St. Maria (Limburg an der Lahn)

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St. Maria , seen from the cathedral square

The Chapel of St. Maria with the Apostles in the Upper Room on Domplatz in the Central Hessian city ​​of Limburg an der Lahn is part of the Diocesan Center St. Nicholas , which has been the residence and official residence ( bishop's residence ) of the Limburg bishop since 2013 .

The chapel serves as the bishop's private chapel . It is located at the western end of the Domplatz opposite the former town and cathedral cemetery and between the completely renovated Haus Staffel ( old vicarage ), which is also part of the diocesan center, and the Limburg diocesan museum .

Patronage

The patronage of the chapel, “St. Mary and the Apostles in the Upper Room "refers to Acts 1.12 to 14  EU and has the meeting of the Apostles with the Virgin Mary in the Upper Room and then Pentecost down. On the one hand it emphasizes the special importance of Mary for the church, on the other hand it refers to the foundation of the church in the event of Pentecost and thus to common prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit .

Building description

St. Maria with inner courtyard (left) and private apartment behind the chapel
Sanctuary
Virgin Mary statue with twelve candlesticks

The chapel of St. Mary with the Apostles in the Upper Room connects to the north of the central atrium of the diocesan center of St. Nicholas. It is the only new building that protrudes from the single-storey new building complex and stands out from the low-rise building in lighter colors thanks to the dark facade cladding with black basalt . If the design of the low-rise building is much lower than that of the existing buildings of the Diocesan Center, the shape and color of the chapel give it a special weighting and emphasizes the importance of the sacred space for the Diocesan Center.

The outer shapes of the chapel are archetypically reduced to the classic house shape - a rectangular floor plan with a gable roof - which is similar in terms of dimensions and shapes to the rest of Limburg's old town. The steep gable roof stands parallel to the city wall, which forms the northern end of the diocesan center to Domstrasse. The chapel occupies the former space between the Old Vicarie and the Diocesan Museum.

The outer ridge height of the chapel is 13.20 m, it has an area of ​​60 m 2 and inside has a clear height of 11.80 m.

Access to the chapel is on its south side; The prelude is the open atrium with a fountain designed by Richard Hess , which represents the transmission of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit to the four evangelists and further to the people of God. A Latin quote from the Bible is engraved on the stone doorstep of the chapel: "firmissimo habitaculo tuo quod operatus es Domine sanctuarium Domine quod firmaverunt manus tuae" Ex 15.17  EU ("You have made a place where you are enthroned, Lord; a sanctuary, Lord, have your hands established ”).

Inside the chapel, opposite the entrance on the north wall of the chapel, there is a statue of the patroness Maria in the midst of twelve candlesticks, the representation takes up the patronage of the chapel. In the western part of the chapel there is a stone cube pushed into the chapel room with two door openings that lead to the sacristy and the library. In the center of the wall is a rocaille with the Christ monogram IHS , including the cathedra , which was in Limburg Cathedral until 1977; it was refurbished, reupholstered with velvet and bears the coat of arms of the current bishop.

The chapel room itself is furnished with a pew and three stools on each side. The walls are plastered white.

The sanctuary is located in the eastern part of the chapel, it is so traditionally faces east . The sanctuary is one step higher than the rest of the room. In the middle there is a modern altar block made of natural stone, behind which a historical winged altar from the diocese's holdings is attached to the east wall of the chapel. It shows the adoration by the Magi ( Mt 2.11  EU ), the birth of Christ and the flight to Egypt ( Mt 2.13  EU ). To the north of the altar is an ambo , south of the altar is the tabernacle , both in the same material as the altar.

The chapel receives natural lighting through three windows on the north and south sides as well as a narrow gable window on the east and west sides. The windows were designed by the glass artist Johannes Schreiter .

The window above the altar area depicts Jesus as risen on the bank of the lake of Genesareth and refers to Joh 21,4  EU . The opposite window in the western gable wall refers to Lk 24.29  EU and represents the two Emmaus disciples who urge the unrecognized resurrected to stay. The three windows on the north side deal with the event of Pentecost , the western window shows Mary and the disciples with the tongues of the Holy Spirit ( Acts 2,3  EU ), the middle window shows the presence of the Holy Spirit during individual prayer and the eastern window shows the Fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The three windows on the south side depict the wine miracle of the wedding at Cana .

Building history

In 2004 the cathedral chapter planned the renovation of the old vicariate and the construction of a house for the bishop and approved funding. However, the then Bishop Franz Kamphaus was skeptical about moving plans. After his retirement, the cathedral chapter resumed preparations for the renovation and the new construction of the diocesan center during the Sedis vacancy in 2007 and initially approved funds of € 3.5 million. The then commissioned architect Christoph Mäckler already mentioned higher construction costs. In 2010, Michael Frielinghaus , acting President of the Association of German Architects , was commissioned as the architect for the Diocesan Center and planned the renovation of the existing buildings of the Old Vicarie and the new construction of the St. Maria chapel and the episcopal apartment. The diocesan master builder Tilmann Staudt was responsible for the project management of the construction project.

In December 2010, the City of Limburg issued the building permit for the redesign of the area by the Diocese of Limburg . At the urging of the State Office for Monument Preservation , the planned length of the chapel was reduced somewhat. The Domplatz and the surrounding buildings are part of the entire Old Town and Frankfurter Vorstadt complex , the appearance of which, according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act, should be “only negligibly or only temporarily impaired”.

The chapel was consecrated on November 24, 2012 by Cardinal Joachim Meisner , Archbishop of Cologne.

building-costs

In December 2012, the diocese paid approx. 300,000 €.

