St. Martin (Birmensdorf ZH)
The Church of St. Martin is the Roman Catholic parish church of Birmensdorf in the canton of Zurich . The parish belonging to it is responsible for the places Aesch ZH , Birmensdorf and Uitikon .
history
History and naming
In Birmensdorf, an early medieval settlement on the way from Zurich to Bremgarten AG , a document has been given that the St. Blasien monastery had its own church in 1140 and 1173, which was then incorporated into the monastery in 1325 and remained in the possession of the St. Blasien monastery until 1806 . The bailiwick of the medieval church lay with the Lords of Regensberg , then loaned by Austria to the Mülner in Zurich , from whom they sold in 1347 to St. Blasien. Birmensdorf itself was originally owned by the Muri and Engelberg monasteries and passed to the St. Blasien monastery in 1347. The Romanesque church from the 12th century was renovated in 1571 and rebuilt as a reformed church in 1659. After the Reformation in Zurich from 1523, Catholic worship was banned in the subject areas, which is why the Catholic community in Birmensdorf could only be rebuilt in the 20th century after the arrival of Catholics from other cantons and from abroad.
The medieval church in Birmensdorf was already dedicated to St. Martin of Tours . Martin's churches were widespread in the Franconian sphere of influence , especially as royal own churches. The Catholic St. Martin's Chapel in the first half of the 20th century and the new building of today's Catholic St. Martin's Church in 1977 tie in with the medieval patronage of Birmensdorf.
Development and construction history
The Edict of Tolerance of 1807 permitted the Catholic rite again for the first time in the canton of Zurich, but locally restricted to the city of Zurich. The freedom of residence and freedom of religion in the Helvetic Republic and, from 1848, in the Swiss federal state enabled Catholic workers and their families to move to the Reformed canton of Zurich. The few Catholics who moved to Birmensdorf, Aesch and Uitikon in the 19th century had the opportunity to attend Catholic services in the traditionally Catholic Dietikon and the neighboring canton of Aargau . When the Heilig Kreuz church was inaugurated on August 19, 1900 in Altstetten, which was not yet incorporated into Zurich , the Catholics in Aesch, Birmensdorf and Uitikon were added to this parish. On May 1, 1929, the Diöcesan-Kultus-Verein in Chur , based in Disentis, acquired a piece of land from a farmer in Birmensdorf for the construction of a Catholic church. At first there was a house and a stable on this property. The house was converted into St. Martin's Chapel between May and November 1929, and the stable into a parish hall. On St. Martin , November 11, 1929, the St. Martin Chapel of prelate house army was consecrated in train. He was the director of the domestic mission , which had given significant financial support to the establishment of the pastoral care station in Birmensdorf. The majority of the necessary finances, however, had been collected by the community through begging letters. On the occasion of the blessing of the St. Martin's Chapel, a Catholic mass was held in Birmensdorf for the first time since the Reformation . In the following years, the 200-seat St. Martin Church was gradually equipped and expanded. A new roof turret for the church bell, a sacristy and a gallery in the back of the church were created. On April 17, 1956, Birmensdorf, Uitikon and Aesch were appointed parish vicariate. On January 1, 1959, the Bishop of Chur elevated the parish vicariate to a parish rectorate and in 1965 to an independent parish, separating it from the parish Heilig Kreuz Zürich-Altstetten. When more Catholics moved to Birmensdorf, Aesch and Uitikon after the Second World War , it became apparent that a new church and a parish center were necessary. The St. Martin Parish Church Foundation, founded in 1958, was able to acquire the property adjacent to the St. Martin's Chapel in May 1958. In 1962 a first attempt was made to plan a new church including a parish center. This project was not supported enough in the community and triggered discussions, which is why the project was suspended. After the Catholic Church in the canton of Zurich was recognized under public law in 1963, a Catholic parish was formed in Birmensdorf, which from then on took on the project to build a new church. In 1964, a residential building was acquired for the pastor in the new Am Hang estate, who was then able to move out of the rented, narrow attic apartment. While the project for the construction of a new church including rectory and parish center in Birmensdorf initially remained suspended in the 1960s, the planning and construction of St. Michael's Church in Uitikon took place in 1964–1970 . After the inauguration of this church on December 19, 1970, Uitikon was raised to the parish rectorate. Then the new building of the church in Birmensdorf was started again. In 1972 the parish assembly approved the planning of a new church for Birmensdorf. At the 1974 architecture competition, the project by architect Walter Moser met with the greatest popularity, but could not be awarded a prize because it violated the applicable building regulations. That is why the project by the Hungarian architect Dezsö Ercsi, who shortly afterwards realized the new building of the neighboring church Heilig-Kreuz Zürich-Altstetten, received the first prize. Walter Moser, on the other hand, was commissioned to adapt his project to the applicable building regulations and then to implement it for the parish of Birmensdorf. In January 1976, construction began on the Am Wasser site near the old St. Martin's Church . The foundation stone was laid on August 28, 1976, and the old St. Martin's Chapel was demolished on September 27, 1977. Since the newly built parish center also contained an apartment for the pastor, the rectory in the Am Hang settlement was sold. On October 30, 1977 consecrated diocesan bishop , Johannes Vonderach one built by Walter Moser church.
