Basilica of Constantine

This article deals with the Basilica of Constantine in Trier.

• For the Basilica of Maxentius in Rome, which is often erroneously referred to as the Basilica of Constantine, see Maxentius Basilica .
• For the archaeologically developed Episcopal Church of Ostia see Basilica of Constantine .

Basilica with Constantine Square 2014

Constantine Basilica, Electoral Palace, aerial photo (2016)

Basilica of the Marian Column

Today's interior view (north side)

Interior view around 1900

Plan of the Electoral Palace and the basilica

Electoral palace and basilica at night

The Evangelical Church of the Redeemer (Konstantinbasilika) in the city of Trier ( Augusta Treverorum ) was originally a Roman palace auditorium . It was built as an audience hall for the Roman emperors who resided in the city in the 4th century. Only the naming of the Emperor Constantine in Constantine Basilica reminds of this time and purpose . The name of the building as a basilica comes from the local historian Johannes Steiner (19th century), who took it from a late antique eulogy for the emperor Constantine. From today's point of view, it is unsuitable, as it does not correspond to the building type of a basilica , but that of a hall church . The honorary Catholic title of a basilica does not apply either, as the building was never a Catholic church.

In the early Middle Ages , the burned-out ruins came into the possession of the Trier bishops . They converted this into a castle-like property. In 1614 the south and east walls were torn down and the rest were integrated into the new bishop's residence, the Electoral Palace . The church-like building was restored between 1844 and 1856, inaugurated on September 28, 1856 and handed over to the Protestant parish, which has been using it as a church since then, "for ever". On August 14, 1944, the basilica was badly damaged by an American air raid and burned down completely. It was rebuilt in the 1950s. The design of the interior was reduced to stone-facing exterior walls and a wooden coffered ceiling.

Since 1986 the Constantine Basilica has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage “Roman Monuments, Cathedral and Church of Our Lady in Trier” . It is also a protected cultural asset under the Hague Convention . The apse in the north , the west wall, remains of walls from previous buildings below the present-day floor and remains of Roman exterior paintings on the west and north façades have been preserved from Roman structures .

Building

Interior view south side with owl organ from 2014

Location, architecture and equipment

location

The church is located in the middle of a 700 meter long low river terrace , which extends from the cathedral and Liebfrauenkirche over the palace auditorium to the Kaiserthermen in the south, roughly halfway between the cathedral and the Kaiserthermen on the eastern edge of the old town of Trier. In the west, the Basilica is connected to Constantine Square. In the south is the palace garden , in the east the Electoral Palace and in the north the area of ​​the former Lower Palace - today Willy-Brandt-Platz - with the Red Tower and fountain. The basilica is signposted in the town, several bus lines stop directly at Konstantinplatz, south of the Electoral Palace is the basilica underground car park .

Architecture and equipment

The interior of the structure is 67 m long, 27.5 m wide and 33 m high. It is the oldest building in Germany used as a church. The current appearance of the structure is largely the result of the reconstruction after the Second World War.

Apse and west wall

The apse, the west wall and parts of the south wall of the Roman masonry have been preserved. These rest on a 4 meter wide and 4–6 meter deep foundation made of Roman cast concrete ( opus caementitium ) . The walls are 2.7 to 3.4 meters thick. Isolated remains of Roman plaster can be found outside on the apse and in the window niches of the west wall. Remnants of previous Roman buildings have been preserved under today's soil.

Evidence of the reconstruction in the 19th century are the south and east walls, plaster remnants on the south wall under the gable, the frieze under the roof construction and the heads of the evangelists' figures.

The roof construction, the ceiling, the windows, the concept of the unplastered interior, the floor and the furnishings with altar, pulpit, baptismal font and organs come from the reconstruction in the 1950s. The roof structure is made of prestressed concrete. The coffered ceiling made of spruce planks is suspended from it and is 0.9 meters deep. The furnishings including the benches were created under the direction of building officer Heinrich Otto Vogel .

Organs

→ Main article : Organs in the Basilica of Constantine

Schuke organ from 1962

Three organs have been found in the Basilica of Constantine. Up until the Second World War there was a large organ on the rear gallery, which was built in 1856 by the Uebach brothers (Barmen). The instrument had 40 registers on three manuals and a pedal .

After the basilica was rebuilt after the Second World War, a choir organ was installed in the window niche on the east wall in 1962. The instrument was built by the organ builder Karl Schuke (Berlin). It has 30 stops on two manual works and a pedal and is arranged in a neo-baroque style.

In 2014 a new main organ was inaugurated. The instrument was built by the organ building company Eule (Bautzen). It hangs on the south wall of the basilica and is divided into three housing bodies that fit into the window niches. The new main organ is arranged symphonically; it has 87 registers (over 6000 pipes) on four manual works and a pedal, making it the largest organ in Trier. The instrument can be played from two (identical) gaming tables, one of which is set up mobile in the church.

Bells

The red tower

The Constantine Basilica does not have its own bell tower. Its six-part chime has been hanging in the so-called “ Red Tower ”, the former archive building of the archbishop's administration , since 1968 .

