St. Joseph (Aedermannsdorf)
The Church of St. Joseph is the Roman Catholic parish church of Aedermannsdorf , a community in Solothurn's Dünner Valley in the Thal district . The church was built between 1966 and 1967 according to plans by the architect Walter Moser .
History of the parish
The region around Balsthal was settled by the Teutons in the 7th and 8th centuries. Since the Moutier-Grandval monastery had existed since the 7th century , the region around Balsthal was Christianized relatively early. The population of Aedermannsdorf, first mentioned in a document in 1308, lived mainly from agriculture for centuries . Until the construction of St. Joseph's Church, Aedermannsdorf belonged to the neighboring community of Matzendorf . Since only the St. Joseph's Chapel, consecrated in 1691 and rebuilt in 1852, stood in Aedermannsdorf, the village population wanted their own church to be built. On April 26, 1932, the Roman Catholic local association was founded with the aim of establishing its own parish. The economic crisis and the Second World War initially prevented this project from being implemented. In 1950 the association was able to acquire a field; a second, donated piece of land was exchanged, so that finally enough contiguous building land was available for today's church. In 1962 the Roman Catholic Aedermannsdorf Foundation was established, to which a number of foundations and donations were made for the construction of the church in the following years. The wish for a parish of his own was ultimately also supported by the Bishop of Basel , Franziskus von Streng , not least due to the fact that space in the parish church of Matzendorf was limited. The Bishop elevated Aedermannsdorf to parish rectorate on December 21, 1962 and sent a clergyman .
On September 6, 1963, the village population decided to build the parish church and formed a church building commission. In the same year, the commission commissioned three architects to each work out a building project. The architects asked were Walter Moser (Zurich), Otto Sperisen (Solothurn) and Hans Bernasconi (Solothurn). On June 19, 1964, a commission of experts named Walter Moser's project the winner. The Kultusverein then decided on June 21, 1964 to implement this project. Due to the government's economic dampening measures, construction work could not begin until April 1966. On August 15, 1966, the foundation stone was laid by Bishop Franziskus von Streng. On the feast of Corpus Christi , May 25, 1967, a first service was celebrated in the shell of the church. On August 13, 1967 , Bishop von Streng consecrated the completed church in honor of Saint Joseph and elevated Aedermannsdorf to an independent parish. Today the parish belongs to the pastoral area Dünnerntal, which is formed from the five parishes of Aedermannsdorf, Herbetswil , Laupersdorf , Matzendorf and Welschenrohr - Gänsbrunnen .
Building description
Exterior and bells
The church was built west of the main street of the village, on a slightly sloping building site. On the one hand, the church can be approached directly via Kirchstrasse, on the other hand, a path leads south across the cemetery up to the church. From this path, the entire complex of the church can be seen well. The structure of the church was designed by Walter Moser in the opposite direction to the mountain slope, so that the white-painted church seems to grow out of the green Jura . Due to the somewhat elevated location within the village, the church tower , which is located on the northeast side of the church, did not have to be built excessively high. Thanks to its width, it still has a worthy appearance. At the height of the belfry , the clock faces of the tower clock are carved out of the concrete tower as square reliefs, so that the time can be read from afar from different directions. The tower is completed by a pent roof , which takes up the shape of the roof of the church. A cross is erected on the tower , which refers to the sacred purpose of the building ensemble.
A foyer is inserted between the tower and the church he built to the southwest , as Moser had also realized for the St. Niklaus Church in Zurich's Hombrechtikon , which was consecrated in 1969 . The parish center is built in under the actual church, and thanks to the hillside location, it receives plenty of daylight. The roof structure of the church consists of a simple monopitch roof, which rises towards the southeast and thus gives the building a dynamic movement.
In contrast to most Swiss churches, which got their bells in the second half of the 20th century , the Church of St. Joseph does not have any Swiss bells, but those that were bought from Germany . The Karlsruhe- based foundry Bachert knew how to cast bells with a major instead of the usual minor thirds. This avoids tones foreign to the scale, so that a cleaner sound is created. When the Aedermannsdorf bells, this can be clearly heard using the major third ore construction of the e'-bell. The bells were cast in Karlsruhe on August 19, 1966, the bells arrived in Aedermannsdorf on October 1, 1966 and were consecrated the following day by the canon Josef Eggenschwiler from Solothurn. The five bells of the peal sound as a completed minor major motif:
| number | Weight | volume | dedication |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1640 kg | cis 1 | Trinity |
| 2 | 1000 kg | e 1 | St. Joseph |
| 3 | 760 kg | f sharp 1 | Mother of God |
| 4th | 600 kg | g sharp 1 | St. Benedict |
| 5 | 365 kg | h 1 | Guardian Angel |
There is a front entrance to the church bronze statue that the John the Baptist is that in a loud voice the arrival of the Messiah announced. A sheep can be seen at his feet, referring to the Lamb of God ( Agnus Dei ). Immediately on the left in front of the portal, the foundation stone is set into the wall. It was made by Alfred Huber and has a simple cross on its front as well as the Roman year of the laying of the foundation stone in 1966.
