St. James the Elder (Todtnauberg)

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Church of St. James the Elder in Todtnau-Todtnauberg

The Church of St. Jakobus the Elder is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Todtnau district and climatic health resort Todtnauberg . It replaced an older church in the late 1960s that opened in the Baroque style at the end of the 18th century. Due to its location at an altitude of 1010 meters, it is one of the highest churches in Baden-Württemberg. A distinctive tent roof construction is characteristic of the expressive concrete construction .

history

First church

Originally, the church was responsible for the upper Wiesental in the parish of Tegernau . When the parish in Schönau in the Black Forest was founded in 1164, its pastor took over the care; In 1288 Todtnau received its own pastor. It was not until 1784 that the Todtnauberg community needed a church of its own. The church, built from 1793 to 1794, was consecrated on November 30, 1794 by the Breisach dean Karl Berger and consecrated on July 7, 1805 by the Constance Auxiliary Bishop. In 1811 Todtnauberg was granted parish status. In 1812 the church received an organ from Horben. In 1826 a new high altar was donated to the church. Smaller work was carried out in 1832 by the plasterer Jodok Friedrich Wilhelm . Since the population grew rapidly at the beginning of the 19th century, it was considered in 1840 to enlarge the church. However, since the development did not continue, the plans were no longer pursued.

Today's church

The renewed increase in population and the growing importance of the place as a climatic health resort - in the high season Todtnauberg accommodates many times its residents as guests - led to renewed considerations after the redesign of the church. The decision was made to build a completely new building, which was implemented as a concrete structure between 1967 and 1970. The design comes from the Lörrach architect Johannes Birkner. The previous church was demolished in 1969. Archbishop Hermann Schäufele from Freiburg consecrated St. Jakobus on July 19, 1970. The old parish church that stood in today's parking lot opposite the Hotel Engel was demolished. Only the old rectory, which became privately owned, still exists. At the end of the 1980s, the church had to be costly refurbished.

description

Location and church building

The parish church of St. Jakobus stands at an altitude of 1010 meters in the climatic health resort of Todtnauberg, making it the highest church in Baden-Württemberg. The floor plan of the church develops from equilateral triangles, which symbolically stand for the Trinity . This creates a building in the shape of an elongated hexagon, which is 34 meters long and 24.5 meters wide and high. The roof is formed by two tent roofs of different heights made of softwood painted anthracite. The offset of the two tent roofs creates acute-angled triangular areas that serve as a skylight for the chancel. Georg Meistermann from Karlsruhe created the large-scale glazing on the rooftop. The parish hall is located in a northern extension.

On the south side there is a forecourt on which an 18 meter high campanile stands clearly separated from the main building . Slender, vertical concrete stilts that converge at the top support a prism-shaped bell cage with a triangular floor plan. The bell cage has sound slots in the lower and upper area and, like the roof, is anthracite. The clock faces of the tower clock are on all sides.

Interior and equipment

inner space

Inside the church, the walls are drawn up to a narrow ribbon of windows. The steeply rising tent roof structure divides the nave into two areas of different heights. In the middle of the nave, the two sloping roofs of different heights meet, the offset of which throws light into the interior through glass windows.

In the entrance area there is a baptismal rondel by the artist Franz Gutmann from the Münstertal / Black Forest , which bears the foundation stone in 1967, when construction began. In the middle of the roundabout is the baptismal font , which was made from a boulder made of Black Forest granite. Gutmann also made the granite altar, the tabernacle , the cast bronze cross and the ambo and the two portals carved from oak, which depict the "Good Shepherd" and "Saint James" as fishermen. The way of the cross from mosaic stones was created by the Freiburg artist Benedikt Schaufelberger. The station pictures from 1967 initially accompanied the path to the Lourdes grotto in the forest, which was opened in 1906, towards Aftersteg and were brought to the church in 1977.

The statue of the patron saint from the year 1606 comes from the no longer existing St. Jakobus Chapel. Only the torso of the figure on the left wall is preserved, some attributes are missing, pilgrim hat, bag and staff can still be recognized. To the right of the altar is a statue of the Madonna with child from the 19th century, which was taken over from the previous church.

Bells and organ

organ

The church has the following four-part chimes:

Surname Chime Casting year foundry
Trinity ges ′ 1969 FW Schilling , Heidelberg
James the Elder as ′ 1969 FW Schilling, Heidelberg
Michael b ′ 1969 FW Schilling, Heidelberg
Maria of'' 1969 FW Schilling, Heidelberg

The organ from 1969 was made by the August Späth workshop and stands on the wide concrete gallery between the stalls and the baptismal round. The instrument with slider mechanism has two manuals , a pedal and 21 stops .

literature

Web links

Commons : St. James the Elder  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ H. Vocke: Die Chronik des Kreises Lörrach , 1066, p. 233
  2. ↑ a b A. Schäfer: Geschichte des Dorfes Todtnauberg , 1966, p. 119
  3. ^ B. Sulzmann: Historical organs in Baden , p. 148
  4. ↑ Julius Wilhelm : The stucco worker Jodok Friedrich Wilhelm (1797-1843). A sketch of his activity . In: FDA 35 (NF 8), 1907, p. 264
  5. ^ A b W. Bechtold (ed.), Annemarie Heimann-Schwarzweber: Topography of historical sights . In: Der Kreis Lörrach , 1971, p. 107
  6. ↑ a b c Helm: Churches and chapels in Markgräflerland , p. 402 (23.1)
  7. ↑ Leaflet of the parish of St. Jakobus: Parish church of St. Jakobus Todtnauberg
  8. ^ Community of Christian Artists of the Archdiocese of Freiburg (ed.): Franz Gutmann . In: from our create , issue 7, 1970, p. 38

Coordinates: 47 ° 51 '5.8 "  N , 7 ° 56" 35.9 "  E