St. Michael (Gersweiler)

The Church of St. Michael in Gersweiler

The Church of St. Michael is a Catholic church in Gersweiler , a district of the Saarland capital Saarbrücken . The church patron is the Archangel Michael . In the list of monuments of the Saarland, the church is a single monument listed.

St. Michael is part of the parish of St. Barbara Klarenthal that since 1 January 2013, the parish of St. Nicholas Altenkessel the parish community Altenkessel forms.

history

The area, which has been Protestant since the introduction of the Reformation in the county of Saarbrücken from 1574 , in which Gersweiler was also located, experienced an increasing influx of Catholics from all over Europe as a result of industrialization in the 19th century, who worked here in mining , the glass industry or found the earthenware production .

In 1866 the Catholics in Gersweiler had a place for church services when a former glass magazine was converted into a prayer room . A draft of the architect, district architect Grevelding , made in 1870 for the construction of a hall church was not implemented due to financial difficulties.

In 1886 the Catholic parish of St. Michael in Gersweiler was founded, and in 1888 the foundation stone was laid for a church building built according to plans by the architect Wilhelm Hector ( Saarbrücken - St. Johann ). The company Philipp Schultheis (Saarbrücken) was responsible for the execution of the earthworks and masonry work. The inauguration of the completed church took place on October 27, 1889.

The first pastor of the parish was Michael Alt, in honor of whom St. Michael was also chosen as the church patron.

In the 1960s and 1970s there was extensive renovation and remodeling work. The painting on the side walls and the choir disappeared . The ceiling , which was also painted , was suspended from a second wooden ceiling, so it is still there.

Architecture and equipment

The church of St. Michael was built as a hall church in the style of historicism , whereby mainly neo-Romanesque style elements were used. The church building is divided into the tower with a pyramid-shaped pointed helmet , the six-axis nave and a five-sided polygonal choir. In the tower was the main entrance portal, which was bricked up and replaced by two entrance gates on the left and right of it.

The church's furnishings include windows depicting biblical scenes. These include works by the Hungarian-German architect and church window painter György Lehoczky (Saarbrücken). The windows in the choir show Saint Barbara surrounded by miners on the left , the resurrection in the middle and the church patron Saint Michael on the right.

In the place of the former main entrance there is a Pietà . The former high altar in neo-Romanesque style has been replaced by a modern altar depicting the Lord's Supper .

organ

Mayer organ

The first organ in the church was built in 1946 by Georges Schwenkedel ( Strasbourg ). In 1966, the Hugo Mayer company ( Heusweiler ) used old parts to build a new building , in which three new registers were installed on electrical sliders and twelve new loops were prepared, but not occupied. In addition, a third manual was built on which only the Krummhorn is occupied so far.

The pocket drawer (or slider drawer) instrument set up on a gallery has 20 (21) registers, distributed over two manuals and pedal . The game and stop action is electro-pneumatic (or electric). The disposition is as follows:

I Hauptwerk C – g ³
1.	Dumped	16 ′
2.	Principal	8th'
3.	Reed flute	8th'
4th	Octave	4 ′
5.	Quintad	4 ′
6th	Octave	2 ′
7th	Mixture IV
8th.	Trumpet	8th'

II Swell C – g ³
9.	Open principal	8th'
	Coupling flute	8 ′ (vacant)
10.	Salizional	8th'
11.	Principal	4 ′
12.	Night horn	4 ′
13.	Fifth	2 ² ⁄ ₃  ′
14th	Forest flute	2 ′
	third	1 ³ ⁄ ₅  ′ (vacant)
15th	Quintzymbel IV
	Wooden dulcian	16 ′ (vacant)
	oboe	8 ′ (vacant)
	Tremulant

III Positive C-g ³
	Dumped	8 ′ (vacant)
	recorder	4 ′ (vacant)
	Salizet	2 ′ (vacant)
	Chamois fifth	1 ¹ ⁄ ₃  ′ (vacant)
	Octavlein	1 ′ (vacant)
16.	Krummhorn	8th'
	Tremulant

Pedal C – f ¹
17th	Sub bass	16 ′
	Subtle bass	16 ′ (Transm. I Gedackt 16 ′)
18th	Octave bass	8th'
	Dumped	8 ′ (vacant)
19th	Choral bass	4 ′
	flute	2 ′ (vacant)
	Rauschpfeife IV	(vacant)
20th	trombone	16 ′

Pairing :
- Normal coupling: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
- Super octave coupling: II / I
Playing aids : 2 free combinations, general belt, crescendo roller, individual tongue storage

literature

Marschall, Kristine: Sacred buildings of classicism and historicism in Saarland . Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, Saarbrücken 2002, ISBN 978-3-923877-40-9 , p. 666 .
György Lehoczky working group (ed.): György Lehoczky, 1901–1979 . St. Johann GmbH, Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken 2010, ISBN 3-938070-49-8 , p. 176 ( galerie-st-johann.de [accessed on September 7, 2012]).