Reformed Church of Gränichen

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The steeple

The Reformed Church of Gränichen is the Reformed church building in the municipality of Gränichen in Aargau . It is located on Oberdorfstrasse south of the village center. The church is considered the main work of Protestant church building in Aargau and is a cantonal monument.

history

The first documentary mention of a church in Gränichen took place in 1275 as a branch of the Suhr church . From 1324 at the latest, Gränichen was an independent parish. The predecessor of today's church was built in 1473 and served the Reformed denomination from 1528. In 1645, master mason Künzler from Breisgau raised the church tower by 20 shoes. In 1661 the church had become so dilapidated that the Bernese authorities ordered a review. As a result, some superficial repairs were carried out, but the authorities ignored the tower foundation despite warnings from foreman Simon Erismann. On May 26, 1661, ten days after the work was finished, the tower collapsed.

The nave
Pulpit and stained glass window
Inscription Hebrews 10
Inscription Romans 8

After the repair of the tower had first been considered, a completely new building was planned. At the intervention of foreman Abraham Dünz , who was in charge of construction, the construction site was shifted by several meters and the project was modified at some points. It was financed through voluntary taxes and grants from the city of Bern. Construction work on the new church was completed in autumn 1663, and the inauguration took place on November 1st of the same year. Since then there have been various renovations.

Buildings and equipment

The church, built in the late Gothic style from local quarry stones , stands in flat terrain in the middle of the cemetery. It is a rectangular building without a choir and has strong bases and corner pillars. A hipped gable roof stretches over it . The windows are designed as round arches with tracery . The church tower, made of shell limestone and partly of tuff , is attached to the north-western narrow side and divided by strong cornices . The sound holes in the bell storey have the shape of ogival tracery windows. Above that there is a gable roof set across the nave behind clock gables with Baroque contours with volutes and obelisks . On the ridge there is a ridge turret with a pointed needle helmet .

As is usual with Protestant church buildings, the interior is designed simply. One above the hall arches barrel vault , the walls are pilasters in stucco arranged and decorated with Bible verses. At the back a gallery jumps out into the interior, on which the organ is located . The pulpit on the east wall is a solid polygonal body made of white marble with parapets and Corinthian corner columns. The stairs are made of the same material. The glass windows were made by Hans Ulrich Fisch II from Aarau . They show the coat of arms of the city of Bern, the coat of arms of the builder and sack master Abraham von Werdt, the coat of arms of Governor Rudolf von Diesbach and the coat of arms of the Imhof and Graviseth families, which were important in Gränichen at the time.

literature

  • Michael Stettler : The art monuments of the canton of Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume I: The districts of Aarau, Kulm, Zofingen. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1948, p. 146-153 .
  • Hans Maurer: Reformed Church Gränichen AG . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History. Bern 1988, ISBN 3-85782-424-7 .

Web links

Commons : Reformierte Kirche Gränichen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files


Coordinates: 47 ° 21 '23.4 "  N , 8 ° 6' 7.9"  E ; CH1903:  650 132  /  245285