Paul Gerhardt Church (Munich)
The Paul Gerhardt Church is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Munich- Laim . The entire complex (church, Kirchnerhaus, parish hall and two rectories) was planned by Johannes Ludwig (1904–1996) and built in several sections. As a significant example of post-war Munich architecture, which was trend-setting for subsequent church buildings when it was built, it has been a listed building since 2001. The congregation is known for its church music work ( Paul Gerhardt Choir ) and, above all, for its charismatic - evangelical character.
history
First construction in 1913
With the population increase in Laim, triggered by the construction of the marshalling yard from 1890 and the incorporation of the former farming village into Munich on January 1, 1900, from 1903 Protestant Christians gathered for regular Bible studies in the Laim schoolhouse. This resulted in the “Protestant Church Building Association Munich-Laim e. V. ". In the same year, he acquired a former barn at Agnes-Bernauer-Straße 97 and had it converted into a Protestant church by the Laim-based architect and university professor Theodor Fischer . It was inaugurated on November 9, 1913.
The building with a rectangular floor plan was given a portal sign on the west side with a curved gable as well as an octagonal tower and a wooden barrel ceiling. The retracted apse, which separated the nave from the sacristy, was painted with a pseudo architectural painting by students of Theodor Fischer. As a community member, Fischer, who lived diagonally across the street in the “Laimer Schlössl”, was so important to “his” future church that he made the plans for the renovation free of charge.
From 1893 Fischer was the head of the Munich city expansion office and worked out the exemplary building regulations at the time, and from 1908 he was a professor at the Technical University . His works include several important churches in Bavaria and Württemberg. His attachment to the church and community continued after the inauguration. Theodor Fischer designed a war memorial plaque in 1919 that was later transferred to the new church and designed the prospectus for the organ built in 1925 .
In the same year he advised the community on the purchase of a church building site, for which he made a preliminary draft. This shows a church with a high tower, which was divided into a rectangular nave ( sermon church ) and an octagonal chancel (communion and wedding church).
As the modest church soon proved to be too small, further new building plans followed (partly by Theodor Fischer, partly by other architects) for a large church with a parish hall and rectory, which failed because of the financial possibilities and finally by the Nazi rulers and the The outbreak of war was prevented. Due to the strong growth of the community, the Evangelical Lutheran Parish Office in Munich-Laim was established on February 18, 1936 . It was the first in Bavaria to be named after Paul Gerhardt on the Sunday cantata in 1942 . In the middle of World War II , the person of the song poet and pastor, who wrote strong songs of faith at the time of the Thirty Years' War despite the horror, suffering, persecution and the loss of his wife and four children, was supposed to be a consolation and a role model for the Laim parish.
During the Second World War, the church construction plans had to be suspended, but became inevitable due to the ever-growing congregation (1930: 1,010, 1950: 6,250 parishioners).
Second construction in 1953
In an architectural competition in 1953, the architect Johannes Ludwig won one of the two second prizes and was finally commissioned to carry out the work after revising his plans. In 1957 Ludwig was appointed to succeed Hans Döllgast as professor at the Technical University, particularly because of his success at the Paul Gerhardt Church .
The foundation stone was laid on May 19, 1955, the inauguration of the new church was on September 16, 1956. After initially only the church, tower and church house were built, the two parsonages (1964 and 1966) as well as the youth and Parish hall (1969, expanded in 1998) next to the church. The old interim church has served as an interim cultural center since 1999 - after the tower was torn down, it was now used as a table tennis hall and extensive renovations .
In 2006 and 2007, ZDF broadcast two television services from the Paul Gerhardt Church. Also in 2007 a lift for the disabled was added to the west side of the nave. Since 2011, extensive repairs have been made to the damaged masonry on the external facades and concrete renovation to the window arches. Finally, the outside staircase in the forecourt is to be replaced by a new building.
Renovation 2013
In May 2013 the nave was closed due to the risk of collapse. The cause are building sins from the 1950s, so-called gravel pockets (defects in the concrete).
