St. Johannes (Wängi)

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Catholic Church St. Johannes Wängi
Exterior view
inside view

The Church of St. John the Baptist is the Roman Catholic parish church of Wängi in the canton of Thurgau . The parish of St. Josef Matzingen also belongs to the parish of Wängi .

history

History and naming

In a document dated April 19, 887, a St. George's Church in Wängi is mentioned for the first time. Over the centuries, the seven local parishes of Anetswil , Krillberg , Matzingen , Stettfurt , Tuttwil , Wängi and Wittenwil belonged to the parish of Wängi. During the Reformation , the judges remained Catholic, while most of the peasants turned to the new faith. Therefore, on Easter 1529, a Reformed service was celebrated in the church of Wängi for the first time after the Catholic altars had been sold. After the battle of Kappel it was determined in the second country peace of November 20, 1531 that Catholic worship should be held again in the church of Wängi. The Catholic pastor was henceforth also responsible for the Reformed population. From 1602 the Reformed population was looked after from Aadorf, the church of Wängi was used equally from this time . In 1712 the cemetery was divided between the two denominations. As the space available for the Catholic population became more and more cramped in the 20th century, the Catholics strove to build their own church, whereby the equal use of the historic church was ended in 1958.

Development and construction history

On October 18, 1953, the Catholic parish bought the land for the construction of St. John's Church. After the modalities for ending the equal use of today's Reformed Church in Wängi had been negotiated with the Protestant parish , an architectural competition took place in 1956 for the construction of a Catholic church including a rectory. The jury recommended Fritz Metzger's project for implementation. The parish approved the project on October 28, 1956, but demanded that the planned flat roof at the rectory be changed to a sloping roof. On May 13, 1957, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the church and rectory took place. On November 12, 1957, the 140 construction workers celebrated the topping-out ceremony , and on July 13, 1958 , the Bishop of Basel , Franziskus von Streng , inaugurated the church.

From December 1, 1957, regular church services were celebrated in the neighboring town of Matzingen and the construction of the St. Josef Church was pushed ahead, although it could only be built in 1971.

Building description

Church tower and exterior

The Church of St. John is in the center of the village on Kirchstrasse in the immediate vicinity of the Reformed Church of Wängi. The free-standing church tower is in the east of the church. It is 36 meters high and connected to the church by a covered corridor. The church is not faces east , but aligned to the northwest. The church building has a length of 40 meters and is 22 meters wide, the height of the gable is 14 meters. The baptistery is built on the left side of the portal, and the weekday chapel to the southwest of the church choir. In the basement is the parish hall, behind the choir of the church is the rectory.

Bells

Because the Protestant parish wanted to cast the historic bells of the former parity church on its 100th anniversary, the Catholic parish had to set the future chimes of the new Catholic church early so that the bells of both churches were coordinated. On December 3, 1957, the Karl Czudnochowsky company in Erding near Munich was awarded the contract for the bells of the Catholic Church. The big B-bell was cast on February 15, 1958, the other four followed on February 25, 1958. On March 14, the five-part bell arrived in Wängi. After the consecration of the bells on March 16, 1958, the village youth raised the bells in the tower so that they could be rung for the first time during the Easter Vigil on April 5, 1958.

number Weight volume dedication inscription
1 2853 kg B. The Most Holy Trinity «Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Ring and swing the blessing, let it settle like fertile rain on houses and hearts. "
2 1418 kg d John the Baptist «Saint John the Baptist, lead us all to Christ!»
3 954 kg f Our Lady of Einsiedeln «The Lieutenancy of the Maria Einsiedeln Monastery on Sonnenberg of the Wängi Parish in praise of Our Lady! Ave Maria."
4th 626 kg G St. Idda of Toggenburg «Saint Idda, patroness of the Thurgau, pray for us.»
5 387 kg b Guardian Angel «Holy angels, protect us soul and body!»

