Reformed Church Wattwil

Interior of the former paritarian church before 1967

The reformed church Wattwil is a former parity church building from the time of the industrialization of the Toggenburg .

history

A first church in Wattwil is mentioned as early as 897. After the Reformation the church was used as a Protestant worship room. From 1593, however, it was available to both denominations at the instigation of the Catholics.

Financed by the textile industrialist Abraham Raschle , a new building was built from 1844 to 1848 according to plans by Felix Wilhelm Kubly , who built a pillar-less transverse church based on the Reformed Church in Wädenswil and its successors . However, the church had a chancel with a high altar and two side altars in the nave . In this way, the claim of both denominations was taken into account in a way that is unique in Switzerland.

With the departure of the Catholics in the course of the construction of the new parish church St. Felix and Regula in 1967, altars and choir space became superfluous. The choir was walled up and henceforth used as a community room, the church was purified and adapted to the changed needs. The typically reformed transverse space concept was retained, but the rows of seats were rearranged in the form of a polygon. Additional community rooms were created under the galleries .

Exterior

The ship shows a clear classical language of form. The main and side facades are each in front of a risalit , which is crowned by a triangular gable. The facades are structured by arched windows, cornices and portals in the form of a two-column portico . The gables are decorated with a serrated frieze.

On the east wall of the former choir, the tower whose base with rises rustication is clad-masonry. Together with the sound windows designed as biforas , they are reminiscent of the architecture of the early Renaissance . The flat tent roof over the tower clocks, on the other hand, is again a typical classicist component.

Interior

The interior is strongly influenced by the renovations in 1969. A foyer leads to the church interior, which is oriented towards the liturgy zone under the former choir arch . The choir arch decorated with friezes , the cornices and the pilasters in the corners of the room as well as the arcades on the organ gallery date from the time the church was built. The organ, built by Kuhn in 1972 , is located in three separate pipe towers under the arcades of the middle gallery, as well as in a back positive attached to the parapet .