St. Dionysius (Krefeld)
St. Dionysius is the Catholic old town church in the Lower Rhine city of Krefeld . The church, built in several construction phases between 1752 and 1910, shapes the silhouette of the city with its 78 meter high tower.
prehistory
Krefeld, in whose walls only about 450 people lived around 1620, had only one church for centuries. It was first mentioned in 1166 as the St. Dionysius Chapel. The patronage of the bishop and martyr Dionysius of Paris was also transferred to the city and is still reflected in the Krefeld coat of arms to this day . Until 1564 the patronage of the church lay with the Meer monastery . In the 15th century, St. Dionysius was rebuilt as a three-nave hall church in the late Gothic style.
The Counts of Moers , to whose territory Krefeld belonged, initially accepted the Lutheran creed during the Reformation and in 1564 appointed a Lutheran pastor in the old Dionysius Church. In 1581 Calvinism became the ruling denomination. In 1606/1607, under Spanish occupation, there was a short Catholic interlude in Krefeld, before the now so-called Old Church was finally reformed .
Since 1600 the county of Moers has been in the personal possession of Prince Moritz of Orange as a gift . He practiced an unusual policy of tolerance that privileged the Reformed Confession, but also tolerated Catholics, Lutherans and even the Mennonites, who were persecuted almost everywhere in the empire .
For the Catholics, the tertiary convent of St. Johann Baptist remained . However, since their number was large - probably more than half of the population in the 17th century as well - the dispute about the return of the old church and later about the building of a separate parish church and school continued to smolder. The new building at today's location was only possible in the 18th century under Prussian rule through a rescript by Frederick the Great in 1743.
Building history
In 1752 the construction of the new Dionysius Church began in baroque forms. C. Wallenfels is accepted as the architect. The nave was completed in 1754, the tower only in 1768.
The church was given its present shape mainly during a major renovation in the years 1840–1844. Under the direction of the Cologne cathedral builder Ernst Friedrich Zwirner , it was extended to include a three-aisled transept half the width of the nave. The twenty Ionic columns made of yellowish marble lend the interior the character of a light temple hall according to a classicist style ideal. On the outside, the new transept arms were given show facades to the adjacent squares.
From the middle of the 19th century, Krefeld experienced a rapid industrial boom and a sudden increase in population. In 1890 the city had 104,000 inhabitants, including more than 80,000 Catholics. In addition to the construction of several mostly neo-Gothic churches in the new residential areas, the desire arose to design the central church, whose low tower from the 18th century was barely visible. In 1893/1894 the new, almost 80-meter-high tower with a portal facade in neo-Gothic forms was built according to plans by the Cologne diocesan building officer Wilhelm Blanke. On the square shaft with a castle-like crenellated gallery stands an octagonal upper floor with a copper Renaissance hood and a pinnacle .
From 1908 to 1910 the exterior walls of the church were redesigned; in addition, the sacristy and several chapels were added.
St. Dionysius was badly damaged during World War II. Only the tower remained undamaged and gave the people of Krefeld hope. This is one of the reasons why the Dionysius Church is a landmark in Krefeld. The building could be restored by 1954.
The spire, which was damaged in a storm in 2004 and dismantled, could be put back in 2011.
Furnishing
Behind the altar island in the crossing with the neo-Romanesque altar from the 19th century, the gaze falls on the neo-Romanesque golden ciborium on the back wall of the choir, in which the baptismal font and the Easter candlestick are today. The Marien Altar is kept in the same style. The colorful figures of the apostles on the walls show baroque shapes. Darkly polished wood carvings from the early 20th century are the statues of the church patron Dionysius and the secondary patron Norbert von Xanten .
Hubert Spierling created a remarkable cycle of modern picture windows in 1981–1984.
organ
The organ is a work of Klais from 2007. It comprises 41 registers on three manuals and pedal .
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Couple
- Normal coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
- Sub-octave coupling: III / I, III / III
- Super octave coupling: III / I, III / III, III / P
Others
The Dionysius Choir Krefeld was established at the church in 1968 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Reinhard Feinendegen : 1607 - a fateful year in the history of Krefeld ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 87 kB)
- ↑ Old Church (archaeologie-krefeld.de)
- ↑ a b c d data sheet (kirchbau.de)
- ↑ Dream Paths of the World
- ↑ Why the Dionysius Church is a landmark , RP-online from December 14, 2009
- ↑ 2010-08-31: Dionysius Church takes part in the Open Monument Day ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (nrw.de)
- ↑ Sights in Krefeld (dfr-nrw.de)
- ↑ St. Dionysius celebrates his new tower. rp-online.de, April 10, 2011, accessed on September 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Description and disposition (klais.de)
- ↑ Description and disposition ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (orgel-information.de)
Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 57.6 ″ N , 6 ° 33 ′ 37.2 ″ E