No.	Casting year	Caster	Mass (kg, approx.)	Diameter (mm)	Percussive ( HT - 1 / 16 )
1	1965	Rincker, Sinn	1,046	1,216	e 1
2	1931	Schilling & Sons, Apolda	580	970	g sharp 1
3	1965	Rincker, Sinn	455	912	a 1
4th	1965	Rincker, Sinn	300	805	h 1
5	1965	Rincker, Sinn	230	733	d 2
6th	1965	Rincker, Sinn	155	647	e 2

Excavations

Excavation on the western wing of the vestibule with the foyer

After the remains of the basilica's predecessor buildings had already been discovered during excavations in 1912–1914 west of the basilica, the destruction of the basilica in the Second World War offered the opportunity to carry out excavations in the interior and thus research the predecessor buildings. A part of these excavations carried out by the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier from 1950 to 1954 is accessible to visitors as part of a special guided tour. The entrance to this is near the pulpit.

Use by the Evangelical Church Community

The basilica has been used by the Protestant church since 1856, but is owned by the State of Rhineland-Palatinate as the legal successor to the Free State of Prussia . According to a royal ordinance of August 3, 1859, the church was given to the evangelical civil and military congregation with full equality for eternity for worship as the Church of the Redeemer . In 1903 the civil parish numbered about 4,000 people and the military parish 2300 people. Even together, the two communities were not able to maintain the building, which is huge compared to the size of the community. According to the principles of usufruct, the communities had to pay for maintenance and small repairs, while the state only had to pay for the main repairs. The two communities each had to spend 300 marks for ongoing maintenance costs and minor religious needs. However, these funds were not sufficient for this either and so significant funds from the royal patronage fund were injected for repairs. The Prussian state's responsibility for the basilica did not end with the monarchy. Under the Weimar Republic and under the Nazi regime, grants were granted for major repairs such as re-covering the roof, heating the church and the like, the last time on May 7, 1941.

As a place of worship, the basilica caused considerable difficulties due to its size. On August 7th, 1903, the presbytery requested the king, according to which the magnificent building, due to its huge size, has properties in terms of acoustics and cold in winter that make it unsuitable for a place of worship . In this context, the presbytery requested funds for the construction of a new church, which at that time had not yet come.

Today (2015) the Church of the Redeemer is the only church in the Evangelical Parish of Trier and, together with the adjacent Caspar-Olevian- Hall, is its center. The area of ​​the municipality is identical to that of the city of Trier with the exception of the districts Pfalzel and Ehrang / Quint , which were incorporated in 1968 and which belong to the municipality of Trier-Ehrang. From December 15, 1963 to September 21, 2014, the Christ Church in the Heiligkreuz district of Trier was used as a second sermon site. After their abandonment, the basilica is again the only church in the Trier parish. Currently (2014) five pastors work in the parish.

There are one or two services in the church every Sunday - but only on special holidays in winter. “Normal” church services take place in the neighboring Caspar-Olevian-Saal during the cold season. The church is open to visitors during the day from March to October. The Evangelical Church Community likes to use the space along the long walls for exhibitions. The church is the concert church of the Trier Bach Choir and in summer there is a concert series with weekly organ concerts by international organists. It is also used by regional festivals such as the Moselfestwochen .

history

Antiquity

Building history

Roman plaster remains on the outside of the west wall

In the 2nd century AD, a representation and administration area was created in the north-east of Roman Trier by merging four insulae , the core of which was a central hall, which is referred to as the palace of the legates .

The palace auditorium was presumably built as a representative building when this area was redesigned as a residence under Emperor Constantine in the years 305–311. By moving down a residential area, space was created for the monumental building of the Kaiserthermen. The palace auditorium was built on top of the former palace of the legates , which together with the surrounding courtyards and outbuildings formed the core of the residence. Considerable leveling was necessary for the large construction, which also covered a street crossing.

However, construction activity came to a standstill in the Constantinian period. It was probably not fully completed until 379 under Gratian . The basilica, imperial baths and the circus formed a unit as a palace district. With the ensemble of circus and residence area, the planners consciously took up the relationship between Circus Maximus and Palatine that had developed in Rome . The same relationship is repeated in the Circus Neronis (in the gardens of Caesar), in the Villa of Maxentius on the Via Appia and the residence of Galerius in Thessaloniki .

With the departure of the Roman imperial court from Trier at the end of the 4th century, the building lost its original meaning. After the end of Roman rule, the burned-out building was added to the Frankish royal estate.

Part of the imperial residence and architecture

Reconstruction of the Trier palace auditorium

The monumental building served as the backdrop for audiences, receptions and the court ceremony, with the imperial throne in the apse. Although the name and appearance of today's Konstantin (s) basilica seem to point to an ancient church building, the building was originally built as the reception hall of the imperial residence. The frequently used name Palastaula or Aula Palatina is more accurate, but has no evidence in classical Latin .

The basilica has an outer length of 69.8 m (including the 12.4 m long apse) and a width of 27.2 m. In ancient times it was about 30 m high. The 2.7 m thick outer walls consisted of brick masonry and were plastered on the outside. Red sandstone parts are modern additions.

