St. Gallus (Fischenthal)
The Church of St. Gallus is the Roman Catholic church in Fischenthal in the Zurich Oberland . It is at Tösstalstrasse 156 . The parish rectorate belonging to it is responsible for the places Gibswil, Fischenthal and Steg.
history
History and naming
The first inhabitants of the valley were probably Alamanni who lived in the 5th and 6th centuries. Century immigrated and populated both the narrow valley and the various mountain terraces. In a document from the 9th century, a Fiskinestal is mentioned, i.e. the valley of the Fiskin . It is believed that this wealthy and affluent settler gave the valley its name. According to this document, written on April 13, 878 at Turbenthal , Iro and his three sons donated their property at Fischenthal to the St. Gallen Monastery . The first church from the beginning of the 10th century - probably a chapel - was dedicated to St. Gallus consecrated. Fischenthal still celebrates its Chilbi ( parish fair ) on the Sunday after Gallus Day, October 16. Today's Catholic Church in Fischenthal ties in with the name given to the medieval church with its patron saint .
When the Reformation was carried out in Zurich in 1524 , Catholic worship was forbidden in the Zurich parishes as well. Most of the people in Fischenthal converted to the new faith, those who remained with the old faith emigrated, mostly to the neighboring Catholic St. Gallische . Until 1807, Catholic worship was banned in the entire area of the Canton of Zurich.
The Edict of Tolerance from 1807 allowed immigrant Catholics to celebrate Catholic services again, but initially only in the city of Zurich . When the modern Confederation was founded in 1848, freedom of religion and freedom of residence was enshrined in the constitution , so that Catholic communities could be established throughout the Canton of Zurich. With the industrial revolution (construction of the railways, textile factories) in the second half of the 19th century, more and more Catholics from the Catholic homeland of central Switzerland , but also Italians, poured into the closed reformed areas, including the Zurich Oberland. The first pastors of these Catholics living in the diaspora were the Capuchin Fathers from Rapperswil Monastery , who offered services and were responsible for the dispensing of the sacraments . The first and largest mission station was built in 1866 in the pilgrim's footbridge between Wald ZH and Rüti ZH , which was so named because the footbridge for pilgrims led to Einsiedeln Abbey over the Jona River . 150–200 people regularly attended the service in the Pilgersteg inn , and even 300 on public holidays. In 1865 600 souls belonged to this Catholic pastoral care station, five years later there were already 1200. In Wald, where most of the Catholics came, the first post-Reformation Catholic church in the Zurich Oberland was built in 1874. Wald remained a mission station until the Roman Catholic parish of Wald was officially established in 1883. At that time the parish of Wald also comprised most of the Fischenthal community, namely up to Mühlebach. The parish border thus ran right through the middle of what is now Fischenthal. After the mission station Pilgersteg was no longer suitable for regional pastoral care, the Catholics of Rüti moved to the knight's house in Bubikon from 1873 . This was the center for the Catholics of Rüti (233 people), Dürnten (163 people), Wetzikon (139 people), Hinwil (48 people), Bubikon (47 people) and Grüningen (23 people). From there a church was planned, which was built in Rüti-Tann (Dürnten municipality) in 1879.
The history of the Fischenthal parish was originally determined by the Wald parish, but later mainly by the Bauma parish . The Catholics in the Tösstal, attracted by the income opportunities in the textile sector in the many factories along the Töss, were initially also looked after by the Capuchin Fathers from Rapperswil and later by the pastors from Wald (1891–1897). From 1898 to 1903, however, the pastors of Kollbrunn were responsible for Bauma and the surrounding area, until 1903 first the Bauma church, then the Bauma parish in 1904. In 1901 Bauma counted 94 Catholics, Fischenthal 111, Bäretswil 91, Wila 32. In 1911 the territory of the Bauma parish was rewritten. Large parts of Fischenthal from the parish of Wald were separated for the attention of Bauma.