The services took place during the construction work in the parish hall in the basement. After a time-consuming and expensive renovation, the church was consecrated again on July 20, 2014. Since then, services have taken place in the church again.
architecture
Exterior construction
The basic idea behind Ludwig's design is to delimit the property with a perimeter development on the north side and to divide it into two unequal green areas - the smaller parish garden and the larger community park - by the church body standing perpendicular to it. In front of the church, a larger, enclosed forecourt was created between the two parsonages, which is intended to prepare people for entering the church. The Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche stands out clearly from the surrounding buildings with its exposed brickwork. The exterior of the complex benefits greatly from its excellent urban location in the middle of a large, park-like property with old trees.
In addition to the defiant, castle-like church building (36 × 17 × 17 meters) with its dynamic folding roof , under which a frieze of eight arched windows extends, the slender campanile rises on the east side, with its pyramid tip 35 meters high . It is connected to the church by a bridge. As an extension of the western sacristy tract , the parish hall, which was not originally planned at this point, is built on, which is designed in the same form as the two rectories.
The church itself is entered via a large flight of stairs in the aforementioned atrium-like courtyard on the north side. Peter Hartl designed the two-winged copper portal of the asymmetrically located entrance. On the left wing, Christ is shown as the helmsman of a boat in which the Paul Gerhardt Church is located. The right wing is the only place in the church that refers to the namesake. With the Christ monogram , the sun recalls the Paul Gerhardt verse “The sun that smiles at me is my Lord Jesus Christ, what makes me sing is what is in heaven” .
inner space
The Paul Gerhardt Church was built in the style of a hall church. When entering the 600-seat nave, the first thing you will notice is the brightness and breadth of the room. The concept of construction is simple. The high, windowless walls enclose the interior like a courtyard. In it stands a white vault canopy on 18 slender concrete columns that create two narrow aisles . Together with the walls, two completely independent boundary elements are created. The 16 semicircular windows in the arches illuminate the room almost indirectly and avoid any glare. According to the biblical phrase "For we do not have a permanent city here, we are looking for the future city" (Hebrews 13:14), the canopy in its tent-like design reminds the congregation that as a church it does not remain on earth for good, but as a wandering people God is on the way to eternity.
The ceiling construction consists of reinforced concrete trusses that rest on the hexagonal columns and are suspended from the walls. Eight barrel vaults are stretched between the girders , which were built in the Spanish style from two layers of 3 cm thick special bricks lying on top of one another without formwork. The different radii of curvature of the barrels and the stitch caps create intersecting lines, the arcs of which are repeated in the cables of the copper lamps that lead out of the pillars.
The red bricks of the unplastered, 50 cm thick walls are arranged in an effective carpet ornament. This trick was used here for the first time after Ludwig took it over from the Stockholm St. Mark's Church from the architect Sigurd Lewerentz . From then on, it becomes an important design element in Munich church construction. The tapes with perforated bricks inserted at certain intervals not only create a structure of the wall surface, but also help to improve the acoustics with the cavities of different depths behind them.
In the basement of the church there is the 340 m 2 large community hall with a stage and ancillary rooms, which is accessible from the park through a copper-clad sign .
Furnishing
The goal and fixed point of the church is the large, almost five meter high silver triumphal cross by Robert Lippl on the altar wall, which - towering over everything - announces the Easter victory of Jesus . Various Christian symbols (cross, star, chalice with ears of corn, grapes, triangle of the Trinity, fish) are arranged on 23 circular fields, at the intersection is the IHS symbol, the Jesus monogram.
In 1981 the artists Gisela Fichtner and Raimund Haas, who live in the community, created the two tapestries “Easter” (left) and “Whitsun” (right) next to the cross. Their format was deliberately chosen as an optical extension of the arms of the cross and the background color of the fabric was matched to the bricks and joints.
The congregation also owns four Passion paintings by Walter Habdank (1967), on which the Last Supper, the sleeping disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane , the denial of Peter and the crucifixion can be seen. The square pictures are hung at the foot of the cross during Passion.
