St. Andreas (Uster)
The Church of St. Andrew is the Roman Catholic parish church of the city of Uster . It is located on Neuwiesenstrasse in the city center. The parish of St. Andreas is one of the largest in the canton of Zurich. The parish belonging to it, with its 15,711 members (as of 2017), is the second largest Catholic parish in the canton of Zurich after that of Winterthur . The parish of Uster is responsible for 9,409 Catholics.
history
History and naming
The medieval church of Uster am Burghügel was consecrated on November 30, 1099, on the day of the Apostle Andreas , by Bishop Gebhard from Constance in honor of Mary and St. Andrew. In addition to the main altar of St. Andrew, others were consecrated in honor of St. Peter and St. Margaret . The church was founded by Count Heinrich von Rapperswil . Later a Romanesque successor church was built, which had a bent axis. This church was Gothicized in a further step, after which the three-aisled nave was completed with a half-octagonal choir. After the Reformation in Zurich, the church continued to be used for Reformed worship services. In 1828 the medieval church of Uster was demolished because its successor building was completed, the newly built, today's Reformed Church of Uster .
Development and construction history
In the period after the Reformation up to the beginning of the 19th century, Catholic services were banned in the canton of Zurich . The Edict of Tolerance of the Zurich Government Council of September 10, 1807 allowed a Catholic community in Zurich for the first time. The so-called First Zurich Church Law in 1863 recognized the Catholic parishes in Zurich as well as in Winterthur , Dietikon and Rheinau (the last two were traditionally Catholic places). On the basis of association law, Catholic branches could then be established throughout the canton. With the help of support associations such as the Piusverein (founded in 1857) and the Catholic Society for Domestic Missions (founded in 1863), further pastoral care stations and later parishes in the canton of Zurich were established in quick succession in the 1860s: Männedorf (1864), Gattikon-Thalwil / Langnau (1864), Horgen (1865), Pilgersteg-Rüti / Wald (1866), Wald and Bubikon (1873), Uster (1876), Langnau (1877), Rüti (1878), Wädenswil (1881), Bülach (1882) , Wetzikon (1890), Bauma (1894), Adliswil (1894), Pfungen (1895), Dübendorf (1897) and Küsnacht (1901). So it happened that by 1900 there were already 20 Catholic parishes in the canton of Zurich, including the one in Uster.
The current parish of St. Andreas is a branch of the parish of St. Stefan Männedorf. The census in 1870 showed that there were 104 Catholics in Uster and 227 in the entire Uster district. It was mostly foreign workers, v. a. from Tyrol who found a job in Uster during the year and traveled back to their homeland over the winter. But more and more of them settled firmly in Uster. For this reason, the Inland Mission, which had already founded the first mission station in the region in Männedorf in 1864, pushed ahead with the opening of another church in Uster. In 1876 the mission station was opened in Uster, which was appointed parish rectorate in 1881 and an independent parish in 1884. The first Catholic service in Uster after the Reformation took place on Trinity Sunday , June 11th, 1876 in the old schoolhouse with 150 believers present. This year the Catholic community rented the room in the old school building for 100 francs a year for church services. However, as early as November of the same year the school claimed the space for itself again, so that the Catholic community had to move to an economic hall in Uster Castle and occasionally in the hall of the Usterhof restaurant . In this early period, the Uster mission station also included the communities of Dübendorf , Greifensee , Aathal-Seegräben , Wangen, Fällanden , Schwerzenbach , Volketswil , Wetzikon , Egg , Maur , Mönchaltorf , Pfäffikon , Fehraltorf and Illnau . In 1880, 505 Catholics lived in this region.