The parish of Birmensdorf with its 3,122 members (as of 2017) is one of the smaller Catholic parishes in the canton of Zurich.
Building description
Church tower and exterior
In contrast to the historic Reformed Church of Birmensdorf, which is located on the edge of the town center in an elevated position, the Catholic Church of St. Martin was built in the middle of a quarter on the banks of the Reppisch River . The church is located on the street Am Wasser and forms a building complex together with the parish center and the integrated parish apartment. From a distance, this cannot be recognized as a church, as the building does not stand out visually in the quarter despite its size. Only the church tower on the street Am Wasser refers to the ecclesiastical function of the complex. The color scheme of the exposed concrete building in different shades of red was controversial when the center was built. The church tower houses an originally three-part bell, which was expanded to five bells in 2002 with St. Barbara and the guardian angel bells. All bells come from the H. Rüetschi bell foundry , Aarau. The first three bells were consecrated on April 30, 1977 and then raised in the tower by the school children.
| number | Weight | diameter | volume | dedication | inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1013 kg | 120 cm | f 1 | St. Martin | What you did for one of the least of my brothers, you did for me (Mt 25:40) |
| 2 | 629 kg | 100 cm | as 1 | St. Mary | Then Mary said: I am the handmaid of the Lord and it will be done to me what you have said (Lk 1:38) |
| 3 | 304 kg | 80 cm | c 2 | Brother Klaus | Peace is in God everywhere |
| 4th | 230 kg | 73 cm | of the 2nd | St. Barbara | Protection in danger |
| 5 | 173 kg | 65 cm | it 2 | Guardian Angel | Over, beside, with you |
As a reminder of the St. Martin's Chapel, its bell was placed in the foyer of the parish center.
Interior and artistic equipment
A forecourt leads to the foyer and the interior of the church. Architect Walter Moser called his project Ritilä . This Finnish word refers to the time of the architect in Helsinki with Alvar Aalto , from whom he received essential impulses for his architectural work. The word ritilä means grid or rust in German and refers to the design of the church ceiling inside the building. The concrete ceiling is characterized by a net-like structure and appears to float above the church. The light penetrates through partly covered windows between the ceiling and the wall of the church and through further windows let into the concrete wall into the interior of the worship room. What is striking is the uniform design of the church interior through the element of concrete . Built according to the requirements of the liturgy constitution of the Second Vatican Council , the benches of the worshipers are grouped around the chancel. Like the other artistic elements of the church, this was created by sculptor Alfred Huber , Rümlang. In his concept, Alfred Huber took up the concrete wall built by architect Walter Moser behind the chancel. Alfred Huber says about this wall design that it symbolically refers to the Calvary . The altar , baptismal font , holy water pedestal and the twelve consoles of the Apostle candles along the nave were designed by Alfred Huber from Cristallina marble from the Maggia Valley . The altar has Christ symbols on the four side views. The letters DOM DEO OPTIMO MAXIMO can be seen on the front of the altar . This means To the best and highest God. In the Christ sign on the right side of the altar the first letters of the four evangelists can be seen MMLJ , on the left side of the altar the Greek letters A and O are embedded, which take up the Christ word: I am the beginning and the end. On the back of the altar the Christ sign JHS can be read over the Marian letter MA . This indicates that Christ was born out of Mary the Virgin. The reliquary grave is located in a small recess on the surface of the refectory , which was closed with a cover plate by Bishop Johannes Vonderach when the altar was consecrated. The five wounds of Christ are symbolically engraved as crosses on the surface of the altar. To the right of the altar is the light blue tabernacle , covered on all sides with enameled Eucharist symbols. In the front of the tabernacle door is the sacrificed lamb with the victory