St. Peter (Düsseldorf)

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St. Peter in May 2008

The neo-Gothic Catholic parish church of St. Peter in Düsseldorf-Unterbilk on the church square was built according to a design by the architect Caspar Clemens Pickel and consecrated in 1898. It is one of the largest churches in the state capital Düsseldorf . The parish of the same name belongs to the pastoral care area of ​​Unter- and Oberbilk, Friedrichstadt and Eller-West.

history

The area of ​​Friedrichstadt was used for agriculture until the 19th century before it was settled. It was connected to Oberbilk and Bilk by dirt roads , so that the first few residents mostly found their spiritual home in the parish of St. Martin in Bilk. The steadily and rapidly increasing population in the second half of the 19th century made an expansion of today's Friedrichstadt area urgently necessary and a new parish division necessary, although the latter was a long time coming during the Kulturkampf .

In the 1860s the cooperative of the poor servants of Jesus Christ settled in Friedrichstadt, in whose chapel the population could take part in the service. Parish files still had to be carried out in the remote Bilk. Towards the end of the 19th century, a church building association was founded, which promoted the construction of St. Peter's Church.

Finally, in 1889, an emergency church could be built within 100 days, which was taken over on December 8, 1890; the emergency church, which was laid down in March 1899, stood on the property of today's parish office on Friedrichstrasse.

With the establishment of a parish of its own on March 14, 1891, and the consecration of the new parish church of St. Peter, which was built from 1895 on October 2, 1898 on the so-called church square, two important goals were achieved, the influx of people continued unabated. A census made in 1900 recorded 21,000 Catholics in the parish. Another parish division had to be considered, which then took place with the consecration of another parish church consecrated to St. Anthony in June 1909.

The church, which was partially destroyed in the Second World War, was reconstructed "from 1945 in various construction phases until 1981".

The World Youth Day 2005 , which was also celebrated in Düsseldorf, set important impulses for parish life, which was stuck in a certain resignation after the waves of church resignations, parish mergers and austerity. Since then, the renewed parish council has tried to establish St. Peter as a community for a young city population.

At the end of 2007, St. Peter hit the headlines because Rev. Paul-Ludwig Spies was supposed to leave the community as part of the new pastoral concept of the Archdiocese of Cologne. In 2008 Cardinal Meisner commissioned Pastor Ansgar Puff to manage the pastoral care area in Düsseldorf Unter- and Oberbilk, Friedrichstadt and Eller-West. Since July 2008 he has been canon pastor of the parish of St. Peter.

fire

In June 2007, St. Peter attracted nationwide attention due to a fire in the roof structure, which was completely destroyed. Only the tower remained intact. Although the church and the only six-year-old Göckel organ, known beyond Düsseldorf's borders, were badly damaged, the congregation was not discouraged and celebrated its patronage on July 1st with the great participation and help of the population, the clubs and the media Kirchplatz as a "great festival of thanks and confidence". On October 18, 2009, the parishioners celebrated the festive mass on the 111th anniversary of the parish church for the first time after the fire in the empty church space in front of a construction fence. For many it was the first look into the nave after the fire.

The festive reopening of St. Peter took place on February 20, 2011. In addition to the church roof and the interior painting, the windows in the nave were renewed according to designs by Jochem Poensgen . There was also a new altar island, new flooring in the entrance area and modern lighting.

Building description

The whole church building with its many towers, individual buildings, tracery galleries and building projections is laid out like a city wall and thus symbolizes the heavenly city that has sunk down to earth. The church building was badly destroyed in the war, but later rebuilt and restored authentically, so that it is unparalleled in the Lower Rhine area.

Exterior

On the north side is the 80 meter high north tower, which is flanked by two square entrance buildings. The tower is three-story and wears a helmet that is pointed. The spire is flanked at the four corners by four smaller turrets.

The tower and its spire were destroyed in the war. A simple pyramid roof was temporarily placed on the tower in the 1950s.

At the top of the tower are four important representatives of the city of God: Moses, David, John the Baptist and Peter watch here at the entrance as guarantors for the faith tradition that has continued throughout the history of God's people. The figures were designed by Elmar Hillebrand (Mose), Karl Matthäus Winter (David), Klaus Balke (John the Baptist) and Theo Heiermann (Petrus). At the same time, the various structures emphasize the unity in diversity. With its 80 meter high tower, St. Peter towers over all surrounding buildings and is the ornament of the newly designed church square.

The architect gave the entrance facade three portals. He took over the ancient motif of the triumphal arch: this becomes the triumphal gate for the believers who enter the heavenly city through this gate.

All outer surfaces were faced with tuff blocks. The architectural elements were worked with red Palatinate sandstone .

Interior

St. Peter is a large, bright, neo-Gothic, three-aisled 71-meter-long hall church that is oriented to the south.

The interior shows a central nave that is 18 meters high. The central nave is separated from the side aisles by “high, pointed arcades”. The side aisles are adjoined by “low polygonal chapels”.

The transept has a polygonal finish. A “slender roof turret” rises above the crossing, where the central and transepts cross.

The choir forms a "half decagon" according to the ground plan. The two-storey sacristy and baptistery are grouped around the choir. The choir is flanked by two turrets.

