Judge window

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the Richter windows of the Benedictine Abbey of Tholey see Richter Window (Tholey) .

Richter window in the south transept, exterior view at night

Incidence of sunlight at the Richter window (detail)

Effect of the Richter window in the interior

The Richter window is the south transept window of Cologne Cathedral designed by the artist Gerhard Richter . 11,263 color squares in 72 colors with the dimensions 9.6 cm × 9.6 cm were randomly arranged on a window area of ​​106 m². The window was inaugurated on August 25, 2007 during a mass celebration; the abstract execution was partly enthusiastically received, partly massively criticized. The Richter window is the youngest of the Cologne cathedral windows .

Previous window

Originally, in 1863, windows depicting secular and Christian rulers of the Royal Glass Painting Institute in Berlin-Charlottenburg were installed in the south transept, which the Prussian royal house donated to the cathedral . The windows were destroyed in the Second World War and replaced in 1948 with simple ornamental glazing by Wilhelm Teuwen , which was meanwhile in need of renovation. Because of their colorlessness, the incident light was dazzling, which was perceived as very annoying.

History and implementation

In 2003 the Cologne Cathedral Chapter responsible for this decided to have the window replaced. The original designs from the 19th century, like the paintings themselves, were destroyed in the Second World War and were therefore no longer available. The plan was to use it to erect a memorial to German martyrs of the 20th century such as Edith Stein and Maximilian Kolbe and to commemorate the Holocaust . The pictorial drafts of the commissioned artists Egbert Verbeek and Manfred Hürlimann could not convince the cathedral chapter, but the abstract draft by Gerhard Richter, whom the then master builder Barbara Schock-Werner had personally asked for one. He had cut up a photograph of his picture "4096 Colors" from 1974 and stuck it behind the tracery of the window. In 2005 the cathedral chapter first gave Richter the order to further work on the draft. In 2006 the artist was finally commissioned. It was Richter's first church window.

The 370,000 euro production costs were financed by around 1200 donors; Gerhard Richter himself worked without a fee.

implementation

Richter selected 72 from a palette of 800 colors that were also used in the medieval windows of the cathedral and those of the 19th century.

The color squares were randomly distributed. Repetitions and reflections were specified, lanes 1 and 3, 2 and 5 as well as 4 and 6 are reflected. In a few places Richter corrected the distribution, for example where the pixel displays suggested certain content, e.g. B. in the lower area the number "1". Richter says: “I rather withdrew myself. I wanted the window to have something natural, something everyday, in any case it shouldn't be a 'riot of color'. Not too warm, not too cold, reserved, as neutral as it gets. "

“From this interplay of chance and calculation, an abstract 'color sound carpet' emerged, the particles of which glow in color when daylight floods in. They are not held together with lead rods, but are fixed on a carrier disk with silicone gel, so that the colored facets cause mutual interactions without the usual boundary lines in glass painting. In addition, the different incidence of light continuously changes the color effect of the window. "

The handcrafted execution of the window was carried out by Derix Glasstudios.

reception

Georg Imdahl wrote in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger : “In the 1960s, Richter even painted his first colored raster images as an attack on falsehood and piety, the way abstraction was celebrated, with false reverence; He had literally railed against 'devotional art' and 'church arts and crafts', as which the grid was celebrated. "

Cathedral builder Barbara Schock-Werner: “Glass painting only works on the spot.” The first drafts had a “bathroom touch” or would have emitted the light of “pub glazing”. Richter himself spoke of “too Christmassy” in one design.

The Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meisner , who did not belong to the cathedral chapter, criticized the window: “The window fits better in a mosque or another house of prayer. If we get a new window, it should clearly reflect our faith. And not just anybody. ”In Islam, images of people (in God's image) are forbidden. The statement was put into perspective by the archbishopric's spokesman, but it still caused a nationwide stir in the media. Later Meisner wanted to move the bishop's chair in the cathedral so that he would not have to see the window.

"In its overwhelming abundance of colors, it is itself a symphony of light in which all the colors of the cathedral can be heard," said Josef Sauerborn, artistic pastor of the Cologne Archdiocese, in his sermon at the festive service on the occasion of the unveiling in August 2007. “This window does not represent anything religious”, explained Provost Norbert Feldhoff in 2006, “but a challenge to see; it stimulates silence, it creates a light shimmering with colors, it animates, inspires, stimulates meditation and creates a flair that opens up to the religious. "

The window also met with approval from those in charge in Reims Cathedral , who also considered judges to design a window; After Richter's rejection, the artist Imi Knoebel was finally commissioned.

See also

Portal: Cologne Cathedral  - Overview of Wikipedia content on the subject of Cologne Cathedral

literature

• Ralf van Bühren : Art and Church in the 20th Century. The reception of the Second Vatican Council , Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh , Paderborn 2008, ISBN 978-3-506-76388-4 .
• Gerhard Richter - coincidence. The Cologne Cathedral window and 4900 colors , Cologne Cathedral Publishing House, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-86560-298-5 .

Web links

Commons : Richter Window  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Cathedral building Cologne: Friends and sponsors - foundations
• Werner Spies : Gerhard Richter's window: “An ocean of glass in Cologne Cathedral” , FAZ , August 25, 2007.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ koelner-dom.de: Südquerhausfenster (Richter window), 2007
2. ↑ Bühren 2008, pp. 619–620.
3. ↑ Derix Glasstudios, Taunusstein: Project images of the Richter window ( memento of the original from July 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
4. ↑ “The divine color pixels” , Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , August 24, 2007.
5. ↑ When Cardinal Meisner got angry. Retrieved August 24, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Bühren 2008, p. 620.
7. ↑ Werner Bloch: And there was light. welt.de, July 2, 2011, accessed November 1, 2011.
8. ↑ Olga Grimm-Weissert: Modern art for old cathedral. handelsblatt.com, May 12, 2011, accessed November 1, 2011.

Coordinates: 50 ° 56 ′ 27.5 ″  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 29.4 ″  E

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