The first church
At the beginning of the 1880s a committee for the construction of a Catholic church in Uster was formed. This commissioned the architect Wilhelm Keller to develop the building plans. Keller had already planned and built churches and parish apartments in Horgen and Langnau am Albis . Pastor Mayr, on the other hand, did not want a modest church with an attached parsonage, but rather a "large and worthy Gothic church" with a detached parsonage. Pastor Mayr was able to inspire the bishop in Chur , Franz Konstantin Rampa , with his vision, so that the bishop gave the pastor a free hand. Pastor Mayr then bought the land for the construction of the church in the Rennenfeld and in the Rennenbühl and pushed the church building forward. Master builder Bianchi from Uster began building the church in 1883 and was supported by master builder Dellagiacoma from Egg. On January 5th, 1884 the solemn consecration of the neo-Gothic church took place. The house of God was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus , and secondly to St. Andrew the Apostle. In the following years the construction was completed in stages. From 1884 to 1887 the rectory, which also contained a classroom, was built. The tower was completed in 1890. In 1891 the church received the neo-Gothic altar from the church of St. Peter and Paul Winterthur and in 1898 a pulpit that was created by O. Hollenstein, Wil SG . In 1900 a gallery was built into the church, on which the organ was placed in 1919. In 1903 the church painter Stöckli painted the interior of the church. In 1905 the church received the neo-Gothic high altar, which was designed by Ed. Preissle was made in Zurich. In 1906 the bell tower got its first bells, which, however, contrary to the agreement made, were not coordinated with the chimes of the Reformed Church, so that the bells had to be cast and consecrated a second time in 1907 and wound up in the tower. The Marien Altar followed in 1912 and the Joseph Altar in 1915, both created by the Marmon and Blank company , St. Gallen-Georgen. When the organ built by the Kuhn company was installed in 1919 , the first Catholic church in Uster was completed after forty years of construction.
Sacred Heart Church, side view
inside view
View to the gallery
Organ of the Herz-Jesu-Kirche
The second church
After a long project planning phase, it was decided in 1957 to replace the outdated and too small church with a new building. In 1959 a competition was announced for the construction of a new church, tower, rectory, hall and parish center. In this competition five projects were awarded, the winning project was the “Basalt” concept by André M. Studer , Gockhausen, according to whose plan the second Catholic church in Uster was built. As the construction costs were quite high, the decision was made to build the building in two stages: first the rectory and the hall were built, then the church tower and bike shelter followed, then the church and finally the parish hall. On December 14, 1961, the parish assembly approved the construction of the first stage. The rectory was built on July 27, 1962 and moved into shortly before Christmas 1963. On April 23, 1963, the old Herz-Jesu-Kirche was blown up and the site was then prepared for the construction of today's church.
The Herz-Jesu-Kirche was blown up in 1963
On September 20, 1964, the foundation stone of the new Catholic Church of St. Andrew was laid by Vicar General Alfred Teobaldi . The architect André M. Studer, who also built the Catholic Church of St. Elisabeth in Kilchberg and the Lasalle House of the Jesuits in Edlibach, was responsible for building the church. The newly built church was consecrated on March 20, 1966. In 1999, on the occasion of the celebration of 900 years of Christianity in Uster, a wooden reliquary was hand-carved by Brunello Rino, Uster. The relics of St. Andrew inside were brought from Amalfi . In the years 2005 to 2007 the parish center and the church were extensively renovated.
The parish of St. Andreas belongs together with the parish of Brother Klaus Volketswil and the parish rectorate Johannes XXIII. Greifensee to the parish of Uster.
Building description
Exterior and steeple
The St. Andreas church is located in the center of Uster on Neuwiesenstrasse . The slender church tower with its distinctive bell house shows the location of the church from afar. Wide stairs lead to the different parts of the church, rectory and parish center in the exterior of the church. The church has a complex, steeply rising roof. In the building inventory of the city of Uster, the church of St. Andreas is listed as an important work by the architect André M. Studer. In front of the church there is a statue of St. Andrew made of concrete. The sculpture was designed by Hans von Matt, Stans and executed by Primo Ortelli.