The templates on both sides of the pillar core in the longitudinal direction are continued in the dividing arches of the yokes. Both together "optically form an octagonal pillar". Round services at the base of the vault are summarized in a capital. They prepare the ribs of the star vault. The star vault in the nave and transept was reconstructed from 1968 to 1982.

Furnishing

In addition to its traditional altars and the imposing floor mosaic in the high choir, the church contains many interesting works of art and features such as: B. the epitaphs or the vault keystones with the symbols of the various professional groups. The magnificent high altar with canopy is particularly worth seeing .

Designed and built by Caspar Clemens Pickel, who also designed large parts of the interior, there is a large crypt under the church , which is rather unusual for Gothic churches. However, nobody is buried in the crypt of St. Peter. It was built because it was necessary to lay the foundation very deep.

The church building has modern windows, the color of which fits perfectly into the church. They represent the covenant of God with his people and, viewed from the left, represent the past (Moses, Noah), the present (the chaos and the risen, living Christ) and the future (the revelation of John ). The original glass windows come from Professor Alexander Linnemann from Frankfurt, the mosaics from his son Professor Otto Linnemann .

organ

Göckel organ from 2001 in St. Peter, Düsseldorf

The organ was built in 2001 by Karl Göckel (Heidelberg). It was furnished in the symphonic French style. The model was the great organ of St. Clotilde in Paris.

The instrument was not destroyed in the fire, but it was damaged during the extinguishing work. During the extinguishing work, water penetrated from the openings for the light pipes above the organ case into the case and directly into the pipework , the wind chests , the action mechanisms and the game mechanics. Most of the instrument had to be dismantled and restored.

I Grand Orgue C – c 4
1. Bourdon 16 ′
2. Flute 16 ′
3. Montre 8th'
4th Bourdon 8th'
5. Flûte harmonique 8th'
6th Violoncello 8th'
7th Prestant 4 ′
8th. Flute 4 ′
9. Duplicate 2 ′
10. Cornet V 8th'
11. Grande fourniture II
12. Fittings V.
13. Cymbals IV
14th Bombard 16 ′
15th Trumpets 8th'
16. Clairon 4 ′
II Positif expressif C – c 4
17th Principal 8th'
18th Cor de nuit 8th'
19th Salicional 8th'
20th Unda maris 8th'
21st Prestant 4 ′
22nd Flûte douce 4 ′
23. Fifth 2 23
24. Duplicate 2 ′
25th Tierce 1 35
26th Larigot 1 13
27. Plein-jeu V.
28. Trumpets 8th'
29 Cromorne 8th'
30th Clairon 4 ′
Tremblant
III Récit expressif C – c 4
31. Corno dolce 16 ′
32. Flûte traversière 8th'
33. Bourdon 8th'
34. Viole de Gambe 8th'
35. Voix céleste 8th'
36. Flûte octaviante 4 ′
37. Nasard harmonique 2 23
38. Octavine 2 ′
39. Tierce harmonique 1 35
40. Piccolo harmonique 1'
41. Tuba magna 16 ′
42. Trompette harmonique 8th'
43. Clairon harmonique 4 ′
44. Basson et Hautbois 8th'
45. Voix humaine 8th'
Tremblant
Chamaden C – c 4
Freely attachable
46. Tuba mirabilis 8th' v
47. Cor harmonique 4 ′ v

Pedale C – c 4
48. Flute 32 ′
49. Flute 16 ′
50. Contrebasse 16 ′
51. Soubasse 16 ′
52. Big flûte 8th'
53. Violoncello 8th'
54. Bourdon 8th'
55. Flute 4 ′
56. Bombard 32 ′
57. Bombard 16 ′
58. Trumpets 8th'
59. Clairon 4 ′
  • Couple:
    • Normal coupling: I / P, II / P, III / P, II / I, III / I, III / II.
    • Sub-coupling: III / III, II / II, I / I, III / I, II / I.
    • Super couple: III / III, II / II, I / I, III / I, II / I, III / P.
  • Annotation*
v = vacant

Individual evidence

  1. 2006 added to the 5th “Organ Birthday” in order to expand the classical sound palette, especially in the baroque direction.

Glass window catalog of works 1904 and 1914, Linnemann archive

Illustrations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ In: List of monuments of the city of Düsseldorf . Entry in the monument list of the state capital Düsseldorf at the Institute for Monument Protection and Preservation
  2. a b c d Roland Kanz, Jürgen Wiener (ed.): Architectural Guide Düsseldorf. Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-496-01232-3 , p. 74, object no. 101 [St. Peter, Friedrichstrasse 80, 1895–1898 Caspar Clemens Pickel]
  3. Hans Onkelbach: Saint Peter's in flames. In: rp-online.de. Rheinische Post, June 20, 2007, accessed on September 15, 2016 .
  4. St. Peter in Düsseldorf is reopened - Catholic Church in Düsseldorf. Retrieved April 18, 2019 .
  5. ^ A b c Architects and Engineers Association of Düsseldorf (ed.): Düsseldorf and its buildings. L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1904, p. 107

Web links

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

Coordinates: 51 ° 12 ′ 45.9 ″  N , 6 ° 46 ′ 34 ″  E