St. Thomas von Aquin Church (Berlin-Charlottenburg)
| St. Thomas Aquinas | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Church and rectory |
|
| Start of building: | 1931 |
| Inauguration: | 1932 |
| Builder : | Heilmann & Littmann |
| Architect : | Paul Linder |
| Style elements : | New Objectivity |
| Client: | Herz-Jesu-Kirchengemeinde |
| Floor space: | 45 × 17 m |
| Location: | 52 ° 30 '37.6 " N , 13 ° 18' 47.2" E |
| Address: | Schillerstrasse 101 Berlin-Charlottenburg Berlin , Germany |
| Purpose: | catholic worship |
| Parish: | Catholic parish Herz Jesu |
| Diocese : | Archdiocese of Berlin |
The Catholic St. Thomas von Aquin Church in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district is a hall church - integrated into the surrounding block perimeter - whose patron saint is St. Thomas Aquinas . It is a listed building .
history
Pastor Bernhard Lichtenberg had to look after 40,000 Catholic residents in 1913 , but the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in the Charlottenburg parish could only accommodate 437 believers in the pews . Therefore, his first concern was to improve the church supplies for the Charlottenburg diaspora Catholics. The first service in the pastoral care area between Bismarck and Kantstrasse took place in 1913 in the auditorium of the Catholic elementary school on Goethestrasse. In 1924, the Thomas Chapel was built in Schlüterstrasse with a view to providing pastoral care for students at the Technical University of Charlottenburg . After a long search, they found a vacant lot for a church at 102 Schillerstraße and a residential building at 101 that was suitable as a rectory . After the Thomas Church in Schillerstrasse was built in 1932 for 203,000 marks (today: around 913,000 euros), the chapel continued to exist as a Benedictine student chapel until it was destroyed in the Second World War.
The St. Thomas Aquinas parish was officially founded in 1922, since 1936 it was considered a curate , in 1940 it was elevated to a parish . The church was only designated in 1932, the church was consecrated only in 1934 by Bishop Nikolaus Bares . Due to the financial situation in the archdiocese of Berlin, the St. Thomas lost Aquinas community its status as a parish in 1999 which found parish merger with the mother parish of the Sacred Heart held. The St. Thomas-von-Aquin-Kirche remains a place of worship in the parish of Herz-Jesu. Since June 2000 the Francophone parish Paroisse catholique Berlin has been based in St. Thomas. In 2015, the church was extensively renovated and restored over ten months. On December 13, 2015, the church was held in a solemn pontifical mass under the direction of Archbishop Dr. Heiner Koch reopened in the presence of the community.
Building description
The relatively narrow gap between an existing residential building on the left and a house acquired by the community on the right offered the opportunity to position a church in such a way that the facade is clearly visible from the street, as there have been numerous examples in Berlin since the late 19th century gave. The municipality opted for a modern solution, which was found through an architectural competition in 1930 . The design corresponded to the view of church construction at that time.
Outdoor area
The basilica hall church is a masonry-filled steel frame building with a flat roof . At the back of the church there are side rooms like the sacristy .
The facade with its two arched portal is from the building line reset, thereby forming an atrium, which is separated from the street by a fence. To the left of the facade of the nave is the tower-like building with a cross. The wall, which is set back opposite the “tower”, has no windows and is faced with red bricks. It is structured in a series of narrow panels and walled vertical pilaster strips the width of a brick. In order to protect the residents of the neighboring house from the "noise" of the bells, they are not housed in the tower, but in the bell room behind the facade wall, which has ten narrow sound slots in the upper part between the pilaster strips. The three bronze bells were cast by Feldmann & Marschel in 1955 .
| Chime | Weight (kg) | Diameter (cm) | Height (cm) | inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| c | 529 | 96 | 82 | + ST. PETER + GRACE YOU AND PEACE + |
| b | 363 | 85 | 72 | + ST. PAULUS + LOOKS FOR WHAT'S DROBEN + |
| as | 264 | 75 | 63 | + ST. HEDWIG + KEEP US HOME AND FAITH + |
inner space
_Altarraum.jpg)
Since the nave is adjacent to the fire wall of the neighboring house on the left , a basilical cross-section was chosen to illuminate the interior with daylight . The side arcades at the transition from the central nave to the side aisles of the traditional three-aisled basilica building plan were saved by using two steel longitudinal trusses in order to achieve the "basilica without pillars" type. Cross-positioned steel roof trusses , which are clad in wood for acoustic reasons, cover the central part of the hall. The wooden roof cladding over the apse runs radially. This system with "side aisles", the flat ceiling without interruption of columns in the middle, on which the upper aisle rests, was developed by Hans Herkommer . It should also allow the view of those entering the altar freely and unhindered through view-blocking pillars or pillars. The rough plastered interior ends in the quarter-round sides to the drawn-in, stepped choir , which is closed off by a semicircular apse up to the height of the central nave. The upper facade windows are set into the high wall in pairs as high rectangular wall openings and mark a depth of seven bays . Behind the portals is the vestibule, which can be used as a prayer room when the main room is closed. Above is the gallery for the organ .
Furnishing
The initial equipment includes the statues of Mary and Joseph , which are placed on consoles left and right at the beginning of the choir . The high altar originally stood on the wall of the apse. A pulpit used to be on the left side wall. In accordance with the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council , the sanctuary was redesigned in 1967. The high altar was brought forward so that the celebration took place towards the congregation. However, he continued to stand on the raised chancel a long way from the congregation. During this renovation, the crucifix from the 17th century, which was donated at the time the church was built, and which had previously hung over the side entrance, was moved in front of the mosaic in the apse. This mosaic bears the inscription “o crux, ave, spes unica” (greetings, oh cross, only hope) . The tabernacle and baptismal font were placed to the right and left of the altar. In the 1980s, the ambo and priest's seat were placed in front of the steps of the altar to bring it closer to the congregation.
literature
- Christine Goetz , Matthias Hoffmann-Tauschwitz: Churches Berlin Potsdam. Berlin 2003.
- Architects and Engineers Association of Berlin: Berlin and its buildings. Part VI. Sacred buildings. Berlin 1997.
- Gerhard Streicher, Erika Drave: Berlin - city and church. Berlin 1980.
- Klaus-Dieter Wille: The bells of Berlin (West). History and inventory. Berlin 1987.
Web links
- Entry in the Berlin State Monument List with further information
- Church on the pages of the Herz-Jesu-Kirchengemeinde
- Paroisse catholique francophone de Berlin
- St. Thomas Aquinas in the official capital city portal