St. Thomas Church (Braunschweig)
The St. Thomas Church , in the Brunswick district Heidberg is also Thomas' Church called. She belongs to the ev.-luth. Parish of St. Thomas im Heidberg. Almost 25 years after the congregation was founded and after a long planning phase, the church was completed in 1989. The architect and city church building officer Norbert Koch, sculptor Jörg Wenning and Thomas Hauser, who designed the glass windows, were involved. The Thomaskirche is the second youngest Protestant church in Braunschweig after the Markuskirche in Südstadt .
Characteristic of the Thomaskirche is the bell tower that is not integrated into the church building, but rather that it stands separately .
history
Around the beginning of the 1960s, the "Heidberg" development area was built in the south of Braunschweig. Initially, the newly emerging residential area belonged to the neighboring Martin Luther congregation until 1965 when the former parish “Heidberg” was founded.
After the first improvised meetings in schools, inns and the like, it was believed that a community center could best meet the needs of community work, the community hall of which was also used as a place of worship. In 1967 the parish hall was inaugurated, but the desire for a “real church” remained.
On December 2nd (1st Advent) 1989 the time had come for the new St. Thomas Church to be consecrated. The architect of the church building is city church building officer Norbert Koch; The altar, font and pulpit were designed by the sculptor Jörg Wenning, the glass windows by Thomas Hauser (Berlin). In 1993 the new organ of the Oberlinger company was inaugurated.
architecture
The sculptures made from Elm sandstone by the Braunschweig sculptor Jörg Wenning stand in clear contrast to the clarity and rigor of the architecture of the church . The artist was guided by biblical texts, the statements of which underline the liturgical, worship function of the pulpit, baptism and altar.
pulpit
On the front of Elmsandstein from, so "rock", built pulpit a house can be seen amid stormy waves. The pulpit as the place of the sermon represents a parable of Jesus, which forms the end of the Sermon on the Mount . In the Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 7: 24-27 GNB ) it says:
“If you hear these words of mine and follow them, you will end up like a clever man who built his house on rocky ground. When the flood of rain came, the rivers overflowed their banks and the storm raged and shook the house, it did not collapse because it was built on rock. On the other hand, whoever hears these words of mine and does not follow them will end up like a fool who built his house on sand. When the flood of rain came, the rivers overflowed their banks, the storm raged and shook the house, it collapsed and everything was in ruins. "
altar
The altar is designed as a table at which the congregation gathers for communion . The heavy stone plate rests on a root trunk. The cut stump, from which new shoots nevertheless emerge, is an old symbol of hope for eternal life. This part of the church also refers to a passage in the Bible ( Isaiah 1,1 GNB ):
"A shoot grows out of the Isai tree stump, a new shoot shoots out of its roots."
Baptismal font
With a houseboat between threatening waves, the baptismal font recalls the story of the Flood and Noah, who survived in his ark (Genesis 6-9). The baptismal font is intended to remind of the destructive but also life-giving function of water.
Bell tower
On its open substructure, which is reminiscent of the temporary structure of the early years, the bell above the parish hall, the bell chamber with four bells rises between 13.50 m and 18 m above the site, supported by a wooden bell cage. The round roof with the 1.80 m high cross indicates the church building.
organ
The organ was built in 1993 by the Oberlinger company and inaugurated on the 1st of Advent of the same year. The casing of the instrument was adapted to the architecture of the church. A special feature is the arrangement of the console, which allows the organist to play facing the community. The organ has two manuals and a pedal ; 20 registers are available.
Church room
The radial shape of this church structure was selected as the ideal solution for a church assembly room as early as 1982 from a series of existing designs, and in the following years it was checked for its liturgical suitability by comparing it with existing rooms in other churches. The aim of the planning was to create a church room with the best possible concentration on the Last Supper area around the altar.
Sanctuary
The altar is placed on an area raised by two steps. The importance of the position is emphasized once again by the roof construction, which covers the room like a tent-shaped fan. Where one suspects the intersection of the ceiling beams, the construction dissolves into a circular skylight.
Furnishing
The materials of the walls, ceilings and floors are simple, white plastered masonry, spruce wood, brick and glass, inside and out.
In addition to the altar, baptismal font and pulpit, the interior is dominated by the colored windows by Thomas Hauser, the simple wooden cross, the Easter candlestick by the Braunschweig sculptor Sabine Hoppe and a large wooden angel by Dieter Schröder.
The parish of St. Thomas
The "Evangelical Lutheran parish of St. Thomas im Heidberg" belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran regional church of Braunschweig and has over 3000 members. The officiating pastor is Eckehard Binder.
There are three other parishes in the Braunschweig district of Heidberg: the Stephanus parish (Protestant-free church) , the Paul-Gerhardt parish (independent Protestant-Lutheran) and the St. Bernward parish (Roman Catholic) .
literature
- Church council of the parish of St. Thomas im Heidberg (ed.): Evangelical Lutheran parish of St. Thomas im Heidberg . [Leaflet], undated, undated
Individual evidence
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 13 '53.9 " N , 10 ° 32' 24.9" E