Interior and artistic equipment

Through the two side entrances, the visitor first arrives at the lower aisles of the church, from which the gable roof of the main aisle towers high. The ridge of the church forms a cross with the side choir gables . The three-meter-wide concrete ceilings above the aisles carry the sideshift of the large roof areas of the main nave and pass this on as a vertical load to the columns inside the church. The pews in the church have 600 seats and the weekday chapel has 80 seats. Two artists shaped the furnishings of the church: Kurt Brunner from Lucerne created the wooden Madonna in the choir , the baptismal font, the tabernacle and the baptismal grid. Johann Jakob Zemp from Küsnacht ZH designed the mosaics and the glass windows .

Mosaics

As early as 1953, Johann Jakob Zemp was commissioned to create 14 stations of the Cross as mosaics for the church to be built. After the architectural competition, the large mosaics were added on the choir wall and on both ends of the aisles. The mosaics consist of around 24 tons of stones in 100 different colors and types. The mosaic on the choir wall shows the Lamb of God surrounded by five angels according to the Revelation of John . Moses on the right shows the viewer the tablets of the Law with the Ten Commandments . The altar , which originally stood on the choir wall, was moved to the center of the choir space after the Second Vatican Council . To the left of the altar is the ambo , which was added later. On its front the words can be read: "Light, Way, Truth, Life" (Jn 14: 6). To the right of the altar is the tabernacle on which the story of the Ark of the Covenant is told by means of reliefs . At the front of the right nave is the Marian altar, behind which the Mother of God and Baby Jesus are depicted on a mosaic. The tree of life is depicted behind the altar, to the right of which an angel is driving Adam and Eve out of paradise . The left aisle is also closed by a mosaic wall on which Jesus is shown as the risen one .

Stained glass window

The second major work by Johann Jakob Zemp in the Church of St. Johannes is the cycle of stained glass windows. The two side choir gable windows show the burning thorn bush and the cloud column at the very top ; in both of them God reveals himself to people in the Old Testament . Below are the four evangelists : Mark and Matthew on the left , Luke and John on the right . The two ribbon windows above the aisles symbolically show sayings of Jesus in the New Testament : light and bushel (Lk 11:33), the narrow gate (Matt 7:13), the fishing net with the good and bad fish (Matt 13:47), You shall forgive 70 times 7 times (Mt 18.21), fire and sword (Lk 12.49), dove and snake (Mt 10.16), egg and scorpion (Lk 11.9), St. Peter's Basilica and the key of Peter (above the organ in the roof ridge, Mt 16:18), the hand of the oath (Mt 5:36), millstone on the neck and scandal (Mk 9:42), pigs and string of pearls (Mt 7,6), the barren tree (Mt 7:16) , Wheat and thistles (Mt 13,24-30), ravens and lilies (Lk 12,22).

Baptistery

The baptistery has a square floor plan of 5.5 by 5.5 meters, in the center of which is the baptismal font . The lid of the water basin addresses the words of Jesus: "Go and teach all nations and baptize them" (Mt 28:19). Jesus proclaims this commission and floats into heaven, his apostles and missionaries from various orders are depicted on the edge of the lid as they baptize in all parts of the world: St. Gallus baptizes in Europe, Chinese are baptized in Asia, Indians in America, dark-skinned people in Africa. Above the baptismal font, a glass window symbolizes the Trinity : the eye of God , the cross with the five wounds of Jesus, the dove of the Holy Spirit with the seven gifts of the Spirit, depicted as bright red glasses. The lattice of the chapel is decorated with various fish that refer to the early Christian fish symbol of Jesus Christ.