flag and the five sources of the wounds. On the left is a chalice with a host , on the right a vine with grapes. The vine refers to the word of Christ: I am the vine, you are the branches. On the back of the tabernacle five loaves of bread with two fish can be seen, which indicate the feeding of the five thousand, but also the Eucharist. The top of the tabernacle again contains a symbol of Christ in connection with the symbol of Mary. The cube of the baptismal font is located in front of the sloping calvary wall. In contrast to the altar, the veining of the stone runs vertically here. The square floor plan of the lower part flows smoothly into the octagonal upper part, into which the round baptismal font is embedded. In addition to its purpose for baptism, the baptismal font also serves as a holy water font. The top three signs of the cross indicate the three names of the Trinity . On the back of the baptismal font the flowing baptismal water is depicted, on the lower edge a snake is driven out as a symbol of the original sin . On the front side the dove is shown as the descent of the Holy Spirit as a symbol of God's grace. The Stations of the Cross are attached to the rear wall of the church at eye level . The traditional fourteen stations were supplemented by a fifteenth station. This shows the resurrection of Christ and thus refers from Good Friday to Easter . In addition to the massive elements of the chancel, Alfred Huber deliberately designed the ambo in a different, lighter-looking material. The ambo is made of argentana , a silver-like cast alloy. The two candle sticks on the altar were made from the same material. The Mother of God was originally from Alabaster created. Because the congregation was bothered by the grain of the stone in the face area, Our Lady was created a second time from Argentana by Alfred Huber at a later time.
organ
Mathis organ (1979 - 2019)
The Mathis Orgelbau company created an instrument in 1975 that was originally intended for the Einsiedeln monastery and was used there during the renovation of the monastery church. In 1979 the instrument was acquired by the parish of Birmensdorf and placed in the church of St. Martin. The plan was to use this organ as a temporary solution until a large instrument that would fit the church interior was built. However, this project was never implemented. The Mathis organ had 5 stops on a manual and pedal and was replaced by an electronic organ in 2019.
Disposition of the Mathis organ:
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- Coupling : II / I
Content organ (from 2019)
Due to technical problems and financial considerations, the parish replaced the previous pipe organ with an electronic instrument from the company Content, which was acquired in 2019. The organ comes from the Concerto 476 series. The principle of sound generation in the new organ is based on the use of sound recordings from real pipe organs, which are then played back in a slightly post-processed form. The electronic organ has four manuals and 4 × 76 voices in the tone colors Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Symphonic.
literature
- Episcopal Ordinariate Chur (ed.): Schematism of the Diocese of Chur. Chur 1980.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Reinhard Möhrle: Birmensdorf (ZH, community). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . September 8, 2004 , accessed September 23, 2014 .
- ^ Website zh-kirchenspots, section Birmensdorf. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
- ↑ Episcopal Ordinariate Chur (ed.): Schematism of the Diocese of Chur. P. 191.
- ↑ http [: //www.zh-kirchenspots.ch/content/e1665/e1667/e7624/e7625/index_ger.html Website zh-kirchenspots, section Birmensdorf.] Retrieved on September 23, 2014.
- ^ Parish archives St. Martin Birmensdorf.
- ↑ Catholic Church of the Canton of Zurich (Ed.): Annual Report 2017. P. 82.
- ↑ Inscription on the bell tower of St. Martin Birmensdorf.
- ^ Parish archives St. Martin: Conversation with the artist Alfred Huber.
- ^ Archives of the parish of St. Martin Birmensdorf: Interview with the artist Alfred Huber.
- ^ Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Section Catholic Church St. Martin Birmensdorf ZH. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
- ^ Archives of the parish of Birmensdorf. Retrieved February 25, 2020.