Interior and artistic equipment
Walter Moser designed the St. Joseph Church as a polygonal space, which is based on the shape of a transverse rectangle and is elevated by a wooden ceiling that rises towards the choir wall. The congregation gathers on the benches set up in a semicircle for worship, so that a sense of community arises. In the center of the choir is the people's altar , which, like the rest of the stone carvings in the church, was made by Alfred Huber in marble from the Maggia valley (Cristallina marble). The altar bears two symbols on the front side, which show a host and a chalice in stylized form , which refer to the Eucharist , in which Jesus Christ is present in the consecrated bread and wine in the midst of the assembled community.
The liturgical furnishings were designed in accordance with the requirements of the liturgy constitution of the Second Vatican Council . The church does not have a baptistery , but a baptismal font , which is set up in the front of the choir on the left side of the altar area and presents a stylized fish on the front side , which refers to Jesus Christ. (The Greek word Ichthys for "fish" consists of the first letters for Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior .) The tabernacle case is made of light bronze , the lecture cross shows the five wounds of Jesus , the candle consoles of the Apostle candles. are kept cubic. The dark slate floor contrasts with the white marble of the stone carvings and the works of art made of bronze and helps to highlight them.
The stained glass windows were created by Emil Reich in the years 1970–1972. The first glass window can be seen above the church portal on the east side. It is dedicated to Abraham and represents God's promise to Abraham. He had promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of heaven (Gen. 22, 17). The second glass window depicts Jesus Christ in bright yellow; next to him is St. Joseph, the patron saint of the church, in dark tones. The third window, built into the west side, addresses the mystery of the Eucharist: The cross refers to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross (e.g. Jn 19:25); the ear and grape, as well as the host and the chalice on the altar, remind that Jesus Christ is present in the midst of the assembled community during the celebration of mass. On top of the window you can see a fish, which in turn, as on the baptismal font as a symbol for Jesus Christ, reminds of his honorary title Son of God and Savior. The fourth window next to it, to the left of the organ , shows the heavenly Jerusalem . (Rev 21) Finally, the fifth, low-profile glass window is built into the rear wall of the church, which contains yellow, blue and green panes in abstract shapes.
organ
In 1973 the church received its current organ, which was created by the Graf Orgelbau company in Sursee . The instrument has 20 registers , which are divided between two manuals and a pedal . The action is mechanical, the wind chests designed as sliding chests. The disposition is:
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
- Playing aids : Storage for mixture (HW), shawm (SW), bassoon (Ped)
literature
- Parish of Aedermannsdorf (ed.): Festschrift for the inauguration of St. Joseph's Church on August 13, 1967 in Aedermannsdorf . Aedermannsdorf 1967.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Eduard Huber: Building history. In: Festschrift. Pp. 8-10.
- ^ Walter Moser: Thoughts on architecture. In: Kirchgemeinde Aedermannsdorf (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the inauguration of St. Joseph's Church on August 13, 1967 in Aedermannsdorf. P. 14.
- ↑ Radio SRF “Glocken der Heimat”. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Eduard Huber: Building history. In: Kirchgemeinde Aedermannsdorf (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the inauguration of St. Joseph's Church on August 13, 1967 in Aedermannsdorf. P. 10.
- ↑ F. Lüthi: Das Geläute- In: Kirchgemeinde Aedermannsdorf (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the inauguration of St. Joseph's Church on August 13, 1967 in Aedermannsdorf. P. 20.
- ↑ Information from YouTube.Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Alfred Huber: The sculptural work. In: Kirchgemeinde Aedermannsdorf (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the inauguration of St. Joseph's Church on August 13, 1967 in Aedermannsdorf. P. 16.
- ^ Alfred Huber: The sculptural work. In: Kirchgemeinde Aedermannsdorf (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the inauguration of St. Joseph's Church on August 13, 1967 in Aedermannsdorf. P. 16.
- ↑ Catholic Church St. Josef Aedermannsdorf SO. in the organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein . Retrieved August 8, 2019.
Coordinates: 47 ° 18 '17.5 " N , 7 ° 36' 24.3" E ; CH1903: 612713 / 239346