. John's Basilica ), had to be returned to the Catholics. In place of the old Johanneskapelle, the church of St. Johann was built from 1754 to 1758 by the master builder Friedrich Joachim Stengel . The evangelical believers of the city of St. Johann now had to go to the evangelical Saarbrücken castle church for worship , which was destroyed at this time. It was not until 1682 that a provisional reconstruction began with the help of donations.

Construction of a baroque Protestant church in St. Johann

Count Karl Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken sponsored the construction of a new church so that the St. Johann municipality also had its own Protestant church . But before he could begin, he died on December 6, 1723. The foundation stone for the Protestant church in St. Johann was only laid on April 4, 1725 under the rule of Count Friedrich Ludwig von Nassau-Ottweiler . The inauguration took place on June 24, 1727.

New building plans and building competition

  • Old Evangelical Church of St. Johann

  • The shell of the Johanneskirche (Saarbrücken City Archives)

  • Console head, representation of the architect Heinrich Güth in the tower hall

Since the baroque Protestant church in the 19th century became too small for the growing Protestant community in St. Johann, plans began for a new church building. In 1885 the presbytery began to deal more intensively with relevant planning. In November 1891, a public competition for a new building was announced, in which architects from all over the German Empire participated. The construction costs should not exceed 250,000 marks, the church should offer 1200 seats and good acoustics were to be ensured. The architectural style was not explicitly prescribed, but the axis of the new building should be oriented towards the course of Kaiserstrasse. The competition was decided in July 1892 and the Leipzig architect Richard Tschammer won first prize. Richard Tschammer had already made a name for himself by building churches in Leipzig. Its most significant building for German history was the building of the Leipzig Fire Insurance Company , which later became the Leipzig Stasi building "Runde Ecke". Despite its reputation, Tschammer was not awarded the building contract. Instead, the presbytery opted for the design by St. Johann architect Heinrich Christian Güth, which came second in the competition . Construction began in 1894. Am. On July 6th, 1898 the inauguration was celebrated under the direction of Pastor Gustav Ilse . The planned construction costs had been significantly exceeded. Including the building site and furnishings, the church cost a total of 536,000 marks .

Relationship between church and town hall according to the ideas of town planner Camillo Sitte

St. Johann, diagonal viewing direction from the Johanneskirche (left edge of the picture) to the town hall tower as a picturesque ensemble according to Camillo Sitte's demands

From 1897 to 1900, the neo-Gothic St. Johann town hall was built in the immediate vicinity of the church by the architect Georg von Hauberrisser . Inspired by the publications of the urban planner Camillo Sitte , which are among the most important practical textbooks in European urban planning (especially 1889, The City Building According to His Artistic Principles), instead of geometrically circled urban plans created on the drawing board, newly planned districts should now be based on the Principles of “picturesque town planning” based on the model of historical cityscapes emerge.

According to Sitte's recommended models of the square groups with church and palace, such as in Modena and Perugia , the square between St. John's Church and St. Johann town hall has now been designed with an asymmetrical position of the church square area and town hall square area as well as a uniform neo-Gothic style choice and sandstone as the building material. The town hall facade and the side church facade should formally relate to one another in a wide diagonal.

Symbolization of the "alliance of throne and altar"

The 74 m high tower of the neo-Gothic St. John's Church, which corresponds to the tower of the Hauberrisser town hall, contained four bells that had been cast from captured French cannon ore from the Franco-German War of 1870/71. They were named after the emperor, the empress, Chancellor Bismarck and St. John (city patron) and had the sole chiming function on the town hall square until the town hall tower carillon was installed. The “alliance of throne and altar” of the strictly monarchist Protestantism of the imperial era can hardly be expressed more sensibly than through the mutual relationship between town hall and church.

Remodeling after the Second World War

The interior of the church was originally painted with plant motifs, angels and coats of arms and the choir area was separated by a rood screen over which the organ was installed. In the 1950s and 1962 the organ, which was badly damaged in the war, was removed and the Trier architect Heinrich Otto Vogel and the architect Rudolf Krüger were commissioned to redesign the interior to purify it. In addition to historical furnishings, the organ loft and transept lofts were completely removed in 1965 and the windows of the new chancel were enlarged towards the bottom and a gray-white coat of paint was applied to plaster and sandstone surfaces. The location of the new organ is now in the west gallery, almost a mirror image of the old apse gallery.

