Yverdon Reformed Church

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Main facade of the Yverdon church

The Reformed Church of Yverdon ( French Temple d'Yverdon ) is a baroque church building in the old town of Yverdon-les-Bains , Switzerland .

history

The church is located opposite Yverdon Castle on Place Pestalozzi in the old town. In the 14th century a Church of Our Lady ( Notre Dame ) was built on this site . After the conquest by Bern in 1536, the church had to be cleared of pictures and altars as part of the Reformation and the choir had to be demolished. 1608–1609, a new church tower was built according to plans by Daniel Heintz . From 1737 a new building of the church was planned, but it could not be implemented until 1753–1757 according to plans by Jean-Michel Billon .

The medieval church was transformed after the Reformation in a transverse sermon hall. The building scheme of the transverse church was also retained in the new building in the 18th century. The design of the church was inspired by various Reformed churches in Bern and western Switzerland. The Temple du Bas in nearby Neuchâtel and the Church of the Holy Spirit in Bern can undoubtedly be viewed as sources of inspiration. Due to the use of the transverse church scheme and the magnificent baroque facades, the church is one of the milestones of Protestant sacred architecture in Switzerland.

Exterior

The tower from 1609 is laterally attached to the church, which has an irregular floor plan. The clock floor is located above a circumferential balcony and above it is a pointed stone spire helmet.

The main facade facing Place Pestalozzi is remarkable . It has two floors and is divided into five vertical axes , with the two outer axes being rounded and merging into the side facades. The floors are divided by an entablature with a tooth-cut frieze that rests on columns of Ionic order . The lower storey is characterized by arched windows that are decorated with architectural plastic . The central main portal is shaped like an aedicula . The upper floor is divided by pilasters of the Corinthian order . In the central field is the ornate dial of the clock, while segmental arched windows are in the flanking fields . The end of the facade is a segmented gable crowned by vases , the gable field of which was made by the sculptor Johann August Nahl the Elder. Ä. was designed. In accordance with the Reformed Critique of Images, it shows no scenes, but only symbols from the Old and New Testaments, including a glory , a Bible and a lying, empty cross.

The side facades are characterized by arched windows and Ionic columns as structuring elements.

inner space

inner space

What is striking is the irregular floor plan of the church due to the street layout in the old town. The pulpit is on the side of the church. The organ gallery occupies the east side. The other sides of the church are taken up by an L-gallery with seats, which is supported on the north side by high arcades . Apart from the pilasters between the arcades and on the south wall, the church is kept very simple. The ceiling is arched like a basket and has no stucco except for an ornamental beam with a tooth-cut frieze . On the east side there is also a clock with a sparse stucco border above the entablature.

literature

  • Claire Huguenin, Monique Fontannaz: Le temple d'Yverdon. The Reformed Church of Yverdon. (Swiss Art Guide, No. 811, Series 82). Ed.  Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 2007, ISBN 978-3-85782-811-9 .
  • Jaques Dépraz: Yverdon-les-Bains. Chapelle-sur-Moudon 1993.
  • Georg Germann: The Protestant Church Building in Switzerland. From the Reformation to Romanticism. Zurich 1963, pp. 80–86.
  • Guide artistique de la Suisse. Volume 4a. Berne 2011, p. 351.

Web links

Commons : Reformed Church Yverdon  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 46 ° 46 '43.6 "  N , 6 ° 38' 25.9"  E ; CH1903:  539050  /  181 157