In October 2013, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published the architect's preliminary cost estimate . The chapel is not shown individually, but as part of the 294 m 2 section E, consisting of a chapel, library and branch of the cathedral sacristy. The construction costs (KG 300 + 400 according to DIN 276 ) for this amount to € 1,522,877.74 according to the preliminary cost determination by the architect; In addition, there are costs for outdoor facilities (around € 108,000), equipment (cannot be clearly assigned to the rooms), ancillary construction costs (around € 620,000) and VAT.

Reception and criticism

The chapel was criticized during the planning phase in 2010. According to the FAZ, unspecified critics found the chapel to be “too expensive, too ostentatious and in breach of monument protection”, and there are already several chapels and the cathedral in the immediate vicinity.

In response to the criticism, the chapel was reduced in size, the floor area is 60 square meters.

In 2012, several members of the honorary monument council of the city of Limburg criticized the size of the chapel and the black facade and claimed that the model presented “in no way” had reproduced the actual dimensions. The chairman of the building committee, Paul-Josef Hagen, questioned whether the plans discussed beforehand matched the building. Diocesan master builder Staudt and architect Frielinghaus rejected the allegations that the dimensions of the completed building corresponded exactly to the presented model and the building application plans. The facade panels were also coordinated with the monument advisory board at the time. Because of its shape and color, the chapel is also known as the “ Kaaba of Limburg”.

In an interview in December 2012 , Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst defended his private chapel as a necessary retreat: “As a bishop you are not the manager of a diocese, but leadership is spiritual service. Everything that happens comes from prayer. ”In the case of discreet topics in particular, it is not appropriate to deal with them in the cathedral, where tourist groups are being shown around. The chapel is "more important to him than the desk".

Since September 2013 the diocese has offered monthly guided tours for citizens through the chapel and other parts of the complex.

In October 2013, the architecture critic Rainer Haubrich rated the diocesan center with the chapel as an “excellent example of contemporary architecture”. Apart from the construction costs, the building is not ostentatious, the gesture of the architecture is even "extremely modest". The architecture does not push itself into the foreground and takes on the traditions, materiality and scale of the historical location. There is no doubt that the architect lived up to his claim to create a building that “will still be full of dignity in 100 years”. The costs of approx. 30 million euros are not excessive. Haubrich is rather surprised "how this construction volume could ever be estimated at even a single-digit million figure."

The journalist Ulf Poschardt from the daily newspaper Die Welt thought that the chapel looked like the "Prayer House of Darth Vader ". He described the entire building as the “armor of an insecure prince of the church ”.

Web links

Commons : St. Mary  - collection of images, videos and audio files

To the building description:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Joachim Heidersdorf: The bishop shows his house ( Memento of October 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Published on August 18, 2012 in the Frankfurter Neue Presse . Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b Joachim Heidersdorf: Block or piece of jewelry? Published on August 20, 2012 in the Frankfurter Neue Presse . Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  3. ↑ Michael Frielinghaus: "The scale of the chapel now fits exactly into the ensemble between the higher Old Vicariate and the lower Diocesan Museum." In: Joachim Heidersdorf: Klotz oder Schmuckstück? Published on August 20, 2012 in the Frankfurter Neue Presse . Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  4. ^ Diocese of Limburg: The "House of the Bishops of Limburg" ( Memento from October 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ a b c d e Joachim Heidersdorf: Bishop shortly before Bethlehem Published on December 4, 2012 in the Frankfurter Neue Presse . Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  6. ↑ a b Insights into the new Limburg bishopric 2012 Published on December 3, 2012 on the Rhein-Zeitung website . Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  7. ^ A b Daniel Deckers: The generous builder of Limburg Published on August 26, 2013 in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  8. ↑ Gernot Facius: Bischof eckt with 1st class flight and new buildings. Published in Die Welt on August 17, 2013. Accessed on October 8, 2013.
  9. ↑ Wiesbadener Kurier, December 29, 2007: The end of modesty (quoted on www.wir-sind-kirche.de)
  10. ↑ a b c Block or piece of jewelry? FNP of August 20, 2013
  11. ↑ a b Controversial bishopric is being built. Published on December 8, 2010 in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  12. ↑ a b Johannes Laubach: A "Klotz" on the Domberg. Published in the Nassauische Neue Presse on July 5, 2012. Accessed on September 14, 2013.
  13. ↑ Section 16, Paragraph 3, Sentence 2 HDSchG
  14. ^ Diocese of Limburg : "God has taken up residence here". Cardinal Meisner dedicates chapel and altar on Toompea ( memento of September 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Published on November 24, 2012. Accessed on September 21, 2013.
  15. ↑ a b HR-info (interview): "It is impossible to please everyone" (see also the audio link to the interview)
  16. ↑ Cost control by the architects (PDF; 10.3 MB), published by the FAZ on October 12, 2013
  17. ^ Anna Catherin Loll and Peter Wensierski: Limburger Leidkultur Published on November 15, 2010 in Der Spiegel , edition 46/2010. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  18. ^ Christiane Florin, Raoul Löbbert: Reformer against Will Published in Christ und Welt , edition 38/2013.
  19. ↑ Martin Müller, Peter Wensierski: First Class in die Slums Published on August 20, 2012 in: Der Spiegel , Edition 34/2012.
  20. ↑ Insights into the Diocesan Center St. Nikolaus ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  21. ^ Rainer Haubrich: No pretentiousness - buildings in Limburg are excellent In: Die Welt , published on October 12, 2013. (Accessed on October 13, 2013.)
  22. ↑ Ulf Poschardt: I am a bishop, Lord, get me out of here . Article from October 19, 2013 in the welt.de portal , accessed on October 19, 2013

Coordinates: 50 ° 23 ′ 19.5 ″  N , 8 ° 3 ′ 56.5 ″  E