Kreuzkirche (Heilbronn)
The Kreuzkirche is one of the two churches of the Protestant Emmaus parish in the south of the city of Heilbronn . It was built in 1964 by the Martin Luther congregation and was an independent parish church from 1965 until the reunification of the congregations.
history
In the 1950s, the population in the south of Heilbronn, which is looked after by the Evangelical Martin Luther Church , grew rapidly. The desire arose for their own church with a kindergarten and community center north of Sontheimer Strasse . The Martin Luther Congregation began collecting donations for the building in 1960. The congregation only had a relatively small plot of land at Am Hohrain 2, which, in addition to the church, was also to house a kindergarten and congregation rooms. According to plans by Rolf Krauter with the assistance of the architect Fritz Holl, a two-storey building complex was created which, in addition to the Kreuzkirche, which can accommodate 350 people, also includes four community rooms, a kitchen, the two-group Hohrain kindergarten, two apartments and an underground car park. The Kreuzkirche was inaugurated on December 6, 1964 with a festive church service by Regional Bishop Erich Eichele . On January 1, 1965, a new parish broke away from what was then the Martin Luther parish in Heilbronn and became an independent Kreuzkirche parish. The associated kindergarten was also inaugurated in January 1965. The organ of the church was put into operation in March.
After 25 years of use, the church was extensively renovated for the first time. The main focus was on energy-saving measures, new windows were installed and the heating switched to gas operation and individual room control. The old cloakroom was converted into a kitchen and the atrium was covered with a glass roof. A rebuilding of the kindergarten and a renovation of the organ also took place. In 2002 the heating was renewed again.
In 2002, after the number of parishioners fell, the Martin Luther parish and Kreuzkirchen parish reunited and gave themselves the new name Emmaus parish.
description
A roof structure covered with copper rises above the church floor plan in the form of a rectangle, reminiscent of a sloping slope or a ridge . The church tower with six bells cast by the Bachert bell foundry rises behind the highest point of the roof structure. The chancel is made of exposed concrete , the inside of the ceiling is made of wood and the floor is parquet . Daylight reaches the chancel through the many stained glass windows by the artist Peter Jakob Schober , which are embedded in the exposed concrete side walls up to the ceiling. A cast iron cross with multiple openings decorates the chancel. The organ located directly in the church was redesigned in 1999 by the Seifert organ builder .
As a specialty among the Heilbronn churches, the Kreuzkirche has an underground car park , which was never used as a garage. Instead, a Diakonie furniture store was initially housed in it, later the garage was converted into a youth room.
literature
- Albrecht Wein: The Kreuzkirche in Heilbronn, Am Hohrain . In: The Protestant churches in the Heilbronn church district. Evangelical Church District Heilbronn, Heilbronn 2005. pp. 20–21
- Helmut Schmolz , Hubert Weckbach: Heilbronn. History and life of a city . 2nd Edition. Konrad, Weißenhorn 1973, ISBN 3-87437-062-3 . No. 572: Evangelical Kreuzkirche am Hohrain, 1965 . P. 163
- Evangelical Emmaus-Kirchengemeinde Heilbronn (ed.): Festschrift for the church anniversary AD 2004 - 70 years Martin Luther Church - 40 years Kreuzkirche , Heilbronn 2004
Coordinates: 49 ° 7 ′ 46.1 ″ N , 9 ° 12 ′ 17.5 ″ E