The interior had high -quality wall cladding: the nave and apse had floor and wall cladding made of inlaid marble slabs ( opus sectile ) up to the level of the uppermost window cornice, from which remnants and above all the holes of the iron mountings have been preserved. This was followed by stucco work up to the self-supporting ceiling, which should not have been dissimilar to today's coffered ceiling, which was inserted in 1955. Noteworthy are the heating systems, through which the 1600 m² interior could be heated via a three-part hypocaust with five prefurnia . The basilica was not a stand-alone building in ancient times. In the south there was a marble-clad vestibule in front of the main entrance; outside porticos with inner courtyards were ajar. The remains of these buildings are either preserved or marked in the pavement of today's square.

Middle Ages and early modern times

The end of the palace auditorium

It is not clear when the roof of the Roman building was lost. This may have happened during one of the Germanic invasions between 407 and 455, in which the late ancient city was not completely destroyed, but plundered and sacked. Otherwise the roof could have collapsed due to lack of maintenance. Trier came into the Franconian sphere of influence from 480 and thus to the kingdom of Clovis (484–511). The complex, still known as the Palatium , became the seat of the Franconian count. The outbuildings became the seat of the Franconian administration. The walls of the basilica were almost completely preserved, but under the Franks the political prerequisites and the technical possibilities to restore the roof were lacking.

Basilica ( engraving from 1648, probably based on a view from 1548/50)

The Basilica of Constantine as a fortress

Due to the thick walls and the troubled times, the former palace was now used as a fortress. The Roman windows were walled up and fixtures were made inside that leaned against the outer walls and lined up around a free courtyard in the middle. The apse was converted into a residential tower, turrets were placed on the opposite corners, and the walls were reinforced with battlements. The only access to the interior was a small gate on the west side. The church of St. Laurentius belonging to the palatium has been mentioned since the 8th century. It stood in front of the northwest corner tower to the west, was later parish church and demolished in 1803.

The period up to the end of the 10th century was marked by the rivalry between the count and the bishop who resided next to the cathedral. In 902 the Frankish King Ludwig gave the child to the Archbishop of Trier Radbod von Trier essential sovereign rights and the income of the royal palatinate. This brought the city of Trier and - by the middle of the century at the latest - the palatium into the possession of the archbishop, whose residence it was not yet.

The Constantine Basilica as a bishop's residence around 1610 from the manuscript "Luciliburgensia Romana" by Alexander Wiltheim

The palatium proved its worth as a fortress when the Trier counter-bishop Adalbero of Luxembourg was besieged by Emperor Heinrich II . The reason was that Heinrich tried to use the Mainz provost Megingaud , who was also elected bishop by the Trier cathedral chapter . Heinrich took the city of Trier in the summer of 1008, but was unable to persuade the enemy trapped in the palatium to surrender, even after a 16-week siege personally led by the emperor. Archbishop Eglibert's stay in the Palatium is documented in 1096 when persecuted Jews had to seek refuge there.

It can be assumed that the ministerial family de Palatio (from the palace), who were related to the well-known Trier burgrave family de Ponte (von der Brücke) and entrusted with the palace servants , had established a permanent residence in the form of a residential tower directly at the archbishop's palace . But there are no definite structural traces of such a building.

The dispute between the bishops and the bailiffs or ministerials continued into the middle of the 13th century. Only Albero von Montreul (1131-1152) was able to break the power of the ministerials by converting the Roman Palatiolum - today Trier-Pfalzel - into a fortress, moving his residence there and ordering all the archbishopric's income to be delivered there. Archbishop Johann I obtained the transfer of the bailiwick from Count Palatine Heinrich to the Archbishop in 1197. The bishop was now the supreme court lord for all residents of his area. The city then gradually came under the sole rule of the archbishop. Since John I, the archbishops finally lived in the Bering basilica.

The first written mention of the basilica can be found in the chronicle written by Bishop Otto von Freising (d. 1158): “A palace of wonderful construction is shown there, made of bricks like the wall of Babylon and still one today has retained such strength that it not only fears no enemy, but cannot be broken by any machinations. ”The first images of the basilica are in palace seals. It is shown from the side in the seal on a deed for leasing a mill from 1261. It can no longer be determined whether it is the eastern or western front. In another preserved palace seal on documents from 1315 and 1323 one can see no longer existing fixtures today: Romanesque ashlar masonry and a pointed arched portal.

The Constantine Basilica as an episcopal residence

The medieval state of construction of the palatium was preserved until around 1600, as the Archbishops of Trier mostly preferred their Koblenz secondary residence with the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress , one of the strongest fortresses in the German Empire, as a permanent place of residence. Nevertheless, the palatium was still used for representative purposes, especially during the Reichstag of 1473 with Emperor Friedrich III. and Charles the Bold .

The Constantine Basilica as part of the Electoral Palace in the 17th and 18th centuries

→ Main article : Electoral Palace

Watercolor drawing of the high and lower castle before the rococo south wing was built around 1745/50. The lower castle (left) was destroyed in 1944. The red tower on the far left, which today bears the bells of the church, has been preserved.

Elector Johann VII von Schönenberg (1581–1599) resided primarily in Trier and enlarged the palace ring by buying and tearing down houses in the north, behind the apse. The major redesign of the area began under Elector Lothar von Metternich . In order to be able to build a contemporary residential palace in the Renaissance style, from 1614 he had the east wall and large parts of the south wall of the palatium laid down in addition to the medieval additions and fixtures. The west wall became the outer wall of the palace, the apse initially remained a kind of residential tower.