Development and construction history
During the Second World War , tens of thousands of Polish soldiers who fought with and for France against Germany ended up on the Swiss border due to the course of the war and were interned . Since these were almost exclusively Catholic, regular services had to be guaranteed for them in the places where they were interned, which were mainly held by interned priests. Many of these Polish war internees were sent to the communities of Bäretswil and Fischenthal. The Catholic population had the opportunity to attend these services. Even after the interned soldiers withdrew in 1941, the pastor of Bauma wanted to create more opportunities for worship in these communities in Bäretswil and Fischenthal. While it was possible to set up an emergency church in Bäretswil as early as 1943, in Fischenthal it was not until 1947 that a regular Sunday service could be offered in the Schmittenbach restaurant . Around 100 visitors came in the summer, not least the Italian foreign workers; On average, the mass was attended by 70 to 80 people. When the Catholic host couple moved away, the possibility of a church service in Fischenthal ended. On March 18, 1949, the pastor of Bauma founded the Roman Catholic Church Foundation Fischenthal , which was able to buy a property on December 30, 1949 in the lower Schmittenbach , near the first place of worship. This came from around 1900 and consisted of a residential house and attached embroidery rooms. This property was last used as a car garage, but was then turned into a retirement home for 15 residents by the pastor of Bauma. The garage was converted into a chapel and the property was named St. Bernadette's home for the elderly because the priest of Bauma was able to procure a relic of St. Bernadette Soubirous for the home's chapel .
In the years 1959–1960 a rectory was built on the lower part of the property and by episcopal decree of June 20, 1962, Fischenthal was appointed parish rectorate. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on May 11, 1970 and on Sunday, August 23, 1970 the foundation stone was laid for the construction of the St. Gallus Church. The Zurich architect Karl Higi was responsible for building the church. On July 10, 1971, the bells were consecrated by Dean Wyrsch, followed by a lift by the school youth of the entire community. On Sunday, October 3, 1971, the ceremonial consecration of the Gallus Church in Fischenthal took place by the Bishop of Chur , Johannes Vonderach . When a room fire caused considerable damage in the St. Bernadette retirement home in 1972, the Bauma church administration decided to demolish the aging retirement home, not least because the home's chapel was no longer needed because of the newly built Gallus Church.
The parish office of St. Gallus Fischenthal belongs to the parish of Bauma, together with the parish of St. Antonius Bauma and the parish office of Brother Klaus Bäretswil. With its 2,396 members (as of 2017), this is one of the smaller Catholic parishes in the canton of Zurich.
Building description
Church tower and exterior
The church is located in the village of Fischenthal at Tösstalstrasse 156 , in the lower Schmittenbach immediately before or after the railway underpass. Built on the road that runs south, the church is faced. Coming from the south, the church gives the impression of a residential building with a gable roof . In fact, the building ends with a monopitch roof , which is only replaced by a gable roof in the entrance area. The bell cage is built into the upper part of the pent roof. An iron cross refers to the Christian purpose of the building.
Bells
The bell cage contains a three-part bell, which was cast by the H. Rüetschi foundry , Aarau in 1971. The three bronze bells have a total weight of 489 kg.
| number | volume | diameter |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | c sharp 2 | 73 cm |
| 2 | e 2 | 63 cm |
| 3 | f sharp 2 | 56 cm |
Angel by Fabrizio Seeberger
Tabernacle by Paul Stöckli
Apostle crosses and holy water font
Interior and artistic equipment
What is surprising for the church visitor is that the church, which is plastered on the outside, has unplastered walls made of red brick on the inside. The pent roof is clad with wood on the inside and allows subdued light to enter the church through a triangular skylight. The church, built on a rectangular floor plan, offers space for 200 people. The four church windows and the tabernacle were designed by Paul Stöckli , as were the holy water basin and the Apostles' crosses . The glass windows are made of lead-framed milk glass. The altar and ambo were made of wood. The rectangular floor plan and the arrangement of the wicker chairs enable the faithful to sit close to the altar. The altar area is not raised from the rest of the church by any steps, whereby the architect Karl Higi underlined the community of priests and believers and thereby implemented the requirements of the liturgy constitution of the Second Vatican Council . The organ is located in the northern part of the church. The sacristy was added on the western side of the building.
organ
In 1971 the organ was built by Späth Orgelbau from Rapperswil with nine registers behind a free pipe prospect . The instrument has a purely mechanical play and stop action mechanism and slide chests .
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- Coupling : I / P
literature
- Episcopal Ordinariate Chur (ed.): Schematism of the Diocese of Chur. Chur 1980.
- Catholic parish Bauma (Hrsg.): 100 years Bauma church. Anniversary font. Bauma 2003.
- Liselotte Forster: 70 years Catholic in Bäretswil 1940–2010. Becoming and growing a diaspora parish in the Zurich Oberland. Bäretswil 2011.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Episcopal Ordinariate Chur (ed.): Schematism of the Diocese of Chur. P. 208.
- ↑ a b c d Website of the Catholic parish Fischenthal: History of the parish Fischenthal. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ Roman Catholic Church in the Canton of Zurich (Ed.): Annual Report 2017. P. 82.
- ^ Archives of the Bauma parish.
- ^ Organ from St. Gallus, Fischenthal . Retrieved March 23, 2014.