New church in Zurich-Altstetten
The New Church Zurich-Altstetten (also: Grosse Kirche Altstetten ) is an Evangelical Reformed church center in the Altstetten district of the city of Zurich . It is one of the most important Reformed church buildings of classical modernism in Switzerland .
history
Before the incorporation in 1934 Altstetten was an independent municipality with its own church. The earliest documented settlement on the church hill dates from the Roman Empire . In archaeological investigations by the ruins of a Roman villa, the remains of two were Romanesque churches found. The third church building in Altstetten rises above them today, the Old Church in Zurich-Altstetten , whose tower choir dates from the late Gothic period. The nave was rebuilt in 1418 and lengthened in 1761 and 1842.
Due to the population growth and increasing urbanization in the early 20th century, a new building was necessary. From 1926 the construction of an additional parish hall was examined. In the 1930s, services had to be held three times on major public holidays, and there was also a lack of rooms for church activities outside of the service. Starting in 1933, a new church was considered and in 1937 the parish assembly decided to build a new church on the site of the previous church. The homeland security , the Zurich government council and some architects participating in the competition resisted the demolition of the old church .
The increasing criticism of the demolition plans was one of the main reasons why the project by Werner Max Moser , the builder of the new congress center , was awarded a prize and intended for implementation. The foundation stone was laid in 1939 and the new church center was inaugurated in 1941. It was comprehensively renovated for the first time in 2011.
With Altstetten's growth into the largest district in Zurich, the call for more churches to be built in the more remote parts of the district was loud. A project presented by Alvar Aalto in 1967 for a church on the Suteracher was rejected as being oversized. It was not until 1982 that the quarter received a much smaller church building based on plans by Benedikt Huber : the Suteracher Church , which was awarded the Prize for Good Building by the City of Zurich in 1985 . The district of Grünau north of the train station was given a small church center in 1990 according to plans by Ernst Gisel . It is the Chilehuus Grünau , which, despite its name as a parish hall, is a full-fledged church with attached parish rooms.
situation
The church center forms an obtuse angle in the floor plan and is located in the southwest of the church hill opposite the old church. Access to the church is at ground level from the middle of the hill, while the hall below the church is also accessible at ground level from Spirgartenstrasse below the hill. In addition to the architectural contrasts between medieval and modern church building, there are also urban planning contrasts: North-east of the church hill is the urban Lindenplatz, the center of Altstetten, while one of the few remaining agricultural areas in the city extends south-west of the hill in the middle of the quarter.
description
The idea of the church center is a modern phenomenon. For centuries, the churches' space requirements were exhausted in the worship room, a classroom and the parish apartment. The growing need for additional rooms for social and cultural events, offices, etc. in the 20th century called for larger sacred building complexes, of which the Altstetten Church is an early example. Below the church is an auditorium with a kitchen, the west wing of the church contains meeting rooms, classrooms and offices.
Exterior
The dominant feature is the slender, skeletal openwork tower that rises next to the main entrance to the church. Its polygonal shape and the lack of a spire form a break with the designs of church towers that have been common for centuries. The sign with its rounded roof on round, unadorned columns also represents a consistently modern building element. The entrance is flanked by the tower and a lattice wall made of exposed concrete .
Community rooms
The church center has an above-average number of offices and community rooms for church lessons and cultural events. Some rooms are for reformers named
- The Bullinger room is located behind the gallery of the church interior .
- The Zwingli -Stube and the café (formerly the Sigristen apartment ) are located on the upper floor of the community wing.
- The Luther parlor and the Calvin room are on the mezzanine .
- The divisible hall with stage and kitchen as well as a long foyer with cloakroom are located below the church. Thanks to the hillside location, the hall can be illuminated from the southwest side through windows.
The well-composed designs of banisters, lamps, cloakrooms and doors, which make the building appear stylistically uniform, are remarkable. The washbasins in the corridors are designed in particularly characteristic shapes with tiles . The inclined concrete pillars on the hall level have both a static function (supporting the church space above) and an aesthetic function.
Foyer on the hall floor
room
Hall - concrete beams and windows
Zwingli parlor
Luther parlor
lavabo
The nave consists mainly of exposed brickwork, which is interrupted and structured by the load-bearing concrete elements. It is also visible from the outside and is divided into a main nave and a smaller aisle , both of which have slightly sloping pent roofs . On the southwest side, the facade is divided into two storeys: the actual nave rests on the slightly outwardly inclined double pillars of the hall floor below. In the upper area of the ship, the windows are rectangular, while the lower-lying windows are designed as large oculi with a diamond structure.
