Kornfeldkirche

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Kornfeldkirche Riehen with tower

The Kornfeldkirche is an Evangelical Reformed church in the Swiss municipality of Riehen in the canton of Basel-Stadt . From the end of December 1958, the plans were drafted and revised several times by the architect Werner Max Moser with the help of his colleague André M. Studer from the Haefeli Moser Steiger architectural office in Zurich (one of the most important architectural offices in Switzerland at the time). April 1962, the inauguration took place on September 13, 1964. The construction costs including the bells , tower clock and organ amounted to around 2,400,000 Swiss francs . In 2003 the Kornfeldkirche was included in the cantonal inventory of buildings worthy of protection.

architecture

The slim, 36 m high church tower made of fair- faced concrete on a square floor plan stands completely free in a place in front of the main entrance to the church, almost directly at the intersection of Vierjuchartenweg / Kornfeldstrasse . In the upper third, the tower bears a crown-like structure above the square dial of the tower clock, which is shaped by recesses in the concrete, consisting of several vertically oriented, parallel to each other, slightly protruding concrete slats on each side, protruding from the wall and sloping at the upper edge. A vertical gap runs through the concrete over the entire height of the tower on each side wall of the tower. This strong vertical structure lends the tower a certain - intentional - resemblance to a huge stalk of corn and an ear .

The main building of the church and the ancillary buildings (rectory, parish hall, classroom and other rooms) are behind it, on a slightly elevated level that can be reached by a few steps. They are built in a low, staggered construction and loosely grouped into three connected parts in order to blend in well with the surrounding residential area. The church and all outbuildings are covered by an asymmetrical, slightly sloping, but deeply drawn-down roof in the style of a tent ; the roof slope is optically lengthened by several concrete struts reaching down to the floor, which act like thick tension cords. The gable facade facing the entrance and the opposite one are glazed in the upper area, in front of which there is a vertical wooden strut. The church interior offers space for around 350 people. There is a small garden area behind the buildings.

Architectural language

Ear relief in the entrance

The ear shape of the church tower, together with a concrete ear relief by the Basel sculptor Johannes Burla to the right of the church entrance and a concrete planting trough with some grain integrated into the access stairs, reminds of the former agricultural character of this part of Riehen and of the cornfield that is located was on the property before the church was built. Wheat ears are also one of the most important Christian symbols. They stand for the bread (the "body of Christ") in the Lord's Supper . Well-known biblical passages also point to the deeper meaning of the grain symbol ("He will separate the wheat from the chaff and bring the wheat into his barn; but he will burn the chaff in eternal fire", "A grain of grain that is not sown in the ground." , cannot bear fruit, but remains a single grain. In the earth it germinates and bears new fruit, although it itself dies in the process ”).

According to the intention of the architect, the entire facility, which opens up to the surroundings, as well as the architecture and furnishings should convey the image of a church that sees itself as a place of community and encounter. According to Moser, the Kornfeldkirche is not a sacred building in the traditional sense, but a “living room for the faithful”. Therefore, the overall system is designed in such a way that the church is not in the middle, but the three interconnected parts of the building - the church on the left, the rectory and the parish hall on the right, a connecting building in the middle, the church tower in the foreground - forming a courtyard around the forecourt group. Was the model for this may be the Unity Temple by Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park in Chicago .

Furnishing

Peal

The ringing consists of three bells with the chimes f ', as' and b', all of which were made in 1964 by the internationally renowned French bell foundry Paccard in Annecy . The bells for the Kornfeldkirche are the only ones from this foundry in German-speaking Switzerland. The largely closed tower made of concrete ensures good acoustics of the bells.

organ

The organ was made in 1964 by the Swiss organ builder Th. Kuhn Aktiengesellschaft in Männedorf . It was inaugurated on November 29, 1964. In 1982 a swell box was installed in the positive. The 4 ' principal register of the positive is here outside the swell box. The key action of the organ is effected mechanically, the key action electropneumatically . The wind chest is designed as a sliding chest. The organ disposition is:

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
Principal 8th'
Reed flute 8th'
Octave 4 ′
Pointed flute 4 ′
Night horn 2 ′
Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Mixture IV-V 2 ′
Trumpet 8th'
II Positive C-g 3
Dumped 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
Principal 2 ′
Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Sharp IV 1'
Krummhorn 8th'
Pedal C – f 1
Sub bass 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Dumped 8th'
Octave 4 ′
Mixture IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Dulcian 16 ′

Community membership

The Kornfeldkirche is in the residential area of Kornfeld . It is the church of the parish of the same name - with its own pastor and working groups - in the parish of Riehen-Bettingen, which comprises a total of four parishes, and which covers the area of ​​the two Basel rural communities of Riehen and Bettingen .

literature

  • Nicole Caminada: Kornfeldkirche Riehen . In: Sonja Hildebrand, Bruno Maurer, Werner Oechslin (eds.): Haefeli, Moser, Steiger. The architects of Swiss modernism . Zurich: gta, 2007, ISBN 978-3-85676-205-6 .
  • Stefan Hess : living room of the believers instead of sacred space . In: Jahrbuch z'Rieche 2014, pp. 104–111 ( online ).
  • Wolfgang Jean Stock (Ed.): European Church Architecture 1950–2000 . Munich: Prestel, 2002, ISBN 9783791327440 .
  • Johannes Stückelberger: The Kornfeldkirche in Riehen. 1st edition (Schweizerische Kunstführer, No. 760, series 76). Published in collaboration with the Evangelical Reformed Church of Basel-Stadt and the Evangelical Reformed Church Community of Riehen-Bettingen. Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 2004, ISBN 3-85782-760-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Page about the Kornfeldkirche on the website of the Reformed Church Basel-Stadt
  2. ↑ Credo - Experience the Reformed Church  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.credo-bs.ch  
  3. ↑ Stückelberger: The Kornfeldkirche in Riehen , 2004.
  4. ↑ Dossier on the Riehener Kornfeldkirche , DRS Musikwelle , bell archive «Glocken der Heimat» (PDF; 40 kB)
  5. ↑ II / P / 21, Kornfeldkirche Riehen, portrait number 110850 , website of Orgelbau Kuhn AG
  6. ↑ Page about the Riehen-Bettingen parish on the website of the Reformed Church in Basel-Stadt
  7. ^ Evangelical Reformed Parish Riehen-Bettingen , inforel.ch

Web links

Commons : Kornfeldkirche  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 34 '26.6 "  N , 7 ° 38' 41.6"  E ; CH1903:  615520  /  269,282