As Elector Johann IX. Immediately after taking office, Philipp von Walderdorff (1756–1768) commissioned his court architect Johannes Seiz to carry out conversions in the Baroque style , plans also included a redesign or demolition of the apse. But these were not realized. In contrast, the new construction of the south wing with the famous staircase was implemented. Since this was classified as worth preserving a hundred years later when the basilica was rebuilt, this conversion ultimately prevented the full exposure of the south facade of the basilica and the construction of a vestibule.

Reconstruction in the 19th century

The palace auditorium, which has already been partially restored to its original appearance, in 1825

South facade with partly broken off south wing of the palace before the inauguration

Inauguration ceremony and reception of the King of Prussia by the evangelical clergy

The beginnings of the Protestant community in Trier

The rebuilding was preceded by the incorporation of the Rhineland into the Kingdom of Prussia after the Congress of Vienna . Protestant Christians moved to Trier, initially mainly Prussian administrative officials. On Reformation Day (October 31), 1817, the Protestant parish was founded, and one of its first problems was finding a suitable place of worship. The first services took place in the church of the former Dominican convent of St. Catherine. However, the former monastery was seized by the Prussian military treasury in 1819 and used as a hospital . Thereupon King Friedrich Wilhelm III determined. the former Jesuit church first as a simultaneous church, later as the sole church for the Evangelicals. After a long legal battle, the Prussian state was forced to return the church to the seminary in 1851. Even before that, namely on March 2, 1839, Friedrich Wilhelm III. tried to set up its own church for the evangelical congregation, but each time encountered great difficulties. On April 21, 1841, the new King Friedrich Wilhelm IV ordered the establishment of the former St. Maximin monastery church in front of the city for the Protestant civil and military community and the Catholic military community. The choir was then freed from military installations and redesigned accordingly. The evangelical civil parish was not happy with it, as every church attendance meant leaving the city, and the military had concerns too.

The story of the reconstruction

The driving force behind the reconstruction of the Roman palace auditorium as a Protestant church was the Trier architect and building researcher Christian Wilhelm Schmidt (1806–1883). He knew the king's interest in ancient early Christian buildings. He presented the project to the royal government in Trier and the Baurath and Conservator Ferdinand von Quast zu Berlin and got the king to decide to restore this building to a Protestant church. It was supported by the fact that the building was built by Constantine the Great, who was then considered the first Christian emperor. In addition, Schmidts completely wrong assumption that the building was a church in Roman times, as well as the equally wrong name basilica , which Johann Steininger used in 1835 for the Roman building.

For the Prussian architects, this gigantic task, which also had to come as close as possible to antiquity, was completely new territory. Fortunately, numerous plans by various architects have been preserved. The fortress builder and genius Colonel Carl Schnitzler was ultimately entrusted with the job . The castle captain Generalleutnant General Philipp von Wussow from Stolzenfels was in charge . Construction began in 1846. In 1848/49 construction had to be interrupted due to the revolution of 1848/49 . In 1851 the triumphal arch was restored and in 1856 the first photograph of the almost completed basilica was taken. The ceremonial inauguration took place on September 28, 1856 in the presence of the king, his younger brother, the future German Emperor Wilhelm I , Prince Heinrich of the Netherlands , governor in Luxembourg, the Upper President of the Rhine Province Hans Hugo von Kleist-Retzow and numerous representatives of the military.

Exterior view and south facade

South facade after the reconstruction with the relief removed again

The king's request for the reconstruction was to restore the basilica to its original size and style. The Roman inventory was included in the planning; Roman components were discovered and researched through excavations and soundings. Discussion points during the reconstruction included:

• how to deal with the medieval building fabric, in particular the fixtures, the battlements and the corner towers,
• whether the largely preserved Roman exterior plaster should be preserved,
• whether and if so, how far the rococo south wing of the Electoral Palace should be torn down in order to expose the south wall of the basilica again,
• whether and if so, where a bell tower should be built.

Finally, the outer structure was dismantled to the Roman substance, the medieval battlements removed and missing parts of the outer walls added. Although the Roman plaster was still preserved on considerable areas, most of it was knocked off and the outer skin was reduced to the bricks that glowed red, especially in the evening sun. The original Roman exterior paintings are only preserved on nine of the fourteen window axes of the lower row of arches on the west and north facades. In addition, there are still 65 m² of Roman plastered surfaces with isolated paint residues on the north facade. The south facade posed a problem, as the south wing of the Electoral Palace was built in front of it. Originally, a vestibule and a tower were also planned for the basilica. Corresponding drafts have been received from, among others, Carl Schnitzler (from 1850) and from State Architect Helbig (from 1876). To completely expose the south facade would also have resulted in the destruction of the baroque staircase, which was already valued at the time. After lengthy discussions and various drafts, in which the relocation of the staircase was considered, the three western bays of the south wing of the residence were finally removed as a compromise, thus exposing around a third of the basilica's south facade to the ground. The final decision against a vestibule - and therefore also against a tower - was made by the military through the decision to convert the rococo wing of the castle into an officers' mess.