The strictly functionalist parish wing is divided into two storeys on the northwest side, with the lower storey having a row of windows. The northeast side of the tract is only one storeyed due to the hillside location. There is a balcony in front of it, which allows access to the building via small stairs.
inner space
Three generous doors form the main portal of the church, through which one enters the small vestibule and then laterally into the longitudinal church space. The elongated rectangular hall is mainly divided by a ceiling-high, structured window next to the liturgy zone and a high-lying window arrangement between the main and side aisles. The column-free deck describes an arch so that the structure is divided into two naves, which are not separated by pillars or columns. The aisle is as dais with angled slightly towards the liturgy zone stalls applied, whereby each reference to basilican is canceled designs. A staircase leads to the gallery .
The liturgy area, which is a few steps higher than the nave, is dominated by a large wooden cross and a carved relief with a monumentally executed inscription: ONE IS YOUR MASTER, BUT YOU ARE ALL BROTHERS ( Mt 23.8 LUT ). A figural relief to the left of the liturgy area shows two people, one of whom is holding out his hand. The hand held out towards him can be interpreted as the hand of God. In the center of the liturgy area rises the Lord's Supper table , to the left of which the slightly raised, wood-clad pulpit . Below this is the baptismal font , on which fish, a dove and a lamb, three animals important in Christian symbolism, are engraved. A fish also adorns the copper lid. The right-hand side of the liturgy area is occupied by the box-like organ with a free pipe prospect . There is access to the community wing next to the organ.
inner space
Gallery
Liturgy zone
organ
In 1941 the New Church Altstetten received its organ from Metzler Orgelbau , Dietikon. The instrument has 48 registers on three manuals and a pedal . In 1965 a revision was carried out by organ builder Ziegler-Heberlein, Uetikon, with changes to the sound and the installation of a new console. In 1980 the organ was revised and renovated by Orgelbau Kuhn , Männedorf. Technical improvements and other tonal changes were made. In 2012 Orgelbau Kuhn revised the instrument again and refurbished electrical parts and installed an electronic setter with 4,000 combinations.
Disposition of the organ:
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- Pair : III / II, I / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
- Playing aids : electronic setter combinations, storage mixtures and tongues
Bells
The five-part bell was made in 1940 by the H. Rüetschi foundry , Aarau. The pitch marks the beginning of the solemn Easter hallelujah.
| number | Weight | volume | dedication | symbol | inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3460 kg | B 0 | peace | Dove of peace | Peace be with you! John 20:19. Cast in difficult wartime. God keep us peace. |
| 2 | 2450 kg | c 1 | joy | Vine | Rejoice in the Lord always, Phil 4,4. The new church was built next to the old church in 1939–1941. |
| 3 | 1400 kg | it 1 | Faith | Open Bible with Alpha and Omega | Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ap. Business 16.31. Our reformer Huldrych Zwingli gave the Zurich church this new belief . |
| 4th | 1000 kg | f 1 | love | Lamb with a cross | Remain in my love, Jn 15: 9. God preserve justice, love and freedom for our people. |
| 5 | 750 kg | g1 | hope | anchor | Hope cannot be put to shame, Rom. 5.5. The bell was donated by our youth in 1940. |
See also
literature
- Heinrich Schneider: Journey of Discovery. Reformed church building in Switzerland. Zurich 2000, pp. 298-307.
- Building Construction Department of the City of Zurich: Reformed Churches of the City of Zurich. Special inventory. Zurich 2006.
- Silvio Schmed u. a .: Evangelical Reformed Church Center Altstetten. Zurich 2012.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Building Department of the City of Zurich: Reformed Churches of the City of Zurich. Special inventory. Zurich 2006, p. 183.
- ^ Building Department of the City of Zurich: Reformed Churches of the City of Zurich. Special inventory. Zurich 2006, p. 185.
- ^ Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein, section Ref. Church, Grosse Kirche Zurich-Altstetten. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
Coordinates: 47 ° 23 '11.9 " N , 8 ° 29' 4.8" E ; CH1903: 678,982 / 248950