St. John's Church (Würzburg)

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St. John's Church

The St. John's Church is the second Evangelical Lutheran parish church in Würzburg after St. Stephan and at the same time the first that was built by the Evangelical community itself. It was consecrated to John the Baptist on June 24, 1895 . The church, which was rebuilt after being destroyed during the war and consecrated in 1957, is located in downtown Würzburg about 200 meters northeast of the residence at the confluence of Hofstallstraße and Husarenstraße. Due to the road network, it is not exactly easted , but points to the northeast.

history

After a Protestant church building association had already collected more than 100,000 marks for the construction of a new Protestant church by the end of 1890, a new church was not possible due to the nature of the soil in the initially planned Ludwigstrasse, where a plot of land had been made available by the city. As a result, a piece of land on Rennweger Glacis was exchanged for the Ludwigstrasse area for 11,000 marks and a further loan of 200,000 marks was taken out, so that in July 1892 construction work on St. John's Church, the first new church in Würzburg for over 100 years, could begin. Shortly after the inauguration, the later founder of the movement Die Christengemeinschaft Friedrich Rittelmeyer began his activity as the town vicar of St. Johannes and worked there until 1902. After the considerable destruction during the war (see below), the Johannisgemeinde held the already restored hall of the Evangelical workers' association in the Luisengarten to carry out their services. In 1966, on the initiative of St. Johannis Cantor Günter Jena, a Johann Sebastian Bach Society was established , from which in 1969 the Bach Days emerged.

architecture

The originally one-tower church burned down during the Second World War after the bombing raid on Würzburg on March 16, 1945 . The tower ruin was redesigned by the Munich architect Reinhard Riemerschmid (1914–1996) in 1956/57 and inaugurated in 1957. In addition, Riemerschmid flanked the helmetless tower ruin with two slender pyramids with an octagonal floor plan. These are placed over the former stair towers and form, as it were, a double tower facade with a total height of 60 meters. The towers consist of a steel structure with light gray fiber cement panel cladding . Since the renovation, the church with its trapezoidal floor plan has the character of a memorial .

Furnishing

The original building of the St. John's Church was a three- nave nave. Today's church is a single-nave hall building , which is kept simple in its furnishings. Seven reinforced concrete girders that taper from top to bottom structure the interior and, together with the gable roof shape visible from the inside, give it a tent-like appearance. The ceilings are clad with light, sound-absorbing Odenwald tiles for better acoustics.

The eye-catcher of the interior of the church is a monumental, larger-than-life linden wood sculpture that hangs over the chancel, attached to two ropes. The sculpture Christ as World Judge comes from the Munich sculptor Helmut Ammann . Christ is flanked by two trumpet-blowing cherubs and is enthroned with an open book on a rainbow.

Protected architectural monument

The Evangelical Lutheran parish church at Rennweger Ring 1 is a protected architectural monument with the file number D-6-63-000-449 of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation . It is described as follows: “Hall building with seven reinforced concrete girders tapering downwards, low north aisle, made of layered masonry and a westwork-like tower block consisting of the tower stump of the neo-Gothic predecessor building by Hermann Steindorff and flanking tall pointed helmets from the reconstruction, post-war modernism, Reinhard Riemerschmid, 1956/57; with equipment. "

Bells

The church bells of the St. John's Church were donated by Georg Schäfer from Schweinfurt . The bell was cast by Erdinger master bell founder Czudnochowsky and is tuned to tones d '- e' - f sharp '- a' - h '.

Surname Chime Caster Casting year Diameter / mm Weight / kg
Bell 1 Prayer bell d ' Czudnochowsky 1957 1350 1500
Bell 2 Men's bell e ' Czudnochowsky 1957 1180 1100
Bell 3 Cross bell fis' Czudnochowsky 1957 760
Bell 4 John's bell a ' Czudnochowsky 1957 525
Bell 5 Baptismal bell H' Czudnochowsky 1957 380

organ

The organ with 39 stops on three manuals and a pedal was supplied by Rudolf von Beckerath Orgelbau , Hamburg , in 1960 .

Environment of the church

Death by bombs of Vadim Sidur , in the background the donations barometer for the renovation of the church
St. Johannis Church (Würzburg). Bomb memorial death by bombs by Vadim Sidur. Plaque.

In front of the church the bomb memorial Death by Bombs, a memorial against war and for peace, was erected by Vadim Sidur .

literature

  • Lothar Altmann: Würzburg - St. Johannis , Schnell Art Guide No. 1074, Schnell & Steiner publishing house, 1976
  • Olaf Kühl-Freudenstein: Old churches - rediscovered. Church education using the example of the Würzburg Johannis, Deutschhaus and Stephanskirche , JH Röll Verlag, September 2005, ISBN 3-89754-236-6 .

Web links

Commons : St. Johannis Church (Würzburg)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Martin Elze: The Evangelical Lutheran Church. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2, Theiss, Stuttgart 2001-2007; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 482-494 and 1305 f., Here: pp. 487-492 and 494.
  2. Martin Elze (2007), p. 492.

Coordinates: 49 ° 47 ′ 41.2 "  N , 9 ° 56 ′ 30.5"  E