St. Johannes (Münsingen)

The Johanneskirche in Münsingen

The Church of St. Johannes is the parish church of the Roman Catholic parish of St. Johannes in Münsingen near Bern. At the same time as the church was built, the parish was established in 1970.

History and parish structure

A first Catholic service took place in 1949 with Pastor Paul Engler from Konolfingen in the secondary school in Münsingen. Due to the growth of the Catholic population, a parish rectorate was established in 1964, and in 1966 parish rector Werner Probst moved into the new parsonage on Löwenmattweg. One of the so-called Fastenopfer churches was built in 1969 after a short construction period on the building land on Löwenmattweg, which was purchased in 1963 with the support of the church building aid of the diocese of Basel . On January 25, 1970, Bishop Anton Hänggi consecrated the new church in the name of the Evangelist Johannes . The parish, which was founded at the same time, includes the municipalities of Münsingen, Rubigen , Allmendingen , Trimstein , Tägertschi , Wichtrach and Kiesen . The pastoral care association founded in 1993 with Konolfingen became the Münsingen-Konolfingen pastoral area in 2012. Since 2012, the parish of St. Johannes and the neighboring parish of Resurrection in Konolfingen have formed the pastoral area of Bern-Süd and are now connected to the pastoral area of the Bern region established by Bishop Felix Gmür on May 15, 2018.

Building description

Entrance section

The Johanneskirche, built in 1969, was built as a Fastenopferkirche based on plans by the architect Hanns Anton Brütsch from prefabricated elements. Two years after the identical Heiliggeist Church in Belp, the building received some improvements. All parts of the church are demountable so that they can be rebuilt elsewhere. Thanks to the gable roof , which is pulled down to the ground at a 45-degree angle, there was no need to erect side walls. Behind the altar wall there are offices and meeting rooms on three floors. In 2002 a parish hall was added to the south, and in 2012 the outside of the church was renovated and the Eternit roof replaced. In 2017 and 2018, photovoltaic systems were installed on the rectory and parish center roofs in order to comply with the order for the parishes to be ecologically committed.

Interior and artistic equipment

Inside with chancel

The traditional pews are U-shaped towards the choir area and separated by diagonal corridors. Scenes from the life of Jesus are depicted in the glass windows on the sides and under the gallery. In the otherwise unadorned room, there is the statue of the Madonna from a previous century on the left, the simple cross behind the altar and on the right the cross of the Italian-speaking community.

Bell jar

A single bell tuned to g 'is hung on the bell support. The verse from the Gospel of John ( John 17:21 EU ) "That all are one" is stamped on it.

Gallery and organ

On May 8, 2017, the parish assembly decided to replace the existing organ . The instrument, built by Orgelbau Kuhn AG in 1970 and installed in Münsingen in 1983, was dismantled and taken to a Polish church. In August 2018 the gallery was adapted and in September the new organ was installed and voiced. This was created in 1980 by the Wälti Orgelbau company in Gümligen for the Lukas Chapel of the Methodist Church in Bern. Since the sale of the chapel in 2012, the work was stored at the Wälti company and has now been put back into use after a revision and extensive adjustment work by the Orgelbau Thomas Wälti company. The organ with two manuals and pedal has been expanded and now has 17 registers with mechanical action and register action and slider chests . The breastwork can be swollen via glass blinds.

I Hauptwerk C – g ³
Principal	8th'
Beat (from g °)	8th'
Hollow flute	8th'
octave	4 ′
Fifth	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
Gemshorn	2 ′
third	1 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′
Mixture IV	2 ′

II breastwork C – g ³
Dumped	8th'
Viol	8th'
Reed flute	4 ′
Principal	2 ′
Largiot	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′
shelf	8th'

Pedal C – f ¹
Sub bass	16 ′
Pointed flute	8th'
Trumpet	8th'

Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P

Web links

Commons : St. Johannes (Münsingen) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Website of the parish of St. Johannes Münsingen

Law on the regional churches of Bern on BELEX - collections of laws of the Canton of Bern (PDF; 185 kB)

Hans Maurer, Ernst W. Eggimann, Elisabeth Lanz: Church, religion and good morals. In: Ortsgeschichte Münsingen, pp. 200 and 202 (PDF; 2.8 MB)

Individual evidence

^ Resolution of the Grand Council regarding the definition of the Roman Catholic parishes in the canton of Bern. Government Council of the Canton of Bern, April 4, 2012 (PDF; 111 kB).

^ Andreas Krummenacher: Pastoral area Bern region. In: Internet portal of the Roman Catholic Church in the Canton of Bern. 15th May 2018.

↑ Dreifaltigkeitsglocke: Katholische Kirche Münsingen St. Johannes Evangelist on YouTube , accessed on December 6, 2018 (recorded from Resurrection Bell ).

↑ The organ has the following disposition. In: Internet portal of the Roman Catholic Church in the canton of Bern (organ consecration ; PDF; 401 kB), accessed December 2, 2018.

46.881326 7.559936Coordinates: 46 ° 52 '52.8 " N , 7 ° 33' 35.8" E ; CH1903: 609246 / one hundred and ninety-two thousand two hundred fifty-two

[1] Resolution of the Grand Council regarding the definition of the Roman Catholic parishes in the canton of Bern. Government Council of the Canton of Bern, April 4, 2012 (PDF; 111 kB).

[2] Andreas Krummenacher: Pastoral area Bern region. In: Internet portal of the Roman Catholic Church in the Canton of Bern. 15th May 2018.

[3] Dreifaltigkeitsglocke: Katholische Kirche Münsingen St. Johannes Evangelist on YouTube , accessed on December 6, 2018 (recorded from Resurrection Bell ).