During a renovation by the Cologne architect Miroslav Volf , who also built numerous other buildings in Saarbrücken, in 1995 a new, square steel altar was moved to the center of the building. This can be moved if the use of the space requires it. New box-like transept partitions were created in a modern form.

architecture

North-east facade with church garden and golden leaf gates
Interior view with a view of the apse, pre-war state (Saarbrücken City Archives)
Interior view with a view of the apse

Plan changes

The plans presented by the architect Güth for the competition of a three-aisled stepped hall with four bays and aisle-like side aisles, a sweeping transept with galleries and the west tower in the neo-Gothic style were changed four times during the planning phase. High, two-story aisles were abandoned in favor of a basilica type. The choir area, originally intended to be transversely rectangular, was also replaced by a three-sided apsidial closure. Likewise, the church tower, which was initially designed to be transversely rectangular, was finally built on a square floor plan with radially arranged side portals. The details were much richer in the final plan. The mezzanine floor below the bell floor of the tower was decorated with twin blind openings instead of simple pointed arches.

The sound openings were provided with two-lane tracery openings. The upper floor received corner turrets and gable walls as well as a rich tracery parapet. Instead of the originally planned conical roofs, hexagonal helmets were placed on the corner turrets. The main helmet was designed octagonal. Contrary to the plans of the first draft, the crossing was also equipped with a crossing tower. The side aisle yokes were illuminated by cloverleaf arched windows, while they were initially planned to be closed.

The main nave yokes close with their own gables, which, however, only break through the eaves with the tip. Instead of the triple windows with cloverleaf arches and large circular openings that were originally provided in the upper aisle of the central nave and on the transept front sides, two- or three-lane pointed arched windows with different fitting tracery were installed in the arched area. Richer elements were also used on the transept gables. Gothic ornamental forms pierce the gable roofs here in a late Gothic manner. A gothic crucifixion group at the top of the gable facing the St. Johann town hall was removed in the post-war period.

Layout

The floor plan is based on the Latin cross. The wide, rectangular central nave bays are flanked by narrow, only 1.40 m deep side bays. The side aisle yokes give a chapel-like impression. They open to the main nave in flat arches supported by strong rectangular pillars with chamfered corners. These side aisles should allow access to the rows of banks of the main nave.

Central nave

The central nave is vaulted with ribs. The aisles are provided with flat ceilings. In the central nave, a well-lit, column-free main room was created with a hall-like impression of a medieval path church, which nevertheless offered a good view of the altar. The nave walls of the central nave were kept simple. Flat pilasters support the arches of the upper aisle. The vault ribs end just below the center of the upper cladding on small console stones. The grouping of the individual yokes begins at the height of the coffin wall of the nave. Groups of three round bars resting on consoles lead over to the belt arch, which is also made up of three round bars.

Crossing

The almost square crossing is spanned by a four-pointed star vault. The nodes of the cross ribs are adorned with keystones adorned with foliage and flowers.

Transepts

The protruding, four-part cross-rib vaulted transept arms accommodated splendid swinging galleries with tracery parapets until their destruction in the 1960s. The galleries rose above an arcade of three with flat arches. The arcades followed the style of the nave arcades.

Choir area with rood screen

The choir wall, originally closed by a rood screen, was based on medieval models that separated the community area from the sacred area. The five-arched rood screen with high balustrade provided space for the large organ with neo-Gothic ornaments and the singers' gallery. The sacristy and an equipment room were located under the stands. Two rood screen portals allowed access. The front of the rood screen was richly ornamentally and figuratively painted and thus served as a scenic background for the neo-Gothic main altar in front of the central arch of the rood screen. In front of the northern blind arch of the rood screen was the baptismal font, in front of the southern one, leaning against the crossing pillar, was the pulpit. The lavishly designed rood screen made of precious materials was destroyed in the 1960s by decision of the presbytery.

Paintings

Originally, the entire church interior was painted in color. The painter Valentin Martin had supplied the drafts. The execution was carried out by the church painters Ledig and Rauh. The painting of the sacristy, the entrance hall of the tower and the two stair towers was done by Christian Woytt jr. executed. The entire painting was removed by order of the presbytery in the 1960s.

window

The original church windows were decorated with biblical scenes by the Frankfurt glass painter Alexander Linnemann . The windows next to the choir organ took up musical themes, the choir side wall windows themed the sacrament of the altar, and the transept arms showed the birth, baptism, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. In the south aisle windows with the representations of the Old Testament prophets were installed, in the north aisle representations of events from the Old Testament were installed.

Today's equipment

Johanneskirche, main portal, vestments : on the left the city patron and namesake of St. Johann, St. John the Baptist with the Lamb of God ; right: St. Arnulf von Metz as a messenger of faith of the Saar Valley with a cross and a model of the old Johanneskapelle

Life-size figures of Christ, John the Baptist and Arnulf von Metz are placed on the outer building , as well as the two apostles Peter and John on the south gable. The figures come from Karl Gundelach's workshop . Furthermore animal representations, grimaceous figures and gargoyles can be seen. There are four pairs of figures under the tower gallery: a guard and a squire , a miner and a smelter, a man with a clenched fist and a woman with a house key, a stonemason and a carpenter. There is a master builder portrait of Heinrich Güth in the tower vestibule.