Unexecuted draft by Karl Schnitzler in 1850 for the design of the south facade with tower

It was no longer possible to determine clearly whether the south facade had a gable . When it was reconstructed, it was decorated with a flat stucco relief. This was made according to a design by Karl Friedrich Schinkel by the Berlin sculptor August Kiß in 1833/37 for the gable of the Nikolaikirche in Potsdam , attached there, but removed again in 1844. By order of the king it was transferred to the Trier basilica and can be seen in a photo from 1856. However, the relief was damaged by the transport and was not weatherproof enough. It was removed again before 1886 and was then lost.

The design of the interior

Gustav Kaupert : Jesus Christ (ca.1880)

The design of the interior caused even greater problems, especially the king's demand for purity of style, as the knowledge that would have been necessary for a reconstruction was largely lacking. The thesis, put forward by Steininger in 1835 and pursued further by Schmidt in 1845, that the basilica was a church also proved to be a problem. Comparable preserved churches looked very different and were almost always three-aisled with a raised central nave. For the interior, the state curator Ferdinand von Quast developed a design with a very complex program of images and rich decorations with paintings that went far beyond what is usual for a Protestant parish church. The design was ultimately rejected by the king, who was highly competent in matters of architecture, not only for financial reasons. Finally, a more modest and significantly more cost-effective concept developed by Carl Schnitzler and Friedrich August Stüler was implemented . It was based on buildings of the Italian Protenaissance from the 11th and 12th centuries, limited the design of the walls with white-yellowish color to the architectural structure with fields and arches and dispensed with elaborate forms. The ribbons, arches and filling motifs, painted in a green marble shade, suggested marble paneling. The numerous painted quotes from the Bible were typical for the function of the basilica as a Protestant church and were mostly chosen by the king himself.

In front of the south wall there was an organ loft supported by two pillars and six columns, which accommodated the Ipach organ with its two pipe towers almost 15 meters high. Instead of a coffered ceiling , an open roof structure was implemented, as in the church of San Miniato al Monte in Florence . The altar was made of white marble and was covered by a canopy . Its four pillars, a gift from the viceroy of Egypt to the king, were made of yellow African marble. In the 1870s and 1880s, the Frankfurt sculptor Gustav Kaupert created five marble sculptures for the basilica. They represented Jesus Christ and the evangelists and around 1900 were supplemented with apostle figures of Peter and Paul based on a design by August Wittig . The statues were destroyed when the church was rebuilt. Today only the heads of the Kaupert figures remain. They were restored in 2001 and in 2006 on the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of the basilica as the Evangelical Church of the Savior on the east wall of the basilica with a trilingual lettering.

• 

  Luke

• 

  Matthew

• 

  Markus

• 

  John

World War II and post-war period

Destroyed by an American air raid

Basilica and Electoral Palace from the south (2008)

Southwest Basilica (2008)

During the Second World War , the basilica was badly damaged by an air raid by an independently flying back squadron of the 92nd Bombardment Group of the US Army Air Forces on August 14, 1944 between 12:00 and 13:00 and burned down completely. The ten B-17 bombers were flying back from southern Germany, had their bombs can not throw on target and therefore threw on the flight back 11,000 incendiary bombs on the historic center of opportunity target Trier from. Of these, around 100 incendiary bombs fell on the basilica, as was later determined by the bomb baskets found. Attempts to extinguish around 50 fire extinguishing syringes were unsuccessful as they did not even reach the roof.

After the end of the war, the roof, the organ, the organ loft, most of the altar with the exception of two marble columns, parts of the plaster and most of the window panes were destroyed. The parish archive, which was stored in the supposedly safe cellar, was also burned. The outer walls, the stone window divisions, some windows on the east side with original glazing and almost undamaged the large marble figures of Gustav Kaupert and August Wittig and the aedicules in the niches have been preserved. Since the basilica ruins could no longer be used for church services, the community held its services in the community hall of the hospice in Nordallee until the evacuation of Trier in December 1944.

Clearance of rubble and second reconstruction

The coffered ceiling , made of spruce wood, hangs on a prestressed concrete structure and, in a reduced form, takes on the appearance of antique wooden ceilings.

After the war, the congregation first celebrated its services in the hospital chapel of the Evangelical Hospital in Engelstrasse, and from December 4, 1949 to December 1956 in the auditorium of the Max Planck Grammar School . As early as January 1946, the community formed a committee for the reconstruction of the basilica, which met fortnightly and of which more than 100 meetings are documented. Since the basilica was originally owned by the state of Prussia and the Protestant parish of Trier only had perpetual rights of use, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, as legal successor, was responsible for the reconstruction and, above all, for its financing. As a reconstruction of the basilica initially seemed completely unrealistic for financial reasons, the installation of a small church in the ruins was considered in 1949. This plan was supported by the Ministry of Education through a ministerial decree, but not approved by the building police. After clearing the building in 1947, a service was held in the ruins from 1948 onwards at Whitsun. The discussion “emergency church yes or no” was very intense and reached its climax in 1951. The decision to rebuild the basilica as an entire structure was made - also against the background of the significantly improving economic situation - de facto at a meeting of the Trier district government on February 12, 1953. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate, supported by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, brought in four budget years and the city of Trier to raise the necessary funds.

