St. Georg (Cologne-White)
St. Georg is a Catholic parish church in the Weiß district of Cologne , which was built according to plans by the architect Joseph Bernard and consecrated in 1954 . The church is under the patronage of St. George and has been a listed building since 2003.
Prehistory and construction
The parish of St. George, founded in 1923, initially used the St. George's Chapel , which has been occupied since the Middle Ages, for its services , and expanded it with additions to the emergency church from the 1920s . The first plans for a new church at the current location were made as early as 1927.
After the chapel was destroyed "down to the foundation walls" in the Second World War , it was decided to restore it to its historical form and to build a new church instead. The architect Joseph Bernard, who had already worked with the church builder Dominikus Böhm before the war , was entrusted with the planning in 1953/1954.
In 1953 the foundation stone was laid, designed by Willy Meller , and St. Georg was consecrated on December 5, 1954.
On July 24, 2003 the building was added to the list of monuments of the city of Cologne under number 8626 .
Building description
St. Georg is a large hall church, planned to seat over 300 people, with a slated gable roof that extends far down to the north side and a brick facade. The building stands with its altar wall directly on the edge of the central terrace of the Rhine Valley. A roof overhangs from the outer wall - as a narrow extension of the gable roof - with two long columns almost down to the riverside path and thus forms a roofed outer altar or "Schiffer's chapel" facing the Rhine. This wall is only broken up by a small round window, on the inside of which an eternal light traffic light hangs in the style of a ship's lantern, which can be seen from the river at night.
The entrance wall facing the village on the other side is completely windowless and forms an axis inclined towards the Sahl with the attached square bell tower, with which the main hall is connected by a short roof. On the choir or river side there is an analogue extension that houses the weekday chapel.
The protective “barn atmosphere” continues in the spacious interior with an open roof structure with dark beams. The architecture, which was not unusual for the post-war period, is intended to be reminiscent of the stable in Bethlehem , the tent of God ( Rev 21,3 EU ) or an upturned hull. The room is illuminated primarily by the upper clad windows that break through the side walls at eaves height, and in the chancel by two single-storey windows on the south side. The Christian path from baptism to the Eucharist is symbolized by the multi-tiered space: the baptismal place in a niche on the right in the entrance area is a few steps lower than the main room, the altar is, in turn, raised significantly compared to the nave.
An organ and choir gallery covers the entrance area.
Furnishing
In the area of the altar there is a contrasting altar table made of shell limestone by Hein Gernot , whose feet are interpreted as starfish. The tabernacle in the choir was executed by the white artist couple Tong under the guidance of the sculptor Elmar Hillebrand . Hillebrand also made the body for the dominant altar cross on the east wall available on permanent loan. It was created around 1500 and originally hung in a church in Esenhausen .
The upper storey windows are made of gray-white ornamental glass, the large altar windows on the south side are similar, but with colored sprinkles. Two abstract windows - the round window in the altar wall and the window in the baptistery - were made by Paul Weigmann . The windows in the baptistery represent a bank zone with aquatic plants, which are symbolic of the new Leen from the baptism. The round window represents a stylized ship's steering wheel. In the weekday chapel, Lucyna Mentis designed leaded glass windows with black solder painting depicting three angels.
In the baptistery hangs a Flemish oil painting from the 17th century depicting Saints Anne , Joachim and Maria . Another historical piece of equipment is the statue of a Madonna and Child , which was created in the mid-14th century in the Rhine-Maas area. It was taken from the furnishings of the old George Chapel and is in the weekday chapel. Three other figures of saints from different epochs stand below the organ gallery.
The two-manual organ with 14 registers, which was built by Romanus Seifert in 1955 , was renovated and expanded by Willi Peter in 1988. For this occasion Elmar Hillebrand redesigned the organ prospectus with a floral ornament.
The six-part bell was cast in bronze by Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock in 1959; the strikes are a 1 -h 1 -c 2 -d 2 -e 2 -g 2
Web links
- Forschungsstelle Glasmalerei des 20. Jh. EV with illustrations and explanations of the windows
- Parish website
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Carsten Schmalstieg: Sankt Georg . In: Manfred Becker-Huberti, Günter A. Menne (Ed.): Churches in Cologne. The churches of the Catholic and Protestant communities in Cologne. Bachem, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-7616-1731-3 , p. 62 .
- ↑ St. George | Catholic Church in the Rheinbogen. Accessed April 10, 2020 (German).
- ↑ a b c Helmut Fußbroich, Dierk Holthausen: Architectural Guide Cologne: Sacred Buildings after 1900 . 1st edition. Bachem, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-7616-1683-X , p. 160-161 .
- ^ Willy Weyres: New Churches in the Archdiocese of Cologne 1945–1956 . Schwann, Düsseldorf 1955, p. 181 .
- ↑ Search in the list of monuments. Retrieved April 4, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c Cologne-Weiß, Catholic Church of St. Georg. In: glasmalerei-ev.net. Forschungsstelle Glasmalerei des 20 Jahrhundert eV, July 8, 2008, accessed on April 10, 2020 .
- ^ Gerhard Hoffs: Bells of Catholic churches in Cologne . Cologne 1985, p. 768 ( archive.org [PDF]).
Coordinates: 50 ° 52 '22.2 " N , 7 ° 1' 54.4" E