In the interior there is a baptismal font made of thick-walled stainless steel, which the artist Anna Hofmann made from the bottom of a food tank and which was installed in 1996. The baptismal font, the altar, the ambo and the candle table are made of rolled sheet metal in order to create a reference to the Saarland industrial region. No other decoration was used. The pews still belong to the old pieces of equipment, but are no longer set up in the original arrangement.

organ

View of the west gallery with the organ prospect

The present organ was built in 1969 by the organ building company Detlef Kleuker (Brackwede). The instrument has 46  registers (slider drawers) on three manuals and a pedal . The game actions are mechanical, the stop actions are electric. In the 1990s, the instrument was also equipped with mechanical couplers and an electronic setting system.

I Rückpositiv C – g 3
1. Metal dacked 8th'
2. Quintad 8th'
3. Principal 4 ′
4th Reed flute 4 ′
5. octave 2 ′
6th Sif flute 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
7th Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
8th. Scharff V 1'
9. Krummhorn 8th'
10. Rohrschalmei 8th'
tremolo
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
11. Gedacktpommer 16 ′
12. Principal 8th'
13. Reed flute 8th'
14th octave 4 ′
15th Pointed flute 4 ′
16. Hollow fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
17th octave 2 ′
18th Rauschpfeife III 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
19th Mixture VI 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
20th bassoon 16 ′
21st Trumpet 8th'
tremolo
III Swell C – g 3
22nd Coupling flute 8th'
23. Willow pipe 8th'
24. Principal 4 ′
25th Wooden dacked 4 ′
26th Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
27. Forest flute 2 ′
28. third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
29 octave 1'
30th Spicy Mixture V 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
31. Wooden dulcian 16 ′
32. oboe 8th'
33. Clairon 4 ′
tremolo
Pedal C – f 1
34. Pedestal 32 ′
35. Principal 16 ′
36. Sub-bass 16 ′
37. octave 8th'
38. Gemshorn 8th'
39. octave 4 ′
40. Night horn 2 ′
41. Rauschpfeife IV 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′
42. Mixture V 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
43. trombone 16 ′
44. Trumpet 8th'
45. Dulcian 8th'
46. High trumpet 4 ′
tremolo
  • Couple:
    • Normal coupling: I / II, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
    • Sub-octave coupling: III / II
  • Playing aids : manual registration, free combinations, 4096-fold typesetting system

Bells

In 1900 four new bells were cast from captured French cannon ore from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. They were consecrated with patriotic exuberance to the German Emperor , the Empress and Otto von Bismarck . The smallest bell was named after the city patron of St. John, John the Baptist . The imperial bell was originally supposed to have the inscription: "What was stolen by French iniquity in sad times, the emperor gave back in abundance from the booty of victory". The inscription on the Bismarck bell should read: "Captured in France - rung in Germany". The St. John's bell should be adorned with the text "I once served in a bloody quarrel - now I admonish Christianity". In order not to cause diplomatic resentment in France, these inscriptions were not officially approved. In 1918 the Bochum Association cast four new steel bells (des'- 2600 kg, es'- 1900 kg, f'- 1400 kg, as' - 850 kg).

Kirchgarten

Church garden of the Johanneskirche with golden leaf gates

The new church garden was completed in 2003. The fenced-in area with seven golden gates made of leaf ornaments includes a fountain, an old chestnut tree and a low labyrinth made of boxwood.

Johanneskirche project

According to the concept of “ Contemplation - Culture - Communication ”, working groups come together to realize individual actions or series of events. These can be of a spiritual-ecclesiastical or cultural-artistic nature. There are film series, concerts, multimedia events or discussions in the church.