In the subsequent reconstruction, designed by the architect Heinrich Otto Vogel (Trier), the aim was to restore the interior of the basilica with the shell-like romanticism with stone- faced brick walls that was preferred in the 1950s for new churches . For this purpose, all the window divisions were removed, the windows somewhat reduced to their original size, the remains of Stüler's furnishings were removed and the larger-than-life marble figures largely destroyed. Only the heads of the Kaupert figures were saved. The seven niches were reduced to their original Roman size. The aedicules were destroyed, although they were also present in the Roman building. The windows were filled with oak frames and rectangular glass panels. The coffered ceiling made of spruce planks with a depth of 0.9 meters was suspended from a prestressed concrete structure . The rebuilt basilica was inaugurated on December 9, 1956 by Heinrich Held , the President of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland . The sermon was held by Pastor Karl Becker, who saw his life's work in the reconstruction. The musical design was the responsibility of the Leipzig University Choir under the direction of Friedrich Rabenschlag . At the subsequent ceremony in the later demolished Treviris-Saalbau, Federal President Theodor Heuss , Prime Minister Peter Altmeier , Trier's Catholic Bishop Matthias Wehr and Trier's Mayor Heinrich Raskin gave the speeches.

The equipment was completed shortly after the inauguration. The organ with 30 registers found its place in the choir and was completed in 1962. In 1968 the parish's long-cherished wish for a bell tower was also fulfilled: The so-called Red Tower, originally built in 1647, was the only building in the Lower Castle of the Electoral Residence that was destroyed in World War II. A six-part bell was installed on its upper floor.

After the inauguration of the large organ on the south side, both the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, represented by Prime Minister Malu Dreyer , and the parish saw the reconstruction after the Second World War as complete.

Redesign of Konstantinplatz / Martin-Luther-Platz

Konstantinplatz / Martin Luther-Platz with the outdoor lighting that was renewed in 2017

Coming from downtown Trier, Konstantinplatz is the forecourt of the Konstantinbasilika. It was used as a bus parking lot in the post-war period. In 1981, in the run-up to Trier's two millennium celebrations, the city planning office asked the architects Max Bill and Gottfried Böhm and Oswald Mathias Ungers to submit an expert opinion for the design of the square. Ungers presented six designs. The Cologne architect envisaged a square, slightly sunken square as the ideal solution, the north-eastern quadrant of which follows the course of the street and is rounded to form a quarter circle. In addition, an arcade building in the south, a gate building over Konstantinstrasse, an arch over the Weberbach and a tower on the foundations of the Laurentiuskirche, which was demolished centuries ago, were planned.

Ultimately, Ungers was commissioned with the design of the square, but none of his submitted designs, only a fragment of the original ideas. The ground plans of buildings that have long since been abandoned, such as the former Laurentius Church, are drawn on the lowered square. Today it is used by tourists and due to the different levels of the Trier skater scene as a meeting place and training area.

To mark the anniversary of the Reformation, on October 31, 2017, the part of Konstantinplatz directly on the Konstantinbasilika was renamed Martin Luther-Platz and the exterior lighting was renewed by installing LED spotlights.

See also

• List of the UNESCO World Heritage Church buildings
• List of Greco-Roman roofs

literature

• Wolfgang Binsfeld : Porta Nigra, basilica and amphitheater in Trier in medieval sources. In: Regional history quarterly papers. Vol. 23, 1977, ISSN  0458-6905 , pp. 85-88.
• Gerardo Brown-Manrique: Konstantinplatz in Trier. Between memory and place. In: Places. A Quarterly Journal of Environmental Design. Vol. 3, No. 1, 1986, ISSN  0731-0455 , pp. 31-42, digitized version , (contribution to urban planning aspects with numerous illustrations).
• Lukas Clemens : Sigillum palatii nostri: Notes on the earliest traditional representation of the Trier palace auditorium (so-called basilica). In: Kurtrierisches Jahrbuch. Vol. 35, 1995, ISSN  0452-9081 , pp. 56 * -70 *.
• Heinz Cüppers : The palace basilica. In: Heinz Cüppers: The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. License issue. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-933203-60-0 , pp. 601-604.
• Sabine Faust: Basilica: Roman palace auditorium. In: Jürgen Merten (Red.): Guide to archaeological monuments of the Trier region (= series of publications by the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier. No. 35). Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Trier 2008, ISBN 978-3-923319-73-2 , p. 42 f.
• Hans-Peter Kuhnen : The palace auditorium (so-called basilica) of the late antique imperial palace. In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (ed.): The Roman Trier (= guide to archaeological monuments in Germany. Vol. 40 = series of publications of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier. No. 20). Theiss, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1517-0 , pp. 135-142.
• Eckart Leipprand: The basilica forecourt in Trier. A monumental building without any involvement. In: New Trierisches Jahrbuch. Vol. 41, 2001, ISSN  0077-7765 , pp. 47-69.
• Wilhelm Reusch (Red.): The basilica in Trier. Festschrift for the Restoration December 9, 1956. Evangelical Congregation, Trier 1956.
• Wilhelm Reusch: The palace auditorium (so-called basilica) in Trier. In: Theodor K. Kempf, Wilhelm Reusch (Hrsg.): Early Christian evidence in the catchment area of ​​the Rhine and Moselle. Unitas bookstore (on commission), Trier 1965, pp. 144–150.
• Nicole Riedl, Friederike Funke: Roman exterior painting and its history of restoration. In: Nicole Riedl (Hrsg.): Weltkulturerbe Konstantinbasilika Trier. Wall painting in free weathering as a conservation challenge (= ICOMOS - International Council for Monuments and Protected Areas. Booklets of the German National Committee. 55 = Writings of the Hornemann Institute. 15). Bäßler, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-930388-80-6 , pp. 42-54
• Jan Werquet: How to deal with the antique plaster residues and exterior paintings during the reconstruction of the Trier Constantine Basilica in the 19th century. In: Nicole Riedl (Hrsg.): Weltkulturerbe Konstantinbasilika Trier. Wall painting in free weathering as a conservation challenge (= ICOMOS - International Council for Monuments and Protected Areas. Booklets of the German National Committee. 55 = Writings of the Hornemann Institute. 15). Bäßler, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-930388-80-6 , 36-41.
• Jan Werquet: The reconstruction of the Trier Konstantinbasilika under Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The planning and construction history 1844-1856. In: Trier magazine for the history and art of the Trier region and its neighboring areas. Vol. 65, 2002, ISSN  0041-2953 , pp. 167-214.
• Eberhard Zahn: The basilica in Trier. Roman Palatium - Church of the Redeemer (= series of publications of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier. No. 6). Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Trier 1991, ISBN 3-923319-18-5 .