Four of the five bells of the St. Andreas church come from the previous church and were manufactured in 1907 by the Rüetschi bell foundry in Aarau. These bells replaced the bells cast in 1906, as these first bells, contrary to the agreement, were not coordinated with the chimes of the reformed church in Uster. The first four bells were consecrated on November 17, 1907. A spelling mistake can be found on the fourth bell in the word “Jesus”.
| number | Weight | diameter | volume | dedication | inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1200 kg | 124 cm | e | Redeemer | "Divino salvatori te redemptus laudet orbis grata servans munera" |
| 2 | 815 kg | 113 cm | f sharp | Angelus bell, Maria | "Me resonante pia populi memor esto maria" = "When I sound, the people should remember the good Maria" |
| 3 | 520 kg | 93 cm | a | apostle | "Apostolorum gloram laetis canamus mentibus" = "We want to announce the praise of the apostles with a joyful spirit" and "I am consecrated to the holy Apostle Andrew, patron of this place since ancient times" |
| 4th | 260 kg | cm | cis | Death knell | "Piae defunctorum memoriae" = "Consecrated to pious memory to those who have fallen asleep" and "Pie JSEU (sic!) Domine dona eis requiem" = "Good Lord Jesus give them eternal rest" |
Arrival of the bells in 1963
Elevation of the bells
View from the bell chamber
View from the church tower to the Andreaskirche
In addition to these four old bells, a fifth bell was cast in the Rüetschi bell foundry in 1966:
| number | Weight | diameter | volume | dedication | inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 2100 kg | 153 cm | cis | St. Andrew | "Sanct Andreas protect village and people" |
In 1966, the first four bells in the Rüetschi bell foundry were overhauled and then, together with the new, fifth bell, on December 9th, in the 13th and 14th November 1963 built church tower raised.
Interior and artistic equipment
The church's interior is designed as a transverse building, making the worshipers close to the altar can sit. The pews are grouped in a semicircle around the altar, giving spatial expression to the communion idea of the Second Vatican Council . The walls of the church are made of lightly painted concrete. The wood-clad church roof rises steeply above them. The light penetrates the church through a skylight in the church roof and bathes the church service room in light that changes depending on the amount of sunlight and the time of day. At the back of the church, there are further windows at ground level, which additionally illuminate the room.
In 2001 the church received stained glass windows designed by Urs Rickenbach, Uetikon am See and made by the company Glas Mäder, Zurich. These ten stained glass windows thematize the Canticle of the Sun by Francis of Assisi in symbolic imagery. Originally commissioned to design medallions , Urs Rickenbach decided, due to the architectural features of the church, to make the Canticle of the Sun as continuous bands from floor to ceiling. In the middle of the bands the ten glass windows shine in strong colors, the upper and lower areas of the bands let the design language of the respective design run out. The windows address the individual stanzas of the Canticle of the Sun from left to right:
- Aufsang : The invocation of God by St. Francis is formed by connecting lines from bottom to top. In the middle of the window there is a yellow circle - an anticipation of the sun as a sign of God in the second stanza. In this way, form and color reference is made to the neighboring windows, so that an arc of tension arises across the ten windows.
- Brother Sun : The second window addresses the sun as the star of the day, as the mother of fire and as a prerequisite for all life. The sun is shown in the window as a central star, around which planetary orbits and spiral shapes move. The spiral is a symbol of growth and development.
- Sister Moon and Stars : The moon is the celestial body that is closest to the earth. The influence of the moon on people and on nature is diverse and mysterious. The moon is shown on the third glass window as a full circle and a bright sickle. The moon is a symbol of becoming and passing away, it stimulates people to think. The stars are indicated on the spirals and elliptical fragments. The cool blue tones represent the night and contrast with those of the day.
- Brother Wind : The stanzas that follow are dedicated to the four elements. Just as St. Francis praises not only the good weather, but also all types of weather, Urs Rickenbach shows not only the rainbow - a symbol of God's covenant with mankind - but also storms, lightning and lashing rain.
- Sister Water : The diagonal lines and the spectral colors on the contour of the large water droplet refer to the previous picture and can be interpreted as a reduced rainbow. Wave crests are lined up horizontally across the center of the picture and refer to the large bodies of water. The eddies of the moving water also fill the lower part of the window. The icy blue, almost white surfaces are reminiscent of the frozen state of the water. The rising flowing lines on the left edge ultimately stand for the third physical state of the element, for water vapor.
Singing
Brother sun
Sister moon and stars
Brother wind
Sister water
- Brother fire : The element of fire is represented formally in a similar way to water. The color development, on the other hand, takes up the contrast between fire and water: warm tones replace cold ones. Where water has life-giving properties, what is consuming is in the foreground with fire. Fire cannot exist without food and therefore needs wood. The wood shown is shown in the shape of the Andreas cross and refers to the patron of the church. The burning heart - symbol of love - is shown in the lower part of the color table in warm, bright colors.
