New St. Alban
Neu St. Alban is a parish church in the Neustadt-Nord district of Cologne in the north corner of the city garden . The church was built from rubble bricks in 1958/1959 according to plans by Hans Schilling . Among other things, building materials were used for the Cologne Opera, which was badly damaged in the Second World War and demolished in 1958 . From the church Alt St. Alban next to the Gürzenich preserved pieces of equipment were taken over.
Building history
prehistory
After the Second World War , rebuilding the heavily damaged Romanesque church of St. Alban did not seem sensible. The city was interested in the church property for the reconstruction of the Gürzenich into a modern event center. The archbishopric endeavored to divide the parish in the largely deserted inner city to the neighboring communities. After an agreement had been reached with the city to set up the ruins as a memorial and to restore the Konrad von Parzham chapel in the tower and make it available to the archdiocese for use, a plot of land was exchanged with municipal land at Stadtgarten and Gilbachstrasse. The new community to be formed was formed from parts of the community of St. Gereon and parts of the Neustadt-Nord district, which lay beyond the Cologne rings . She was given the patronage of St. Alban , preserved or restored pieces of equipment and all rights of the old community, including 50 acres of leased farmland in Hürth-Stotzheim .
The new Building
The driving force behind this development was the priest Hugo Poth († 1988), who also became the first pastor of the community. Hans Schilling from Karl Band's architectural office , from which the proposal for the design of the Alt St. Alban memorial came from, was won over as the architect . For the construction, in which the archbishopric paid close attention to the construction costs, rubble bricks were used because they were half the price of new bricks. These bricks were already running out; However, one could access the remains of the ruins of the old opera house, which had just been removed at the time.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the church and the associated rectory took place on June 21, 1957, the feast day of St. Alban. The topping-out ceremony was on April 21, 1958, the completion was celebrated on December 13 with an organ consecration and on the 14th with a first mass. The solemn consecration by Cardinal Joseph Frings took place on June 16 and 17, 1959. The cost of the construction, including fittings and organ, amounted to 396,000 DM. This gave Cologne a new church that caused a lot of attention.
Side portal by Elmar Hillebrand
Pulpit around 1600–1630
Entrance portal
Facade detail with side portal
Building description
The church faces north. The floor plan of the community room is pentagon-shaped . What is remarkable is the space that is closed on all sides, which only receives a cozy light from narrow, irregularly arranged glass windows (by Franz Pauli ) in red, green and gray tones . This design was influenced by the pilgrimage church Notre Dame du Haut by Le Corbusier in Ronchamp ( Haute-Saône department ). On the east side is the somewhat recessed, parabolic , 18-meter-high chancel , which is raised from the parish room and which has the shape of a tower on the outside.
The church roof is bent towards the middle due to the rise to the apse. Despite the pentagon, the church is not a classic central building , but the raised altar (design by Hans Schilling) was erected from the apse wall with a special permit from the cardinal and for a celebration direction towards the congregation, as became customary after the Second Vatican Council .
Crucifixion group. 16th and 17th centuries
Organ loft
Sacrament chapel
Schürenfels triptych
A sacrament chapel was built on the east side , the entrance door of which was designed by Elmar Hillebrand . Originally open to the church, at the suggestion of Cardinal Frings it was separated for optical and liturgical reasons with an iron grille, also designed by Hillebrand. The organ empore on the left side integrated parts of the organ facade in the brick wall.
A crypt was prepared as a baptistery under the church .
A bell tower was omitted. A bell hangs on the outside wall.
The church opens up to the city park, so occasionally Holy Masses are held in the park in front of the church (as in Ronchamp).
Furnishing
Taken over or old pieces
- The crucifixion group from the 16th and 17th centuries opposite the apse was saved from the old church.
- Twelve figures of the apostles from the high altar of the old church were attached to the parapet of the organ gallery.
- A pietà from the 15th century was rescued from the rubble and reassembled from 407 individual parts. It is now under the gallery.
- The triptych on the west wall from the beginning of the 16th century was once donated by Cologne mayor Konrad von Schürenfels .
- The Renaissance - Pulpit (circa 1600-1630) with baroque reliefs (circa 1730) was acquired from the private sector.
- The purchase of the carved Madonna from Franconia (around 1520) was financed by a church member.
- The bronze baptismal font in the crypt was made in 1642 for the Church of St. Alban.
New products
- Of the hanging in the apse crux gemmata has Fulda Benedictine Lioba Munz worked with five assistants five months. It was created in collaboration with Elisabeth Treskow from the Cologne factory schools .
- The ciborium in the sacrament chapel for the tabernacle with depictions from Old and New Testament salvation history is also by Hillebrand.
- The main entrance door, the iron gate to paradise , as well as the choir barriers , wall sconces in the choir room, apostle crosses and candlesticks are by Toni Zenz
- The weather vane on the church roof, which depicts Saint Alban, was also designed by Hillebrand.
organ
The organ has 26 registers with a pedal and two manuals and comes from Franz Breil's workshop in Dorsten .
Bell jar
In 1958, the bell foundry Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock in Gescher cast a bronze bell. It has the strike tone e 2 and weighs around 120 kg with a lower diameter of 579 mm. Their inscription reads: “Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis. [And the word became flesh and lived among us.] Donated by the Cologne industrial bank 1958 ” .
Web links
- Tour of St. Alban on the St. Gereon parish website, stgereon.de (Memento in the Internet Archive)
- http://www.hugo-poth.de/ Website with sermons by Hugo Poth, pastor of St. Alban 1955–78
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dr. Hugo Poth - St. Gereon Parish, Cologne. (Memento of the original from December 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive). December 17, 2017, accessed July 12, 2020 .
- ↑ The history of the building and, to a large extent, the furnishings are based on the tour offered in the web link , compared with Herbert Rode: Kunstführer Köln . 3. Edition. Bachem Verlag, Cologne 1966, p. 89 f.
- ↑ New St. Alban. Website of the city of Cologne; Retrieved May 15, 2008
- ^ Gerhard Hoffs: Bell music of Catholic churches in Cologne . ( Memento of the original from April 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ; PDF) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 77 f.
Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 44.8 " N , 6 ° 56 ′ 13.6" E