Web links

Commons : Basilica of Constantine  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Bells

• Description of the bells and sound sample on glockenklaenge.de
• Ringing the bells (in the red tower next to the church) , Youtube

Links for today's usage

• Evangelical parish
• Basilica Music Website
• The Trier Bach Choir

Links to the history of the building

• History of the palace auditorium , treveris.com
• Photos and drawings with explanations about the western wall , treveris.com
• Reconstruction drawings of the Roman palace auditorium
• Pictures of the war-torn palace auditorium
• Image of the palace complex destroyed in the war

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Palastaula in Trier; in treveris.com. treveriscom, accessed December 6, 2014 . 
2. ^ The basilica in Trier and its inauguration on September 28, 1856 . In: Illustrirte Zeitung . November 1, 1856, p. 7 ( ANNO - AustriaN Newspapers Online [accessed May 5, 2020]).
3. ↑ Eberhard Zahn: The basilica in Trier. Roman Palatium - Church of the Savior. 1991.
4. ↑ Information on the bells of the Basilica of Constantine. From glockenklaenge.de, accessed on April 20, 2015.
5. ↑ Heinz Cüppers: The palace basilica. In: Heinz Cüppers: The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. 2005, pp. 601-604, here p. 604.
6. ↑ Eberhard Zahn: The basilica in Trier. Roman Palatium - Church of the Savior. 1991, pp. 50-54.
7. ^ Andreas Kahlert: Konstantinsbasilika and state administration. In: Wilhelm Reusch (Red.): The basilica in Trier. Festschrift zur Wiederaufbau December 9, 1956. 1956, pp. 40–46, here pp. 44–45.
8. ↑ Entry on the former Christ Church in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; accessed on October 9, 2015.
9. ↑ Farewell after more than 50 years. ( Memento from June 13, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) on 16vor.de, accessed on April 24, 2015.
10. ↑ Website of the Basilica of Constantine , accessed on April 30, 2015.
11. ↑ Heinz Cüppers: The palace basilica. In: Heinz Cüppers: The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. 2005, pp. 601-604, here p. 601.
12. ↑ Margarethe König (Ed.): Palatia. Imperial palaces in Constantinople, Ravenna and Trier (= series of publications of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier. No. 27). Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Trier 2003, ISBN 3-923319-56-8 , esp. Pp. 123–161.
13. ↑ Klaus-Peter Goethert, Marco Kiessel: Trier - Residence in late antiquity. In: Alexander Demandt , Josef Engemann (ed.): Konstantin der Große. Emperor Caesar Flavius ​​Constantinus . Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2007, ISBN 978-3-8053-3688-8 , pp. 304-311.
14. ↑ Klaus-Peter Goethert, Marco Kiessel: Trier - Residence in late antiquity. In: Alexander Demandt, Josef Engemann (ed.): Konstantin der Große. Emperor Caesar Flavius ​​Constantinus . Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2007, ISBN 978-3-8053-3688-8 , pp. 304-311, here p. 307.
15. ↑ Information according to Klaus-Peter Goethert, Marco Kiessel: Trier - Residenz in der Spätantike. In: Alexander Demandt, Josef Engemann (ed.): Konstantin der Große. Emperor Caesar Flavius ​​Constantinus . Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2007, ISBN 978-3-8053-3688-8 , pp. 304-311, here p. 307; after Hans-Peter Kuhnen: The palace auditorium (so-called basilica) of the late antique imperial palace. In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Ed.): The Roman Trier. 2001, pp. 135-142, 71.0 m × 32.6 m.
16. ↑ Klaus-Peter Goethert and Marco Kiessel: Trier - Residence in late antiquity. In: Alexander Demandt, Josef Engemann (ed.): Konstantin der Große. Emperor Caesar Flavius ​​Constantinus. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2007, pp. 307-311, here pp. 308f.
17. ↑ Matthäus Merian's engraving from 1646 is very similar to the woodcut of Trier from 1548 in Sebastian Münster's Cosmographiae Universalis (title: Situs & figura antiquissimae & praecipuae Medioniatricum ciuitatis Treuirensis), which is considered to be the first authentic cityscape of Trier. Although Merian's view is more detailed than the woodcut, it does not depict structural changes that were made between 1548 and 1646 (e.g. at the Basilica of Constantine). Comparison of the woodcut in the Latin edition of Cosmographiae Universalis from 1550 on Historic Cities