Weekday chapel

In the chapel there are more glass windows by Johann Jakob Zemp. The left window shows the coat of arms of Pope Pius XII. , who held the Petrine office at the time of the church consecration, on the right is the coat of arms of the then Bishop of Basel, Franziskus von Streng. In the middle of the two glass windows, a reliquary in the shape of a cross is embedded in a niche , which contains a relic of St. Niklaus von Flüe owns. The brother clause prayer is written on the four cross leaves: “My Lord and my God, take everything from me that prevents me from being with you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that leads me to you. My Lord and my God, take me from me and make me your own. " The reliquary was created by Willi Buck, Wil SG .

Späth organ from 1964

organ

In 1964 the organ was built by the company Späth Orgelbau , Rapperswil. The instrument has 32  registers on three manuals and a pedal . The game action is mechanical, the stop action is electro-pneumatic. The housing adopts the clear shapes of the roof construction and is strictly symmetrical. The pedal towers arranged on the left and right respond with countermovements to the miter-shaped construction of the central main work. The sound of the organ reflects the clear, overtone-rich sound ideal of the time of construction. During the revision carried out by the company Späth in 1982, the register crescendo was shut down and plastic and metal parts in the mechanics (such as nylon abstracts or aluminum rockers) were replaced by wooden parts. In 2001 there was a general overhaul by the builder company. Here, the zinc register in the pedal was exchanged for a trumpet and the places of night horn 2 'in the main work and super octave 2' in the swell work were exchanged. In addition, the instrument received a setting system. The Späth organ has the following disposition :

I Rückpositiv C – g 3
Lovely covered 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
Sesquialtera 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ + 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
Forest flute 2 ′
cymbal 1 ⁄ 4 ′
Krummhorn 8th'
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
Pommer 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Gemshorn 8th'
octave 4 ′
Super octave 2 ′
Fourth 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ + 1 ′
mixture 2 ′
Light trumpet 8th'
III Swell C – g 3
Reed flute 8th'
Harp pipe 8th'
Dulcian 4 ′
Hollow flute 4 ′
Night horn 2 ′
Super-fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Sharp 1'
Dulcian 16 ′
Schalmey 8th'
Clairon 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
Singing principal 16 ′
Sub bass 16 ′
octave 8th'
Covered 8th'
Pipe clamp 4 ′
trombone 16 ′
Trumpet 8th'

literature

  • Kirchgemeinde Wängi (Ed.): Festschrift Catholic church consecration Wängi TG July 13, 1958. Wängi 1958.
  • Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Small church leader. Wängi 1958.
  • Angelus Hux and Alexander Troehler: KlangRäume. Churches and organs in Thurgau. Frauenfeld 2007.

Web links

Commons : Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist (Wängi)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Website of the parish. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (Ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. P. 6.
  3. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (Ed.): Festschrift Catholic church consecration Wängi TG July 13, 1958. pp. 8–9.
  4. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. pp. 15-16.
  5. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. P. 29.
  6. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (Ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. P. 9.
  7. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (Ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. P. 31.
  8. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. pp. 18–19.
  9. ↑ Angelus Hux and Alexander Troehler: KlangRäume. Churches and organs in Thurgau. P. 482.
  10. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (Ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. P. 31.
  11. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. p. 42.
  12. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. pp. 38–39.
  13. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Kleiner Kirchenführer. 1958, p. 3.
  14. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Kleiner Kirchenführer. 1958, p. 2
  15. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Kleiner Kirchenführer. 1958, pp. 2-3.
  16. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Kleiner Kirchenführer. 1958, p. 3.
  17. ↑ Kirchgemeinde Wängi (ed.): Festschrift Catholic Kirchweihe Wängi TG July 13, 1958. p. 42.
  18. ↑ Angelus Hux and Alexander Troehler: KlangRäume. Churches and organs in Thurgau. P. 483.
  19. ↑ Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist in Wängi. In: Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  20. ↑ Angelus Hux and Alexander Troehler: KlangRäume. Churches and organs in Thurgau. P. 483.

Coordinates: 47 ° 30 '5.29 "  N , 8 ° 57' 10.84"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred and fourteen thousand and ninety-five  /  262291