Parish church St. Johannes (Hechingen)
The Protestant parish church of St. Johannes is located in Hechingen in the Zollernalb district ( Baden-Württemberg ). It is a neo-Gothic building from 1856 and was designed by the Berlin architect Friedrich August Stüler .
Building history
The Swabian line of the Hohenzollern remained Catholic after the Reformation in contrast to the Brandenburg cousins. After the incorporation of the Catholic Principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen into Protestant Prussia in 1850, a representative Protestant church was therefore lacking in the previous residence town of Hechingen.
The Berlin star architect Friedrich August Stüler had already created an important neo-Gothic building in Germany between 1850 and 1867 with the Hohenzollern Castle . In close dependence on the castle, he also planned the Protestant parish church. In particular the tower with the copper roof and the four small decorative turrets are reminiscent of the bishop's tower of the castle. The construction management was not carried out by Stüler himself, but by the engineer captain Blankenburg from 1856 to 1857. The order to build the church was issued by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, who also financed the construction. The king as sovereign also had the right to occupy the parish.
The inauguration took place on the 1st of Advent 1857, it was November 29th. St. John was the first Protestant church in all of Hohenzollern. Due to the fact that the Sigmaringen administrative district, so-called Hohenzollernsche Lande , belongs to the Prussian Rhine Province, Dr. Georg August Ludwig Schmidtborn , at that time general superintendent of the old Prussian church province of Rhineland, based in Koblenz, to which the parish was subordinate. The royal family donated the altarpiece and the altar crucifix.
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Between 1904 and 1906, under the direction of the Hechingen architect Laur, the building was expanded in the style of Stülers. Funding was mainly provided by the imperial family. The new organ came from the Walker organ workshop in Ludwigsburg. The inauguration of the extension took place on October 7, 1906, the German Emperor Wilhelm II gave a Bible with a personal dedication: Be happy in hope, patient in tribulation, stop praying. Wilhelm IR. For October 7th, 1906. It concerns the saying on the sarcophagus of his grandmother Empress Augusta in the mausoleum of the Charlottenburg Palace Park .
The historicism as Bauepoche was underestimated for a long time. Extensive restorations were carried out between 1959 and 1961 under the direction of the State Conservator and in 1976. A new organ was installed in 1977.
layout
The entire structure was built uniformly in the neo-Gothic style. It is a relatively small single-nave building that was expanded in 1905 by inserting a transept. On the gable side there is a graceful vestibule with a pointed arch . Next to it rises a tower with a copper roof, which is occupied by four decorative corner turrets.
Furnishing
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The interior is whitewashed and is characterized by the lightly stained wooden galleries and the wooden ceiling, which appear simple and elegant with sparing carvings.
The altar crucifix and the altarpiece are donations from the Prussian royal family. The bronze crucifix is painted black and is said to come from the Aachen treasury. According to recent findings, however, it is a copy, the original is probably in the Museum Schnütgen in Cologne. It dates from the Romanesque period . Jesus on the cross wears a crown and stands on a footrest. The loincloth is decorated with ornaments. The arms are spread out as if to embrace the world for salvation. The middle altarpiece was painted by Georg Eberlein . The risen Christ walks over the shield and sword of the Roman guardians. He wears a purple cloak and his wounds are clearly visible.
Surroundings
The connection between the parish church of St. John and the Prussian royal family is also emphasized by its location: it is in the immediate vicinity of the Fürstengarten and Villa Eugenia .
literature
- Friedrich Hossfeld and Hans Vogel: The art monuments of Hohenzollern, first volume: Hechingen district . Holzinger, Hechingen 1939, pp. 185 ff.
- Hillert Ibbeken: Friedrich August Stüler, the architectural work today . Menges, Stuttgart 2006
Web link
Coordinates: 48 ° 20 '57.08 " N , 8 ° 57' 45.97" O