The chancel is raised by three steps and takes up the entire width of the nave. In the middle, the altar stands on its own two-tier substructure. Like the pulpit and the font, it is made of Jurassic limestone and is adorned with sculptures by Robert Lippl. The altar symbolically establishes the connection between the Old and the New Testament. Above the old man's sacrificial block, which is decorated with grapes and ears of wheat, the New Covenant's Last Supper table, almost three meters wide, stands on four feet. The twelve filigree candlesticks, which are reminiscent of the twelve apostles , and the provocatively abstract-looking altar crucifix were made from wrought iron by Herbert Altmann. As a counterbalance to the great triumphal cross above it, the depiction of the crucified is supposed to point at eye level to the forlornness of the world and the seriousness of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
The twelve-sided baptismal font received its bowl and copper lid in 1958 from Peter Hartl. The three fish in the net, engraved in the silver bowl, refer to the Trinity.
Behind the font is the large Easter candlestick with the Holy Spirit dove, which Hermann Kaspar designed in collaboration with Ludwig in 1978.
The slightly inclined pulpit repeats the hexagon of the pillars in its ground plan. According to old tradition, the symbols (according to Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4) of the four evangelists Matthew (human), Mark (lion), Luke (bull) and John (eagle) are attached above the feet .
In the side wall next to the pulpit is the foundation stone with the saying "No one can lay any other foundation except that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11) and the date given in Latin numbers May 19, 1955 is provided.
In 1997, the fish, designed and given as a present by the Korean artist Yeun Hi Kim from the community, was hung on the west wall in the nave. The yellow, blue, green and red panels symbolically represent the third (earth and water), fourth (moon and sun), fifth (fish and bird) and sixth (red as the color of the blood of living beings) of creation . The fish that stretches across the four individual images and connects them is an early Christian identification mark. In its Greek name “Ichthys” the first letters of “Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior” are included.
Due to the high importance of church music in the community, the gallery on the back wall of the nave, accessible via a spiral staircase, was planned to be particularly spacious. It offers space for around 150 people and can be used for larger concert performances thanks to its grandstand-like design. The vestibule under the gallery, separated from the actual nave by a grille, was originally planned as a prayer room and equipped with an altar in front of the window wall, which was removed in 1966. Here the memorial plaques for the fallen of the community deserve attention.
Bells
A five-part bell hangs in the campanile. First, in 1956, three bells (f sharp 1 –a 1 –c sharp 2 ) made of " Euphon " (tin-free bronze) were placed on the tower, followed in 1959 by two more bells (e 1 and h 1 ) made of bell bronze . All bells were cast by Karl Czudnochowsky in Erding. The tone sequence determined by Högner is matched to the bells of the neighboring St. Ulrich Church (g sharp 1 –h 1 –c sharp 2 ). Due to enormous fluctuations in the tower, the bells were refurbished in 1992 by the Bachert company , with new wooden yokes, bobbins and electronic bells. In 1997 the yokes of the three large bells were given upper weights and all five bells were given counterweight clappers.
| No. |
Name (position) |
Casting year |
Caster |
Ø (mm) |
Weight (kg) |
Nominal (16th note) |
Inscription (translation) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Martin Luther (parish bell) |
1959 | Karl Czudnochowsky | 1190 | 930 | e 1 +2 | "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." |
| 2 |
Paul Gerhardt (prayer bell) |
1956 | Karl Czudnochowsky | 1090 | 657 | f sharp 1 ± 0 | “Everything perishes, but God stands still without everything. His thoughts, his word and his will have an eternal reason. " |
| 3 |
Joh. Seb. Bach (midday bell) |
1956 | Karl Czudnochowsky | 925 | 394 | a 1 +2 | "Soli Deo Gloria." (Glory to God alone.) |
| 4th |
Wilhelm Löhe (deaconry bell) |
1959 | Karl Czudnochowsky | 788 | 298 | h 1 +2 | "I want to serve." |
| 5 |
Heinrich Schütz (baptismal bell) |
1956 | Karl Czudnochowsky | 720 | 187 | c sharp 2 +2 | " Glory to you, Christ ." |
Bell 1
parish bell
(Martin Luther)
Bell 2
prayer bell
(Paul Gerhardt)
Bell 3
midday bell
(Johann Sebastian Bach)
Bell 4
deaconry bell
(Wilhelm Löhe)
Bell 5
christening bell
(Heinrich Schütz)
Ringing order
