Johanniterkirche (Frankfurt am Main)

Johanniterkirche before 1845
(historicizing watercolor by Carl Theodor Reiffenstein , 1871)

The Johanniterkirche was a Gothic church in the eastern old town of Frankfurt am Main , on the corner of Fahrgasse and Schnurgasse. It was first mentioned in a document in 1342. After a heyday in the 14th century, the Frankfurt branch of the Johanniter quickly lost its importance after the Reformation . The church gradually fell into disrepair and was profaned in 1801 . It served as a warehouse until 1874, when it was demolished for a road break.

history

The 13th century was a time of rapid growth for Frankfurt. Little by little , a number of religious orders established branches in the city, including the Order of Knights of St. John . The Johanniterhof was first mentioned in a document in 1294 . A church belonged to the Johanniterhof, the first written evidence of which dates from 1342. It reports that during the Magdalen flood in June 1342 the church was “five shoes” (about 1.40 meters) high under water.

The Johanniterhof was at its height in the 14th century. Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian was well-liked by the city and, during his frequent stays in Frankfurt, took his apartment with the Johanniter. On June 14, 1349 the anti-king Günther von Schwarzburg died in the Johanniterhaus, presumably of the plague . His body was laid out on June 18 in the choir of the Johanniterkirche and one day later transferred to the Bartholomäuskirche for burial .

In the Middle Ages , the order owned rich property in the Frankfurt area, including in Kalbach . After the Reformation was introduced in Frankfurt in 1533, the Johanniterkirche lost its importance. The city council avoided any conflict with the order privileged by the Catholic emperor. Because the earlier donations and legacies of wealthy Frankfurt citizens were almost completely absent, the buildings fell into disrepair more and more.

Johanniterkirche on the Merian engraving from 1628

In 1626 the order commander Andreas Steinfeder had the church renovated on private account, but this too could not revive the spiritual life. Only in 1787 was the church mentioned again in a document. Because the church roof threatened to collapse because of its dilapidation, the city council ordered its renovation.

At that time there were no more religious living in the Johanniterkloster, and only once a week, on Wednesday, a Holy Mass was read by clergymen of the Bartholomäusstift - because an old foundation obliged the order to do so .

The order commander Count Fugger tried in 1792 to profane the church, but negotiations with the order's leadership dragged on. Finally, his successor, Komtur Freiherr von Pfürdt , was able to use the church as a warehouse in 1801. Because of the profanation that had already taken place, the church escaped secularization , but in 1806 the monastery and church fell to the Principality of Aschaffenburg .

After the end of Napoleonic rule and the restoration of the Free City of Frankfurt , the Johanniterkirche and the Teutonic Order Church did not fall to the city like the other churches, but to the Emperor of Austria , who sold the Johanniterkirche to the Free City of Frankfurt in 1841.

The city set up a warehouse again, and later a city office in the church. A chapel was demolished as early as 1845 . After the annexation of the Free City by Prussia in 1866, the number of voices pleading for the removal of the church increased. In 1872, against the opposition of the Prussian conservator von Quast , the city administration decided to demolish it in favor of a new street. Various reports, including the renowned history and archeology association and Franz Josef Denzinger , who came to Frankfurt to rebuild the cathedral , supported the city's position and attested that the church was historically and art-historically "not significant enough to be in the public interest lying removal objectionable ". The church was therefore torn down between February and April 1874.

From 1874 to 1876 Max Meckel built the Josefs-Kirche , Bornheim's first Catholic church, based on the model of the demolished Johanniterkirche. He used a number of spoils , including vault ribs , keystones and window tracery of the Johanniterkirche. Since the St. Josefs Church was rebuilt and expanded in 1932, only the choir and transept in the form designed by Meckel remain in the 21st century .

The choir vault of the old Josefskirche corresponds to the model of the medieval Johanniterkirche. The keystone of this vault, some ornamented keystones of the central nave and the two figures from the Middle Ages under the consoles of the crossing are directly transferred and reused . They represent a naked man, a rabbit and a dog.

literature

• Hans Lohne: Frankfurt around 1850. Based on watercolors and descriptions by Carl Theodor Reiffenstein and the painterly plan by Friedrich Wilhelm Delkeskamp . Frankfurt am Main, Verlag Waldemar Kramer, 1967
• Fried Lübbecke : The face of the city. According to Frankfurt's plans by Faber, Merian and Delkeskamp. 1552-1864 . Waldemar Kramer publishing house, Frankfurt am Main 1952
• Hans Pehl: Churches and chapels in old Frankfurt . Edited and reissued by Hans-Otto Schembs . Frankfurt am Main 1984. Josef Knecht Verlag, ISBN 3-7820-0508-2

Web links

Commons : Johanniterkirche (Frankfurt)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 43.8 ″  N , 8 ° 41 ′ 9.1 ″  E