St. Benno (Meissen)

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The Roman Catholic parish church St. Benno , consecrated to Benno von Meißen , is located at Wettinstrasse 15 in the Triebischtal district of the city of Meißen . The neo-Gothic hall church was built between 1885 and 1887 based on a design by the master builder Friedrich Wilhelm Dürichen.

St. Benno Church in Meissen

history

For the first time after the Reformation , a Jesuit from Dresden celebrated a Catholic church service in a residential building in Meißen at Christmas 1764 . In January 1786, Camillo Marcolini bought on behalf of Friedrich August III. the house at Burgstrasse 11 in the old town of Meißen and had a Catholic chapel set up. A Catholic school was opened there in 1837. The poor conditions of the school housed in Burgstrasse 11 prompted the Apostolic Vicariate of Dresden, the diocese of Meißen was not rebuilt until 1921, to acquire the parcel 1192 next to the porcelain factory for the construction of a school, parish and chapel house at the beginning of 1881 . The district's school authorities recommended the master builder Dürichen for the design and construction , who had already built the home of Mayor Karl Richard Hirschberg of Meissen . On May 26, 1883 the foundation stone was laid for the future community center . The parish and school house was inaugurated as early as autumn 1883. The foundation stone for the church was laid on May 19, 1885, its blessing on May 19, 1887 and its consecration by Bishop Franz Bernert on November 6, 1887 .

In the course of rebuilding and renovation measures in 1959, the original furnishings were significantly changed. The architect Arthur Becker planned a clearly structured interior . The pulpit , high altar and communication bench have been removed, as have the neo-Gothic decorations on the organ prospect , the St. Mary's altar and the stations of the cross . From the Benno altar , which was only created in 1934 , it stood on the wall to the left of the chancel , only the Benno sculpture remained . It stands in a chapel on the side of the crossing , opposite the baptistery.

An arson attack was carried out on the church on November 9, 2000, during which an incendiary device caused a smoldering fire with severe soot damage in the church. On August 15, 2002, the church was badly damaged in the flood , the floor was more than a meter under water. The redesign was carried out by master builder Günter Donath. On October 19, 2003, Bishop Joachim Reinelt consecrated the newly designed altar.

Building description

The church is a brickwork structure , the walls of which are divided between the windows by stepped buttresses , emphasized by the use of light clinker bricks. The nave is covered with a slate-covered gable roof, the dormer windows of which were subsequently replaced by skylights .

The 54 m high church tower on a square floor plan stands half in the nave, it towers over the roof ridge by 20 m. Its roof skin is made of copper . It is also supported by buttresses, some of which are covered by pinnacles , some of which are crowned with finials .

There are three bronze bells hanging in the bell house . They form a in E flat major - chord tuned bells . Only the Marienglocke (419 kg) survived the Second World War . It was not until 1964 that the Johannes bell (770 kg) and the Benno bell (310 kg) were added again.

In the tympanum of the step portal there has been a relief depicting him since the 800th anniversary of Bishop Benno . The neo-Gothic style still characterizes the interior of the church. Columns separate the aisles from the nave, the arms of the transept are just stubs. A ribbed vault rises above them . The columns and vaults are stone-colored. Only the keystones and the yoke above the altar island were emphasized in color. The altar island was brought forward during the renovation in 2003 so that the congregation can better gather around the altar.

The pews are now also arranged in a semicircle. The altar, originally the size of a sacrificial block, has been reduced in size so that the table shape is clearer. The altar table and the ambo are made of limestone. A figure of Christ made of Meissen porcelain, a work by Friedrich Press, hovers over the altar . He also created the font , over which a bronze dove hovers. The colored windows of the chancel were designed by Many Jost . The statue of the Virgin Mary by Heinrich Thein, which was exposed to the weather in the rectory for a long time, is now on the right column in front of the altar island.

The organ acquired in autumn 1887 , a work with 2 manuals by the organ builder Jahn in Dresden, was extensively restored after the flood by the Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden company . A glass wall separates the entrance area from the church. It enables the main entrance to the church to be kept open at all times.

literature

  • Catholic parish of St. Benno Meißen ( Ed. ): 125 years of the parish church. Meissen 2012.

Web links

Commons : St. Benno  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Report in Day of the Lord, No. 47 in Volume 50, 2000. Retrieved on August 1, 2019 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 9 ′ 15.6 ″  N , 13 ° 27 ′ 53.5 ″  E