St. Catherine of Siena (Cologne)

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Tower and west entrance
Side view - the light concrete of the church pushes into the parish center
East entrance, emerging from the brick buildings of the parish center

St. Catherine of Siena is a Catholic branch church in Cologne district Blumenberg , which in 2001 and 2003 by architect Heinz Bienefeld by his son Nikolaus Bienefeld built and on the third Advent Sunday, 2003 ordained was. The church is under the patronage of Catherine of Siena and is the youngest Catholic church building in Cologne to date (as of 2020).

Prehistory and construction

For Blumenberg, one of the youngest districts of Cologne, the mother parish of St. Marien in Fühlingen planned a branch church - as part of a parish center with a kindergarten, parish office, parish hall, service and rental apartments. A design by Heinz Bienefeld emerged from an architecture competition as early as 1992, but he died in 1995, so that planning stalled. His son Nikolaus Bienefeld took over the further planning, so that the foundation stone was laid in December 2001 and the church could be consecrated on December 14, 2003 by Cardinal Joachim Meisner .

In 2006 the entire complex received recognition as part of the Cologne Architecture Prize .

Building description

The church consists of an elongated structure, slightly “bulged” on one side, made of two 1.20 m thick wall shells, which evokes associations with a ship's hull. On the one hand, this structure pushes itself into one side of the entire complex, but also pushes itself into part of the buildings of the parish center in such a way that it "pierces" them again on one side and partially merges with them.

While the entire parish center is built of irregularly baked bricks, the church stands out with light concrete, striped in different natural tones, the slammed natural stones of which have been chiseled so that their colors can appear clearer. The entrances are on both narrow sides between the wall shells and lead via a few stairs about one and a half meters below street level into the church.

This is built across the inner wall shell, so that the congregation is grouped in a long arch around the altar towards the inside of the entire complex. Behind the altar, a semicircular niche ( exedra ) marks the area of ​​the altar. The ceiling is made of smooth concrete, and a square light shaft opens centrally above the altar and congregation, which ends with a flat pyramid roof. The elongated wall shells are almost without opening, the exception is a square window next to the altar, in the depth of the wall is surrounded by a sevenfold stepped reveal . There is also a window on the back wall above the entrance to the confessional room.

At the east entrance, a staircase leads down to a crypt, the dimensions of which are somewhat outside the plan of the church and which are supported by four columns. It also serves as the place of baptism.

In the facade of the bell tower there are small concrete trapezoids analogous to the church facade.

Separately from the church building, a high bell tower on a square base is attached to it, which - clearly angled - rests on four circular columns. Like the entire parish center, it is made of brick. A visual relationship to the church building is created by small concrete trapezoids using the same technique as the church facade.

Furnishing

The two windows of the church, the square Trinity window and a window on the theme of sin and redemption , were designed by Dieter Hartmann in an abstract composition. The motif of the Trinity Window is an abstracted eye of God .

The designs for the altar, ambo and tabernacle come from Nikolaus Bienefeld - whereby the tabernacle in particular catches the eye, the core of which is surrounded by a mesh of reinforcing iron mats , which give an indication of the building material of the church. The age in the crypt - consisting of 500 stacked lead plates - was designed by Nikolaus Bienefeld.

Doorknob

A statue of Catherine of Siena at the west entrance was created by the artist Elisabeth Perger from Kerpen.

On the landing to the east entrance is the place for a two-manual organ with 14 registers, which is surrounded by a sleek housing made of narrow, transversely attached wooden slats. It was made in 2004 by Josef Weimbs .

The four-part chime from the bell foundry Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock has the chimes h 0 –d 1 –e 1 –g 2

Web links

Commons : St. Catherine of Siena  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Monika Schmelzer: Saint Catherine of Siena . 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. 88 .
  2. ↑ A church center is built. In: youtube.com. Parish of St. Pankratius Am Worringer Bruch, March 23, 2019, accessed on April 10, 2020 .
  3. ^ Catholic Community Center Cologne-Blumenberg. In: baukunst-nrw.de. Chamber of Architects North Rhine-Westphalia, July 9, 2008, accessed April 10, 2020 .
  4. ↑ St. Catherine of Siena. In: pankratius.info. Parish of St. Pankratius, accessed on April 10, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Cologne-Blumenberg, Catholic Church of St. Catherine of Siena. In: glasmalerei-ev.net. Forschungsstelle Glasmalerei des 20 Jahrhundert eV, July 8, 2008, accessed on April 10, 2020 .
  6. ↑ 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. 266-267 .
  7. ^ Parish of St. Pankratius | Window of St. Catherine v. Siena. Retrieved April 10, 2020 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 2 '14.3 "  N , 6 ° 53' 8.3"  E