Richter Window (Tholey)

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The three choir windows of the Tholey Abbey Church designed by the artist Gerhard Richter are known as Richter windows . Abstract motifs based on image 724-4 from Richter's book Patterns were created on the three large windows, each 9.30 m high and 1.95 m wide . Richter himself describes the three Tholeyer windows several times as his last major work and, besides the Richter window in Cologne Cathedral, which was inaugurated in 2007, they are the only church windows designed by this artist. When the renovated abbey church reopens on September 20, 2020, the windows should be fully installed in the Tholey abbey church.

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The three previous windows by Robert Köck (1960) in the apse

All previous windows of the abbey church came from the years 1958-1960 and were designed by Bonifatius Köck OSB (bourgeois Robert Köck ), who himself lived in the Benedictine monastery Tholey at the time. The three altar windows showed red drops on a whitish-gray background. Unfortunately, the exact meaning of this representation could not be found out. In the course of the preliminary planning for the renovation of the abbey church, the question of new church windows was also raised. The reason given for this was that the previous Köck windows were on the one hand damaged and on the other hand the abstract symbolic design was very difficult to understand for most viewers without in-depth theological background knowledge. When the renovation work on the abbey church began in 2018, all of Köck's windows, with one exception, were removed and stored.

prehistory

In a competition, the Afghan artist Mahbuba Elham Maqsoodi, Munich , was commissioned to design the new stained glass windows in the abbey church, with the exception of the three choir windows in the apse. Through the mediation of the Saarbrücken church musician Bernhard Leonardy, a request was made to Gerhard Richter for their design , who agreed. Richter's drafts were presented to the public on September 4, 2019 at a press conference in Tholey. Richter carried out the drafts free of charge. The monastery bears the material and production costs of the windows. The three windows were made in the Munich glass workshop Gustav van Treeck . There the first window could be viewed by the public on March 7th and 8th, 2020.

Technology and design

The design of the three windows is based on Richter's picture with the factory designation 724-4. This picture also appeared in 2011 in his book "Patterns". Using the technique described there, the image was first digitally divided into 16 vertical stripes of equal width and the tenth of these stripes were mirrored and lined up in multiple versions. This alienation creates very peculiar symmetrical patterns that have now been transferred to the dimensions of the choir windows. When the windows in the Gustav van Treeck court glass painting were made, several layers of glass were painted, which gives them a sense of depth.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article about the Richter window in Monopol magazine
  2. ↑ Gift from the world star. Richter window for the Tholey Monastery , dpa report in the General-Anzeiger Bonn, 6 August 2020, p. 9
  3. ↑ a b Description of the Richter and Köck windows on kathisch.de
  4. ^ Report on the presentation of the windows
  5. ↑ Paulinus.de
  6. ^ Report on mirror technology in the St. Wendeler Land Nachrichten
  7. ↑ Articles of the World

Coordinates: 49 ° 28 '53.3 "  N , 7 ° 1' 53.8"  E