literature

  • J. Baulig, H. Mildenberger, G. Scherer: Architekturführer Saarbrücken , Saarbrücken 1998, p. 187.
  • Dieter Breitenbach, Marlen Dittmann, Clemens Zimmermann: Johanneskirche - Church in the center of the city of Saarbrücken, ed. from Bauverein Johanneskirche Saarbrücken eV, St. Ingbert 2016.
  • H. Brunner, Caspary H., Reitzenstein, A. v., Stich F .: Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland, Art Monuments and Museums , Reclams Art Guide Germany, Vol. 6, 8th Edition, Stuttgart 1990, p. 387.
  • Joachim Conrad, Erwin Klampfer: The churches of the Saarbrücken church district , Saarbrücken 1993, p. 16.
  • Georg Dehio: Handbook of German Art Monuments, Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland , edited by Hans Caspary u. a., 2nd edition, Munich / Berlin 1984, p. 896.
  • The Protestant Johanneskirche to St. Johann ad Saar, St. Johann / Saar 1900.
  • The Johanneskirche in St. Johann ad Saar, in: Saarbrücker Bergmannskalender, Saarbrücken, vol. 33 (1905), p. 73.
  • Regine Eichholz: Johanneskirche Saarbrücken , Saarbrücken 2007.
  • Evangelical Congregation St. Johann zu Saarbrücken (Ed.): History of the Protestant Congregation St. Johann zu Saarbrücken for the dedication of the restored old church on the harvest festival, October 4, 1953, Saarbrücken 1953.
  • Walter Faas: Civic church and oasis of calm, The Protestant Johanneskirche in Saarbrücken , in: Saarbrücker Zeitung, newspaper for Saarbrücken with the city of Saarbrücken and Upper Saar, Saarbrücken 2011, 187/188 from 13/14/15 August, p. E1.
  • Johanneskirche Saarbrücken, ed. from the Johanneskirche project, Saarbrücken 2007.
  • Martin Klewitz: The Protestant Church Building between 1800 and 1945 , in: The Protestant Church on the Saar yesterday and today, Saarbrücken 1975, p. 254.
  • Fritz Kloevekorn : History of the Evangelical Church of St. Johann zu Saarbrücken , Saarbrücken 1953, pp. 43–45.
  • Sigrid Konrad: The Johanneskirche and the shopkeepers , in: Saarbrücker Hefte, Saarbrücken 2001, 86, pp. 83–86.
  • Rudolf Krüger: About the construction of the house of God , in: Wilhelm Engel (Ed.): 375 years of the Evangelical Church on the Saar 1575–1950, Saarbrücken 1950, pp. 149–152.
  • State capital Saarbrücken: Saarbrücken, Johanneskirche, facade renovation 1st and 2nd construction phase , in: Preservation of monuments in Saarland. Annual report, Saarbrücken: Ministry of Education and Culture, Landesdenkmalamt, Saarbrücken 2011, pp. 104–105.
  • Kristine Marschall: Sacred buildings of classicism and historicism in Saarland , (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 323-324 and pp. 559-562 and p. 628.
  • Kristine Marschall: The Protestant St. John's Church in Saarbrücken , in: Festschrift for the 100th anniversary of the Protestant Church of St. Johann in Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 1999, pp. 302-330.
  • A. Neumeister, E. Haeberle (Hrsg.): Church competition for St. Johann , in: German competitions, Heft 4, 1892, pp. 12–32. (with draft plans)
  • Jörg Metzinger: Johanneskirche Saarbrücken 1898 - 1998 , Ottweiler 1998ff., Volume 1: Johanneskirche Saarbrücken / Project Johanneskirche, (Ed .: Project Johanneskirche Saarbrücken, architecture and equipment as well as documentation of the installation ES REICHT 100 by Christian H. Cordes).
  • Albert Rosenkranz: The ev. Rhineland , part 1, Düsseldorf 1956, p. 528.
  • Peter Wagner: Firm hold in the noisy Saarbrücken - The people like the Johanneskirche , in: Saarbrücker Zeitung 2005, 257 of November 5th / 6th, p. E1.
  • Newspaper article on the St. Johann competition, in: Saarbrücker Zeitung of July 23, 1892.

swell

  • Personal diary of the architect Heinrich Christian Güth, Güth private archive, Saarbrücken.
  • Building files and plan collections from 1891 in the Protestant parish archive Saarbrücken-St. Johann
  • Construction plans from 1935 in the archives of the Lower Building Supervisory Authority Saarbrücken, house file Saarbrücken, Johannisstraße

Web links

Commons : Johanneskirche (Saarbrücken)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of monuments of the Saarland, partial list of monuments state capital Saarbrücken (PDF; 653 kB), accessed on August 12, 2012.
  2. ^ Karl Lohmeyer: The sagas of the Saar from the source to the mouth. Saarbrücken 1951, p. 78.
  3. ^ Karl August Schleiden : Illustrated History of the City of Saarbrücken , Dillingen / Saar 2009, pp. 71–72.
  4. ^ Karl August Schleiden: Illustrated History of the City of Saarbrücken , Dillingen / Saar 2009, pp. 76–78.
  5. ^ Albert Ruppersberg : History of the cities of Saarbrücken and St. Johann from 1815 to 1909, of the city of Malstatt-Burbach and the unified city of Saarbrücken until 1914. P. 137.
  6. ↑ http://www.miroslavvolf.de/ , accessed on October 2, 2014.
  7. ↑ Kristine Marschall: Sacral Buildings of Classicism and Historicism in Saarland , (publications by the Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, Vol. 40), Saarbrücken 2002, pp. 323–325 and pp. 559–562 and p. 628.
  8. ↑ Bernhard H. Bonkhoff: The bells of the Saarland, Saarbrücken 1997, p 139th

Coordinates: 49 ° 14 ′ 9.8 ″  N , 6 ° 59 ′ 47.9 ″  E