Co-cathedral Metamorphosis of Christ (Varnsdorf)
The Metamorphosis of Christ co- cathedral in Varnsdorf ( Warnsdorf ), Czech Republic , is a neo-Romanesque church building of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic .
history
Warnsdorf plays a central role in the history of Old Catholicism in Austria-Hungary . As a result of the First Vatican Council , the rejection of the council resolutions led to the establishment of Old Catholic communities in Germany and Switzerland , but also - above all through the work of Anton Nittel - in Austria . Together with the two parishes in Vienna and Ried im Innkreis , the Warnsdorf parish was one of the first old Catholic parishes to be founded in the Danube monarchy .
The construction of the church building began in 1873; It was on December 27, 1874 consecrated . At the end of August 1880, the construction of the parish building began. On January 1, 1897, the bishopric was moved from Vienna to Warnsdorf and the parish church was elevated to the status of a cathedral church . Due to the expulsion of the German Bohemia , the previously predominantly German-speaking Old Catholic community in Warnsdorf became extinct. The church, which had no leadership after the war, was expropriated. The church building served various purposes in the following decades (including as a columbarium ).
In 1995 the bishopric was moved from Warnsdorf to Prague and the Warnsdorf Church was given the status of a co- cathedral . After the restoration work was completed, the church was given the name Metamorphosis of Christ . For the rededication of the church, a reconciliation service of the German and Czech local parishes took place in 1996, which was followed by a year of reconciliation. In 2000, the restoration of the vitrage windows began, which was completed a few years later with international help.
On August 23, 2002, the Czech and German congregations celebrated a joint service in the Old Catholic Church in Varnsdorf, and on the occasion of the celebrations for the acceptance of the Czech Republic and the Republic of Poland into the European Union, the Deanery Day of the East German congregations took place on May 8, 2004 in Varnsdorf together with the communities from Jelenia Gora (Poland) and Varnsdorf (Czech Republic). In 2014, Bishops Dušan Hejbal and Matthias Ring jointly donated the sacrament of Confirmation to German and Czech Old Catholics here.
Today (2018) there is an active Old Catholic parish in Varnsdorf, which, in addition to parish pastoral care and social care for children, maintains close relationships with the neighboring German parish in Saxony. The German and Czech congregations have been celebrating the Good Friday service together for years .
Furnishing
The alabaster statue of Christ on the altar was created by the sculptor Vincenz Pilz , who was born in Warnsdorf and installed in the church in June 1882. The relief of the homage to the Magi in the church is also from Pilz.
See also
Web links
- Website of the municipality (with picture archive)
- Deutschlandfunk, broadcast "Day by Day": Old Catholics in Saxony (April 14, 2009)
Coordinates: 50 ° 54 ′ 27 ″ N , 14 ° 37 ′ 50 ″ E