18. ↑ Lukas Clemens: Sigillum palatii nostri: Notes on the earliest traditional representation of the Trier palace auditorium (so-called basilica). In: Kurtrierisches Jahrbuch. Vol. 35, 1995, pp. 56 * -70 *, on this p. 57 *.
19. ^ Franz-Josef Knöchel: Fortified residential complexes in medieval Trier . In: Kurtrierisches Jahrbuch 42 (2002), pp. 85-103 (here p. 100, online ; PDF; 1.1 MB).
20. ↑ ^{a b} Eberhard Zahn: The basilica in Trier. Roman Palatium - Church of the Savior. 1991, pp. 11-18.
21. ↑ Wolfgang Binsfeld: Porta Nigra, basilica and amphitheater in Trier in medieval sources. In: Regional history quarterly papers. Vol. 23, 1977, pp. 85-88, here p. 85.
22. ↑ Lukas Clemens: Sigillum palatii nostri: Notes on the earliest traditional representation of the Trier palace auditorium (so-called basilica). In: Kurtrierisches Jahrbuch. Vol. 35, 1995, pp. 56 * -70 *, on this p. 58 * -67 *.
23. ↑ Eberhard Zahn: The basilica in Trier. Roman Palatium - Church of the Savior. 1991, pp. 17-18.
24. ^ Karl Becker: The Evangelical Congregation Trier and the "Basilica". In: Wilhelm Reusch (Red.): The basilica in Trier. Festschrift zur Wiederaufbau December 9, 1956. 1956, pp. 70–73, here p. 71.
25. ↑ January Werquet: The reconstruction of Trier Constantine Basilica of Frederick William IV The planning and architectural history from 1844 to 1856.. In: Trier magazine for the history and art of the Trier region and its neighboring areas. Vol. 65, 2002, ISSN  0041-2953 , pp. 167-214 here pp. 172-173
26. ↑ Nicole Riedl, Friederike Funke: The Roman exterior painting and its restoration history. In: Nicole Riedl (Hrsg.): Weltkulturerbe Konstantinbasilika Trier. Wall painting exposed to the elements as a conservation challenge. 2012, pp. 42–54, here p. 42.
27. ↑ Jan Werquet: How to deal with the antique plaster residues and exterior paintings during the reconstruction of the Trier Constantine Basilica in the 19th century. In: Nicole Riedl (Hrsg.): Weltkulturerbe Konstantinbasilika Trier. Wall painting exposed to the elements as a conservation challenge. 2012, pp. 36–41, here pp. 39–40.
28. ↑ Eberhard Zahn: The basilica in Trier. Roman Palatium - Church of the Savior. 1991, pp. 36-38 and 43-44.
29. ↑ January Werquet: The reconstruction of Trier Constantine Basilica of Frederick William IV The planning and building history 1844-1856.. In: Trier magazine for the history and art of the Trier region and its neighboring areas. Vol. 65, 2002, ISSN  0041-2953 , pp. 167-214, here pp. 174-175
30. ↑ Eberhard Zahn: The basilica in Trier. Roman Palatium - Church of the Savior. 1991, pp. 39-42.
31. ↑ Inscription in the church next to the preserved heads of the figures; viewed April 28, 2015
32. ↑ Helmut Schnatz : The aerial warfare in the Trier area 1943–1945 , historicum.net, accessed on January 24, 2015.
33. ^ ^{A b} Karl Becker: The Evangelical Congregation Trier and the "Basilica". In: Wilhelm Reusch (Red.): The basilica in Trier. Festschrift zur Wiederaufbau December 9, 1956. 1956, pp. 70–73, here p. 72.
34. ^ ^{A b} Karl Becker: The Evangelical Congregation Trier and the "Basilica". In: Wilhelm Reusch (Red.): The basilica in Trier. Festschrift zur Wiederaufbau December 9, 1956. 1956, pp. 70–73, here p. 73.
35. ^ Andreas Kahlert: Konstantinsbasilika and state administration. In: Wilhelm Reusch (Red.): The basilica in Trier. Festschrift zur recovery December 9, 1956. 1956, pp. 40–46, here pp. 40–44.
36. ↑ Eberhard Zahn: The basilica in Trier. Roman Palatium - Church of the Savior. 1991, pp. 46-50.
37. ↑ Eberhard Zahn: The basilica in Trier. Roman Palatium - Church of the Savior. 1991, p. 28.
38. ^ Entry on the Red Tower in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; accessed on October 9, 2015.
39. ^ Georg Dehio: Handbook of German Art Monuments . Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich a. a. 1984, ISBN 3-422-00382-7 , pp. 1071-1072.
40. ↑ ( page no longer available , search in web archives: Die Rheinpfalz ), dated November 30, 2014, accessed on April 20, 2015.
41. ↑ Design of the Basilica forecourt. In: arch INFORM ; accessed on May 1, 2015.

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on May 7, 2015 .

Coordinates: 49 ° 45 ′ 12 ″  N , 6 ° 38 ′ 36 ″  E