Sunday starts at 3 p.m. on Saturdays. There is a chiming 30 minutes before the Sunday services. Five minutes beforehand, the ringing sounds like the day before at 3 p.m. The number and / or musical compositions (motifs) of the bells vary depending on the church season and degree of celebration. Each of the bells rings solo on certain occasions:
- Bell 5: During the baptismal act in the main service
- Bell 4: Thursdays after the evening bells (commemoration of Jesus 'prayer on the Mount of Olives), Fridays at 3 p.m. at the hour of Jesus' death on the cross
- Bell 3: midday chimes at 12 noon, preludes for weekday services (30 minutes before the start)
- Bell 2: early bells at 7 a.m., evening bells at 8 p.m., during the Our Father / the words of institution, for pastoral prayer, prelude on Sundays (30 minutes before the beginning)
- Bell 1: Prelim on feast days (30 minutes before the start), feast days after the evening bells (feast days ringing)
organ
The view from the nave back to the gallery is dominated by the large organ that was built by Gerhard Schmid in Kaufbeuren according to the plans of the then regional church music director Friedrich Högner and inaugurated on June 8, 1969. It replaced the Steinmeyer organ from 1925 from the old church. Due to the enormous depth of the gallery, the works had to be divided for acoustic reasons: main and breastwork on the back wall, back positive and the two pedal towers on the parapet. This led to an impressive and certainly one-of-a-kind prospectus design , which, despite the size of the work, does not appear overwhelming, but rather blends in harmoniously with the overall architecture of the church. The electro-mechanical organ comprises 43 sounding registers on four manuals and pedal as well as four free combinations that can be operated from a mobile register desk.
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Community development
The parish reached its peak with 14,000 parishioners at the end of the 1960s. During this time, the planning of a separate community center for the 3rd parish district fell, but this was never to be realized in this form. A community base (shop church) has only existed in a church-owned building at Justinus-Kerner-Straße 3 since 1999.
Under the leadership of Pastor Friedrich-Wilhelm Künneth (1977–1998) the congregation opened up to the spiritual renewal movement and experienced a sharp increase in the number of people attending services. Above all, the free form of the late service on Sunday at 11:15 a.m., the service of the agape community, which is closely linked to the congregation, on Friday at 7 p.m. as well as a large number of (house) Bible groups made the congregation far known beyond their borders and attracted u. a. also many young people and young families. In addition, there was the implementation of nationally important spiritual events and seminars as well as the connection to internationally active mission organizations and confessional groups ( church collection of the Bible and confession ) , with which the congregation set itself apart from modernist tendencies in the regional church.
In addition to the alpha courses and the Willow Creek- oriented children's service program Rainbow Land, the parish concept also includes a diverse range of services, which, in addition to the free forms, also provides for the conscious cultivation of the traditional liturgy in the main service at 9:30 a.m., which is celebrated with the Lord's Supper every Sunday.
Thanks to its namesake, the congregation is also committed to church music. This is done in a modern form by several honorary worship bands, in the field of classical church music by the Paul Gerhardt Choir, which repeatedly sets important accents in Munich concert life and, as a large oratorio choir with around 100 singers under part-time direction, is unique in represents the Bavarian regional church.
In 2002 the parish called Pastor Kathrin Frowein for the first time to a pastor's position, which was generally noted with interest and astonishment.
At the moment the following clergy are active in the congregation, which currently has around 7500 Christians:
- Pastor Lorenz Künneth (since 2017)
- Pastor Heinz-Günther Ernst (since 2015)
- Pastor Lidia Rabenstein (since January 2018)
- Deacon Monika Wagner (since November 2019)
literature
- Alexander Schöttl (among others): One hundred evangelical years. Paul-Gerhardt-Community Munich-Laim. 1903-2003 . Hofmann, Dachau 2003.
Web links
- Website of the community
- 12 o'clock ringing of the Paul Gerhardt Church on Bayerischer Rundfunk (September 17, 2006) ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexander Schöttl (Stadtkirchner), p. 106.
- ↑ tz.de: Danger of collapse in Laimer church
- ↑ Solemn move-in again. Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche celebrates a parish fair and summer festival. In: Münchner Wochenanzeiger. Retrieved November 30, 2015 .
- ↑ paul-gerhardt-muenchen.de: priest / deacon inside and
Coordinates: 48 ° 8 ′ 17.2 ″ N , 11 ° 29 ′ 56.4 ″ E
