Latvian Church

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Roof turret of the Latvian Church
Latvian Church

The Letten Church is an Evangelical Reformed church in the Wipkingen district of Zurich . It is at Imfeldstrasse 51 and was built in the Landi style .

history

Between 1920 and 1960 the Lettenquartier belonging to Wipkingen was built according to plan. The reformed parish of Wipkingen wanted to have a better presence in the area with many children and therefore built the Letten church in addition to the Wipkingen church between 1954 and 1955. 1997–2001 the clarification of the protection of the church and the renovation of the church under architect Richard W. Späh took place. The pews were removed and replaced with flexible seating.

Building description

location

The modest-looking Letten Church blends in harmoniously with the neighboring residential colony of Wasserwerkstrasse . Both the church and the residential colony were built by the same architects, Max Aeschlimann and Armin Baumgartner. Although the church is located on the edge of the slope between the Letten plateau and the banks of the Limmat, it avoids the dominance that is offered, so that it is not clearly visible either from the banks of the Limmat or on Imfeldstrasse. The church does not tower above the surrounding buildings and is set back a little from the street. Down the slope is the rectory , which is connected to the church by a pergola path .

Building

The church in Letten is a rectangular room that is oriented to the northwest. The low building is completed with a gable roof , which is crowned by a small roof turret. A low vestibule is attached to the hall church at a right angle . The facade facing Imfeldstrasse is gridded and, as it were, has five small, square windows as an upper storey. The south-west facade, on the other hand, is characterized by larger window areas. The church also has a concrete grille window with colored glass in the choir area.

Furnishing

The interior of the church is a simply designed room that is furnished with a lot of wood. The choir wall, on the other hand, consists of a exposed brick wall. The choir area is slightly separated from the church interior. In the north and south-east there is a gallery which increases the capacity of the church. The lighting helps ensure that the church does not create a mystical atmosphere, but rather stands in the tradition of a bright, sober preaching room. Armin Baumgartner created the reliefs Bible , Last Supper and Dove as artistic elements .

organ

In 1955, Orgelbau Maag AG built a multiplex organ with eleven sounding stops and eleven transmissions on two manuals and pedal . In 1963 the instrument was rebuilt and expanded. Since then it has had 15 sounding stops with 15 transmissions / extensions on two manuals and pedal. The wind chests were also rebuilt and solenoid valves were installed. When the church was renovated in 2001, the organ was also revised by the organ builder Eduard Müller, Binningen.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
Dumped 16 ′
1. Principal 8th'
Reed flute 8th'
2. Octave 4 ′
flute 4 ′
Gemshorn 4 ′
3. Mixture IV 2 2 / 3 '
4th Super octave 2 ′
recorder 2 ′
Trumpet 8th'
II Swell C – g 3
5. Coupling flute 8th'
6th Pointed flute 8th'
7th Principal 4 ′
8th. Reed flute 4 ′
9. Nasat 2 2 / 3 '
10. Flageolet 2 ′
11. third 1 3 / 5 '
Larigot 1 1 / 3 '
12. Plein jeu IV 1 1 / 3 '
13. Clairon 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
Dumped 16 ′
14th Sub bass 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Dumped 8th'
Pointed flute 8th'
Choral bass 4 ′
Bass flute 4 ′
mixture 2 2 / 3 '
Trumpet 8th'
15th Clairon 4 ′
  • Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
  • Playing aids : Register crescendo, 2 free combinations, single stop tongues, mixtures

Appreciation

The Letten Church has largely been preserved in its original condition from the 1950s. Its architects oriented themselves on the one hand on the Landi style, which had been formative in Switzerland since the late 1930s, on the other hand, the church joins the architectural tradition of the early post-war period in terms of art history and thus complements the city of Zurich 's Markuskirche in Seebach and Neue Kirche Altstetten .

See also

literature

  • Martin Bürlimann, Kurt Gammeter: Café Letten - A reading book. A journey through time through the Latvian. Wibichinga, Zurich 2015, ISBN 3-9523149-3-5 .
  • Martin Bürlimann, Kurt Gammeter: Bells ringing: From Kilchli to Wipkingen Church. Wibichinga, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-9523149-2-0 .
  • Building Construction Department of the City of Zurich: Reformed Churches of the City of Zurich. Special inventory. Zurich 2006.
  • Martin Bürlimann, Kurt Gammeter: Wipkingen: From the village to the quarter. Wibichinga, Zurich 2006, ISBN 3-9523149-0-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Building Department of the City of Zurich: Reformed Churches of the City of Zurich. Special inventory. Zurich 2006, pp. 126–130.
  2. ^ Building Department of the City of Zurich: Reformed Churches of the City of Zurich. Special inventory. Zurich 2006, pp. 126–130.
  3. ^ Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein, section ref. Church Letten Zurich-Wipkingen. Retrieved July 31, 2015.

Web links

Commons : Church Letten  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 23 '21.8 "  N , 8 ° 31' 52.1"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred and eighty-two thousand four hundred eighty-eight  /  249303