St. Francis (Rapperswil-Kempraten)

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Church of St. Francis, bell bearer
View from the south

The Church of St. Franziskus is a Roman Catholic church in the Kempraten district of the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St. Gallen . It is the only parish church in the diocese of St. Gallen that is consecrated to St. Francis of Assisi . In addition, this building is the youngest church designed by architect Walter M. Förderer .

history

History and naming

Even before the Rapperswil parish was founded in 1253, Busskirch was the ecclesiastical center of the entire region. While Jona SG has been looked after from Rapperswil since 1310, the other courtyard areas at Busskirch remained church-related, so that the long church path led there for the residents of Kempraten. In 1945 this parish membership was revoked, with Kempraten and Lenggis (Unterhof) being assigned to the parish of Rapperswil, while the church of St. Martin and the southern area (courtyards) came to the parish of Jona. Since the St. Ursula Chapel with its 120 seats was too small for the Catholics of Kempraten, the Catholic parish of Rapperswil approved the purchase of the "Krone" in Kempraten in 1962 in order to build a church on the building site. But when the population of the Lenggis area was forecast to double in the 1970s, the parish acquired an area in the Rebhalde in 1972 , on which the church was built instead.

Development and construction history

On April 8, 1974, the citizens' assembly decided to build the church center for Kempraten. In 1975 Walter M. Förderer won the architecture competition with his landscape project . At the parish assembly on November 29, 1976, his project was approved by the population. It is the last draft of a church interior designed by Förderer. Then he withdrew from architecture and devoted himself exclusively to spatial sculptures . That is why the construction was carried out by Rudolf Lüscher and Jost Meier in the years 1978–1979, with whom Walter M. Förderer had run his architecture office until he won the Kempraten competition. The consecration took place on March 25, 1979, the Bishop of St. Gallen , Otmar Mäder , elevated Kempraten to a parish on July 1, 1982 by decree.

Building description

Development process and characteristics

The church of St. Franziskus Kempraten is the tenth and at the same time the last church, which was built according to plans by Walter M. Förderer. When designing his church buildings, Förderer adhered to a three-dimensional, three-dimensional approach that reflects his original training as a sculptor: he allowed his impressions of the landscape and the surrounding buildings to flow into the development of the spatial program and the appearance of his church. After the first sketches made with charcoal on sheets of drawings, Förderer continued to develop his ideas for church building on smaller and larger models . He photographed these from different angles and made corrections to the photos, after which he further developed the building model. Until the concrete formwork was created by the construction workers on site, Förderer continued to modify his ideas without changing the basic concept of his design. The result was no functional buildings, but, according to Brentini, "the large-scale implementation of a walkable and tangible sculpture that combines with the required function to create a new whole".

Architect Walter M. Förderer characterized his church buildings as follows: "My buildings are determined by the topography , the peculiarities of the site, the attitude of the client ... My building should work in all directions, contribute to an overall design." More important than the functionality of the church building was the implementation of his three-dimensional ideas. A main feature of the church buildings by Förderer is the consistent use of concrete at the expense of other building materials such as marble or precious woods, which were used in sacred buildings by other architects. Further characteristics of the churches by Förderer are polygonal floor plans, the spatial alignment of the parish center and rectory on the church interior , complicated and nested volumes as well as indirect lighting inside the church.

Plastic creation by Fredy Ambroschütz

Exterior and bells

The St. Franziskus Church is located on Fluhstrasse in the immediate vicinity of the Kempraten train station on sloping terrain. From the street, the plastered building, painted in sienna tones, looks squat. Instead of a high church tower , a clearly visible cross in front of the bell bearer refers to the ecclesiastical purpose of the building.

In the bell chamber there is a three-part bell that was cast by the company H. Rüetschi , Aarau in 1978 and sounds in the tone sequence es - g - b.

Outside of the church are works of sculptor Fredy Ambroschütz: In the tower corner is foundation stone embedded in the western courtyard , a spherical, in relief symbolizes bronze casting the creation , relying on God opens up and hinwächst him. Various entrances lead into the interior of the church center.

inside view

Interior and artistic equipment

The foyer leads in a semicircle around the church and connects the rooms of the parish center with the church to which the whole complex is oriented. The church interior is kept in shades of white and is illuminated by numerous window openings on the walls and in the rising roof. The roof rises to the choir wall, however, is above the chancel cranked . Large skylights, which refer to the Trinity with their three numbers , illuminate the sanctuary with daylight. Typical for patron churches is a balcony-like corridor in the choir wall, which is partially covered by walls.