- Sister Mother Earth : The seventh verse of the Canticle of the Sun addresses the earth, sister and mother at the same time. Two generations united in one body are also shown on the glass window: The large yellow circular area as earth contains a second, reddish one inside. The yellow circle can be interpreted as a fruit, seed or mustard seed, whose inconspicuous grain already contains the tree. The hidden will of the Creator produces fertility, which is represented by the cotyledon and root from the seed. As a promise for the future, a third generation is also indicated as a red circle area, as part of a future blossom. In the lower part of the picture, an ear of wheat grows out of the indicated furrow, our daily bread.
- For the sake of your love : A green and a blue figure connect, they complement and support each other. The two upper bodies are formed from one line; the vertical continuous arc line is a sign of a common will and connection of man to the supernatural. The deep, gloomy colors of the background indicate the hostility and hardships of which St. Francis speaks in the eighth stanza of the Canticle of the Sun.
- Sister Death : Urs Rickenbach depicts death in concentric circles of increasing darkness. The dynamic loop shapes represent dying. The bright circular area in the center is a symbol of the promised life after death. The golden ball can be understood as the body of Christ, the shape shown below stands for the filled chalice. Together the two elements refer to the celebration of the Eucharist. The fish shapes in this window represent the early Christian ICHTYS symbol.
- Swan song : The tenth window refers to the humility with which St. Francis concludes his hymn of the sun. After considering creation fully, man realizes his own inadequacy. In the glass window a bent figure can be seen in serious colors, but also a moving connection between earthly and heavenly. In terms of form and color, the tenth window again approaches the first, the circle closes.
Brother fire
Sister mother earth
For your love's sake
Sister death
Swan song
In 2006 Urs Rickenbach designed a silk tapestry for the Church of St. Andreas, which was hand-knotted by Ewald Kröner, Karlsruhe. For the time after Easter, the tapestry should be used to cover the crucifix. During the rest of the church year, the tapestry hangs in the back of the church. The carpet thematizes the resurrection based on the Gospel of Matthew. The dark mourning of the Mary figures, who want to visit the grave of the dead Jesus and stand in front of the open, empty crypt, is dominated by the figure of light, which symbolizes the mystery of the resurrection. Urs Rickenbach initially started from a figurative drawing and took a number of steps to create the tapestry. The silk carpet refers to the ten glass windows by taking up the arches of the windows, but fragments them so that the elusive mystery of the resurrection is hinted at.
The chancel is raised two steps from the church floor and has a monumental stone altar in its center, which was built according to the concept of the architect André M. Studer. It consists of several stone blocks that support the altar table top. On the right side of the altar are some of the Apostle candles, which, in contrast to traditional church designs in the Church of St. Andrew, are located directly at the altar. In this way reference is made to the Patron of the Church, the Apostle Andrew. To the left of the altar is the ambo , which like the altar consists of several stone blocks. Behind the altar there is a monumental crucifix that comes from the previous church. The crucifix is flanked by two benches for the ministry. On the left side of the church there is a side altar with a tabernacle , on the right side the place for the baroque Virgin Mary. Both the side altar and the place for the figure of the Mother of God were again made from several stone blocks. In this way a unity of the liturgical places within the church is established. Another work of art in the church is the St. Andrew's icon , which was painted around the end of the 17th century. The blessing of this icon took place in 1999 during an Orthodox service by the Bishop of Chur, Amédée Grab .
The sanctuary
The font
Marian prayer niche
organ
The organ built by Mathis , Näfels, had 26 registers in 1968 , which were divided into two registers and a pedal. In terms of sound, it was modeled on baroque models. When a cleaning and revision was necessary in the course of the church renovation in 2006, the desire arose to add additional registers to the baroque work in order to expand its sound spectrum for romantic music. For this project, a new swell with nine registers was added, which optically matched the previous organ. Today's organ has 36 registers on three manuals with a purely mechanical action . This work was carried out in 2006 by the company Späth Orgelbau , Rapperswil SG. Helmut F. Nowak was responsible for the disposition.
