Petrikirche (Bergheim)

View of the Petrikirche from the southwest

The Protestant Petrikirche is located on Lutherstrasse in the Quadrath-Ichendorf district in the district town of Bergheim in the Rhein-Erft district . It is the official church building of the independent Evangelical Church Community of Quadrath-Ichendorf, which was founded in 1965 by outsourcing from the community of Zieverich.

The Petrikirche was planned and built between 1968 and 1969 by the Bedburg architect Karl Sander . The design for the glazing comes from Cologne artist Rudolf Alfons Scholl and the organ was built and installed by Willi Peter from Cologne.

history

The evangelical community Quadrath-Ichendorf is a young community in the diaspora of the Catholic Lower Rhine. The first Protestant church in the then Jülischen area was the community in Kirchherten with its simple house church . Its first “offshoot” was the Kerpen-Bergheim vicariate in 1853 , but it did not last long. It was not until the Pfeifer & Langen sugar factory was founded in Elsdorf that there was growth and led to the founding of the Elsdorf Vicariate , which was soon renamed Elsdorf-Bergheim . For this a prayer house was built in Zieverich in 1883, which in turn, with the help of the sugar factory for the congregation, which has been independent since 1893 but is parishally connected to Kirchherten, through a church with a parsonage (1893–1895) for the Ev. Municipality of Zieverich was replaced. Zieverich got its own pastor's position in 1903 and thus became completely independent. In 1958/59 a prayer room was built in the municipality of Quadrath-Ichendorf.

Until 1965 the evangelical inhabitants of Quadrath-Ichendorf belonged to the Bergheim- Zieverich parish . After that, Quadrath-Ichendorf received the rank of an independent parish . Initially, the services were held in the room that is now used as the community hall. A preliminary design by the architect Karl Sander for the construction of the church and a bell tower was accepted by the presbytery with slight changes in 1968, so that construction could begin in September of the same year. The church was consecrated on December 7, 1969.

After a tender with six artists for window design, the designs of the artist Rudolf Alfons Scholl for the altar and side windows were finally implemented. The large altar windows show the apostle Peter's fishing trip, which subsequently also gave the church its name as Petrikirche (according to Luke 5.1-11 EU and John 21.1-14 EU ). Four years later, in October 1973, an organ by the organ builder Willi Peter from Cologne was added to the gallery.

Due to damage from the weather, the concrete skeleton was first extensively renovated in 1987; the large window has been protected by external glazing since 1996.

Location in place

The Petrikirche is located at Lutherstraße 27 in Quadrath-Ichendorf and thus in the vicinity of the Lutherstraße zoo. Due to the location of the east-facing church and the community center at the park in a residential area between the merged districts, the building complex forms an “urban planning point”, although it is surrounded on three sides by streets. The advanced church tower forms a “religious and urban center”.

Architecture and equipment

Stylized crown of thorns and portal made of stainless steel. Behind the crown of thorns the concrete cross worked into the facade

The church is designed as a simple hall church with a flat gable roof, the brick walls of which fill a white concrete skeleton made on site . What is striking, however, is the western front, on which an oversized stylized crown of thorns made of stainless steel is attached to a concrete cross built into the facade above the entrance . It corresponds to the opposite double crown on the altar cross in the interior. On the southern long side, a glazed strip of light runs along the upper edge; the north side is largely glazed towards the altar side with the Scholl window with the fish pull motif. The organ gallery is located above the entrance area in the west. On the south side, across the church building, there is a flat concrete skeleton building with a gable roof as a parish hall, which can be connected to the church with sliding doors.

The separate bell tower in the form of an Italian campanile stands slightly offset on the south-western side of the church. Two of its three floors formed by a concrete framework are filled with bricks; the belfry on the third floor is clad in white. It ends with a cross.

The portal, like the crown of thorns above it, is made of steel and forms a strong relief. The interior of the church is plastered in white; the concrete posts protrude only on the north side, which - dark gray in the interior - stretch over the wood-clad ceiling. The entrance area below the gallery forms a small anteroom. The building is known for its good acoustics.

Interior view with glass art window Petri Fischzug

The interior design of the room is directed towards the altar zone, in that the wooden paneling of the ceiling is laid lengthways, but also by the dominant lights that form a central alley, which are made of the same material as the double crown on the steel altar cross, the crown of thorns and the “ruler's crown “And thus forms the opposite pole to the crown of thorns on the outer face. The ambo and altar table are made of black marble.

literature

Helmut Fußbroich et al .: Evangelical churches in Cologne and the surrounding area. JP Bachem Verlag, Cologne 2007; Pp. 147-148. ISBN 3-7616-1944-8
Frank Kretzschmar (Ed.): Churches and places of worship in the Rhein-Erft district. Ed .: Association for History eV Pulheim. Bachem, 2005; P. 40; ISBN 3761619448
Heinz Andermahr, Helmut Schrön, Ralph Jansen: Bergheim City Guide. Volume II, monuments and works of art in Quadrath-Ichendorf, Kenten, Ahe, Thorr, Bergheimerdorf, Zieverich, Paffendorf and Glesch . District town Bergheim (Ed.), Bergheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-9801975-7-1 . Google Maps
30 years of the Evangelical Petri Church in Quadrath-Ichendorf, 1969–1999 . Quadrath-Ichendorf 1999.