On the right side of the altar there is a large cross on the wall, on the left there is the tabernacle . The chairs for the worshipers are aligned in three semicircular blocks towards the altar , with the gray carpeted floor sloping slightly towards the sanctuary, so that a good view of the altar is also possible from the back rows of chairs. By creating a unified space for the faithful without separating the altar area and space, he underlined the post- Vatican character of the Church of St. Francis. On the right side of the altar wall there is a gallery for the organ and the church choir, on the left a dais , which is intended for worshipers, forms the counterpart to the organ and singer gallery.

As a trained sculptor, Walter M. Förderer created the altar, the ambo , the font and the cross on the choir wall from light and dark woods. The altar and ambo are placed on a pedestal. A tapestry is hung in a larger niche on the choir wall above the altar . It focuses on the sun song of the church patron, St. Francis, and was created by parishioners based on a design by Margrit Schär-Bütler. Two other sculptures refer to Francis of Assisi: In the niche at the western entrance, Francis can be seen life-size. The other picture shows the congregation who, together with Francis, are following the example of Jesus. Jost Blöcklinger (1934–1989) created these two panels. In the confessional room there is a baroque crucifix around which eight pictures by Josef Vollenweider, which tell the Passion of Christ, are attached to light wooden panels . A statue of Our Lady from the 17th century complements the interior of the church.

Graf organ from 1979

organ

As in all of Förderer’s churches, the organ and the singing area are located near the altar area. The importance of music for the liturgy is expressed by raising the organ and the singing area as a platform. The path leads past the instrument to the San Damiano meditation room . In 1979, Orgelbau Graf AG, Sursee , built the instrument with 17  stops on two manuals and a pedal . The organ has a free-standing console so that the organist can see what is happening in the liturgy and, if the choir is accompanying him, the conductor . The prospect pipes are made of copper .

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
Principal 8th'
Reed flute 8th'
octave 4 ′
Pointed flute 4 ′
octave 2 ′
Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
II Swell C – g 3
Dumped 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Forest flute 2 ′
third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
Cymbel 1 ⁄ 2 ′
Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
Sub bass 16 ′
Open bass 8th'
Dolkan 4 ′
prong 8th'

literature

  • Fabrizio Brentini: Building for the Church. Catholic church building of the 20th century in Switzerland. Lucerne 1994.
  • Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten. Rapperswil-Jona 2015.

Web links

Commons : Church Franziskus Kempraten  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , p. 11.
  2. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , pp. 2–4.
  3. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , p. 4.
  4. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Building for the Church. Catholic Church Buildings in Switzerland in the 20th Century , pp. 163 and 284.
  5. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , pp. 4–5.
  6. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Building for the Church. Catholic Church Buildings in Switzerland in the 20th Century , p. 166.
  7. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Building for the Church. Catholic Church Buildings in Switzerland in the 20th Century , p. 174.
  8. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Building for the Church. Catholic Church Buildings in Switzerland in the 20th Century , p. 174.
  9. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Building for the Church. Catholic Church Buildings in Switzerland in the 20th Century , p. 175.
  10. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Building for the Church. Catholic Church Buildings of the 20th Century in Switzerland , p. 173.
  11. ^ Bells of the Church of St. Francis on YouTube . Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  12. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , p. 6.
  13. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Building for the Church. Catholic Church Buildings of the 20th Century in Switzerland , p. 167.
  14. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , pp. 8–9.
  15. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , p. 10.
  16. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , p. 12.
  17. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , pp. 10-13.
  18. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Building for the Church. Catholic Church Buildings of the 20th Century in Switzerland , p. 169.
  19. ↑ Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona (ed.): Parish church and parish center St. Franziskus Kempraten , pp. 13-14.
  20. ^ Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein, section Catholic Church St. Franziskus Kempraten (Rapperswil-Jona). Retrieved December 14, 2016.