St. Corpus Christi (Aachen)

tower

The Aachen Church of St. Corpus Christi is the parish church of the Catholic parish of St. Joseph and St. Corpus Christi and the most famous and at the same time best documented church building by Rudolf Schwarz . The sacred building erected in 1929/30 was originally the parish church of the parish of St. Corpus Christi, which was merged with the parish of St. Joseph in 2005. The former parish church of St. Josef has been used as a columbarium for urn burials since November 2006, known as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher .

Building

The church building consists of a white cuboid (main nave) covered with a very flat gable roof and a 40 m high, offset bell tower with a square cross-section. Inside, only the colors white and black are used: the completely white plastered side walls as well as the white altar wall, designed with no jewelry, contrast with the black of the natural stone of the altar and floor as well as with the dark stalls. The small windows in the upper area of the long sides or in the altar area are also colorless.

A low aisle adjoins the north-eastern long side as a confessional and Stations of the Cross chapel.

History of origin

Due to the steadily growing community of St. Josef in Aachen's East Quarter (a decidedly workers' quarter ), the priest in charge initiated the construction of a second church in 1929. He commissioned the architect Rudolf Schwarz with the planning, who had recommended himself as director of the Aachen School of Applied Arts and through designs for the competition for the Aachen Holy Spirit Church .

The designs submitted by Schwarz were initially neither approved by the Cologne Vicariate nor by the city building authorities. However, with the support of the city's art advisory board, the building permit was granted in March 1930. The fact that the Cologne church authority, which acted negatively, believed that it was responsible for the recently founded diocese of Aachen , helped create facts: the topping-out ceremony was in August 1930 and the church was consecrated on December 21, 1930.

The architects Hans Schwippert and Johannes Krahn were involved in the project as Schwarz 'employees .

Furnishing

inner space

Choir, altar

Pulpit and organ

The equipment was the responsibility of the "work group" propagated by Schwarz, made up of teachers and students from the Aachen School of Applied Arts :

Anton Schickel : Monstrance
Fritz Schwerdt : ivory crucifix (altar cross), altar candlestick, two everlasting candlesticks, chalice with rock crystal nodus, enamel frame of the bust of St. Theresa of Lisieux

Hans Schwippert : Stalls, half-length portrait of St. Theresa of Lisieux (in the aisle), organ prospect
Wilhelm Rupprecht : Stations of the Cross and painting of Our Lady (in the side aisle), vestments
Walter Ditsch: Ivory body
Anton Wendling : vestments and church flags
Schwarz himself made the designs for the altar, pulpit, baptismal font and the hanging festoons

As a tabernacle, Schwarz used an unadorned metal box, as the small ivory crucifix seemed sufficient to “denote the room”. The colored window designs by Anton Wendling were not implemented . After years of temporary work, white glass windows were realized in 1953 based on designs by Ludwig Schaffrath .

As a result, Rudolf Schwarz (and, after his death, his widow, the architect Maria Schwarz ) successfully defended himself against any changes to the building or the furnishings. So the community could only implement a few changes, such as B. the erection of a celebration altar (according to the Second Vatican Council ) and the redesign of the tabernacle by Fritz Schwerdt in 1958.

meaning

The Aachen Church of St. Corpus Christi was Rudolf Schwarz's first church building. In it - together with the students and teachers of the Aachen School of Applied Arts - he was able to implement his ideas of a modern church. “The consistent use of concrete, the design of geometric bodies without any ornament (and) the elevation of the building itself to a… image…” were downright revolutionary. In the church building , the architect realized his concept of the Wegekirche , which is characterized by a linear orientation of the church interior to the front. The whole congregation, the worshipers and the priest at their head, turn in the same direction, "on the way to the Lord", towards the returning Christ . Direction and destination are symbolically indicated by the white front wall.

The church is undisputedly a milestone in modern church construction, but is still rated controversially today.

The church is popularly known as St. Makei (= regional for quark) because of its white rectangular shape .

literature

Deutscher Werkbund (ed.): Die Form - magazine for creative work. 5th year, issue 21/22. Reckendorf, Berlin 1930.
Adam C. Oellers and Sylvia Böhmer: Being moderate means organizing sensibly. Rudolf Schwarz and Albert Renger-Patzsch. Museums of the City of Aachen, Aachen 1997, ISBN 3-929203-17-0 .
August Brecher: A young parish in Aachen's east quarter - the parish of St. Corpus Christi 1930-1996. einhard verlag, Aachen 1997, ISBN 3-930701-26-X .
Ulrich Schäfer: The parish church of St. Corpus Christi in Aachen . DKV art guide No. 643, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-422-02063-4 .
Rudolf Schwarz: Church building. World before the threshold. Heidelberg 1960; Reprint: Regensburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7954-1961-5 .

Web links

Commons : St. Corpus Christi (Aachen) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Fritz Schwerdt sacred furnishings for St. Corpus Christi, Aachen.
↑ Episcopal Diocesan Archives Aachen, St. Corpus Christi, Bau File, Volume I. (1943–1962).
^ Ulrich Schäfer: The parish church of St. Corpus Christi in Aachen. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-422-02063-4 .
↑ www.der-fels.de (11-2001), p. 313f. (PDF; 567 kB)
^ Rudolf Schwarz: Church building. World before the threshold. Heidelberg 1960. (Reprint: Regensburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7954-1961-5 , p. 20)
^ The parish church of St. Corpus Christi. Building history and architecture. Catholic parish of St. Joseph and Corpus Christi, Aachen, accessed on December 22, 2013 .

50.774425 6.1149111111111Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 27.9 " N , 6 ° 6 ′ 53.7" E

[1] Fritz Schwerdt sacred furnishings for St. Corpus Christi, Aachen.

[2] Episcopal Diocesan Archives Aachen, St. Corpus Christi, Bau File, Volume I. (1943–1962).

[3] Ulrich Schäfer: The parish church of St. Corpus Christi in Aachen. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-422-02063-4 .

[4] www.der-fels.de (11-2001), p. 313f. (PDF; 567 kB)

[5] Rudolf Schwarz: Church building. World before the threshold. Heidelberg 1960. (Reprint: Regensburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7954-1961-5 , p. 20)

[6] The parish church of St. Corpus Christi. Building history and architecture. Catholic parish of St. Joseph and Corpus Christi, Aachen, accessed on December 22, 2013 .