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- Pair : III / II, I / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
literature
- Episcopal Ordinariate Chur (ed.): Schematism of the Diocese of Chur. Chur 1980.
- Paul Kläui: History of the community of Uster. Zurich 1964.
- Roman Catholic Church Care Uster (Ed.): St. Andreas Uster 1966. Parish history and commemorative publication for the solemn consecration of the Roman Catholic Church in Uster. Uster 1966.
- Urs Rickenbach: Cycle of stained glass windows in the Catholic Church in Uster for the Canticle of the Sun by San Francesco d'Assisi. Uster 2001.
- Roman Catholic Parish Church Foundation St. Andreas Uster (Ed.): Festschrift. Roman Catholic Church of St. Andreas Uster ZH. Consecration of the renovated church, inauguration of the enlarged organ, blessing of the tapestry. Uster 2006.
- Fredi Rechsteiner: The parish of St. Andreas in Uster. Uster 2013.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Catholic Church in the Canton of Zurich (Ed.): Annual Report 2017. Zurich 2017, p. 84.
- ^ Fredi Rechsteiner: The parish of St. Andreas in Uster. P. 1.
- ↑ Bischöfliches Ordinariat Chur (Hrsg.): Schematismus. P. 261.
- ^ Henri Truffer: Association of Roman Catholic Parishes of the City of Zurich. Zurich 1989, p. 192.
- ^ Christian Renfer: Catholic Church Bülach. Pp. 4-5.
- ↑ Roman Catholic Church Maintenance Uster (Ed.): St. Andreas Uster 1966. Parish history and commemorative publication for the solemn consecration of the Roman Catholic Church in Uster. P. 19.
- ↑ Bischöfliches Ordinariat Chur (Hrsg.): Schematismus. P. 261.
- ↑ Roman Catholic Church Maintenance Uster (Ed.): St. Andreas Uster 1966. Parish history and commemorative publication for the solemn consecration of the Roman Catholic Church in Uster. P. 20.
- ↑ Roman Catholic Church Maintenance Uster (Ed.): St. Andreas Uster 1966. Parish history and commemorative publication for the solemn consecration of the Roman Catholic Church in Uster. Pp. 23-27.
- ^ Fredi Rechsteiner: The parish of St. Andreas in Uster. Pp. 1-2
- ↑ Bischöfliches Ordinariat Chur (Hrsg.): Schematismus. P. 261
- ^ Fredi Rechsteiner: The parish of St. Andreas in Uster. Pp. 3-4.
- ↑ Roman Catholic Church Maintenance Uster (Ed.): St. Andreas Uster 1966. Parish history and commemorative publication for the solemn consecration of the Roman Catholic Church in Uster. Pp. 53-68 and 113.
- ^ Roman Catholic Church in the Canton of Zurich (ed.): Annual report 2012. P. 71.
- ^ Fredi Rechsteiner: The parish of St. Andreas in Uster. P. 5
- ↑ Roman Catholic Church Maintenance Uster (Ed.): St. Andreas Uster 1966. Parish history and commemorative publication for the solemn consecration of the Roman Catholic Church in Uster. P. 144
- ↑ Roman Catholic Church Maintenance Uster (Ed.): St. Andreas Uster 1966. Parish history and commemorative publication for the solemn consecration of the Roman Catholic Church in Uster. P. 26.
- ↑ Roman Catholic Church Maintenance Uster (Ed.): St. Andreas Uster 1966. Parish history and commemorative publication for the solemn consecration of the Roman Catholic Church in Uster. Pp. 77-82.
- ↑ Urs Rickenbach: Glass window cycle. Pp. 13-21.
- ↑ Urs Rickenbach: Tapestry Resurrection. , in: Festschrift, p. 11
- ^ Fredi Rechsteiner: The parish of St. Andreas in Uster. Pp. 5-9.
- ↑ Hans Späth: For organ enlargement. , in: Festschrift, pp. 6 and 9.
Coordinates: 47 ° 20 '58.5 " N , 8 ° 43' 23.6" E ; CH1903: 697061 / 245098