St. Peter and Paul (Marburg)
The Church of St. Peter and Paul is a Catholic church in Marburg .
The church is in a central location in Marburg in the so-called Biegenviertel between the lecture hall of the University of Marburg and the town hall (Erwin-Piscator-Haus). Due to the adjoining new university campus, it is moving further into the center of the student-dominated urban life of Marburg.
It was built as a concrete church with a cube-shaped floor plan and a separate bell tower based on plans by the Stuttgart architects Otto Linder and Erwin Lenz between 1957 and 1959.
history
The idea of building a second Catholic church next to St. Johannes ("Kugelkirche") dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. As early as 1904, the Catholic parish of Marburg acquired a piece of land in Biegenstrasse with the then pastor Konrad Weber. The one million gold marks saved for this was lost in the First World War and the subsequent inflation. Only the consequences of the Second World War with the expulsion of millions of people and the increasing number of Marburg Catholics up to 20,000 brought a new church to the fore again.
In 1952/53 a new community hall with a community hall as a church service room was built on the existing site in Biegenstrasse. From 1955 to 1957 preparatory work and discussions with various architects and sponsors for the planning of the new church were carried out by Dean Nüdling and Pastor Rützel. In August 1957, Bishop Adolf Bolte and Cathedral Chapter Eduard Schick rejected the building in the neo-Gothic or Baroque style requested by the Marburg magistrate and prevailed with their idea of a contemporary, modern church. On September 8, 1957, the groundbreaking ceremony took place in the 750th year of the birth of St. Elisabeth by Josef Cardinal Frings and the bishops Bolte and Schick. In 1957/58, a pile foundation with 99 piles was necessary due to the difficult foundation. On June 22, 1958, the foundation stone was laid by Bishop Eduard Schick and the Cartell Association of Catholic German Student Associations (CV), which had taken over part of the costs. On June 6th and 7th, 1959, the church was consecrated by Bishop Adolf Bolte with anointing and immersion of the relics of Saints Boniface and Sturmius in the altar. On November 15, 1959, the parish of St. Peter and Paul was raised to a parish .
Layout
The cube-shaped shape of the church space forms a rectangular hall approx. 42 meters long and 15 meters high, which is adjoined by a side aisle supported by four round supports. A wall of light on the south side with fan-shaped windows faces a massive quarry stone wall made of red sandstone on the north side. The east wall in the wedge-shaped entrance area consists almost entirely of a colored glass concrete image. The choir area has an exposed central middle section that connects to the side wall elements on the west side through two ribbon windows. Two flights of stairs next to the choir area lead to a crypt . The sacristy rooms are connected to the north side.
The church from the outside
The outer facades of the rectangular cube are characterized by concrete and glass. The design with traditional red sandstone on the tower and in the choir area removes the severity of the materials and at the same time creates a bridge to the surrounding cityscape. The fan-shaped window arrangement on the south side and the wedge-shaped entrance area in the east break through the linear arrangement of the outer walls. The upper end, which appears from below as a flat roof, has a sloping roof above the main nave and a light tone in the choir area. The 42-meter-high bell tower with a copper cock forms a striking visual mark. Like an Italian campanile, it stands separately, but at the same time is connected to the nave by a pillar-supported canopy that protects the entrance area. Two of its outer sides are covered with red sandstone. Its warm, red hue creates a cross-material connection to the Marburg Castle, which is within sight. A three-sided staircase leads to the raised forecourt to the two simple, sheet steel-covered entrance portals. The parish hall and the Catholic kindergarten are attached to the church on the right. The building complex also includes the rectory and the Roncalli house, the seat of the Catholic university community.
inner space
The interior presents itself to the visitor as an open hall with a clear spatial structure, characterized by the indirect, lateral lighting, which creates an almost mystical atmosphere. No windows are visible when entering the church. The light falls mainly through the fan-shaped windows of the aisle towards the front in the direction of the raised choir area. Side window bands to the left and right of the altar wall and the surrounding window band in the light barrel in the ceiling area support this effect. The glass was designed by the Marburg artist Erhardt Klonk . The east side is determined by a glass concrete window, only interrupted by the wall behind the organ, created by Rudolf W. Haegele from Aalen. In contrast, the mighty 15-meter-high quarry stone wall in the north shows itself without window opening or structure, only interrupted by the doors to the sacristy and confessionals. Its red sandstone structure is continued on both sides in the choir area and as a circumferential band under the bright Homaton flat ceiling. The warm color of the stone stands out from the gray-black slate color of the floor and the gray-white color of the walls. On the left side a staircase leads to the organ gallery on the east side above the entrance area.
Furnishing
The choir area is dominated by the 7 meter high bronze sculpture of the risen Christ by Hermann Tomada from Darmstadt. Due to the abstract representation, the figure, which weighs several tons, seems to float above the sarcophagus-like, mighty altar block.
The Ambo is made as the altar of cut and polished, dark limestone.
The Maria stele next to the choir area was carved out of a block of white sandstone by the Schweinfurt sculptor Heinrich Söller . The figure of Mary, leaning to one side, connects the baby Jesus sitting in the center on her lap with members of a family.
The sacrament stele made of hewn shell limestone by the Marburg sculptor Johannes Schönert contains a tabernacle door made of bronze, set with rock crystals and a rose quartz in the middle. Its inwardly curved, rounded depressions open on all sides and emphasize its vertical alignment.
A cross from Prachatitz in Bohemia, donated by a family who fled the Sudetenland after World War II, hangs on the south side wall.
The way of the cross in the entrance area between the portals was designed by the Schweinfurt sculptor Heinrich Söller from cast concrete as a coherent relief. An additional last station refers to the resurrection event of Christ: The tomb is empty. Another special feature is the feeding of the poor by St. Elisabeth in a scene.
On the south side there is an altar in memory of the Jesuit Father Rupert Mayer (1876–1945), a leading figure of the Catholic resistance against National Socialism. The work of art was donated by the Cartell Association of Catholic German Student Associations (CV) and created by the Bavarian sculptor Leopold Hafner (born 1939) from Aicha vorm Wald.
The font by the Mainz sculptor Heinz Hemmrich is located under the organ gallery .
The organ comes from the workshop of Matthias Kreienbrink from Osnabrück. It was created in 1962 with 21 registers and was expanded to 35 registers in 1978. A swell mechanism with ten additional registers is installed in the console and as a case, but was never implemented.
The east side behind the organ gallery is almost completely taken up by a glass concrete wall by the artist Rudolf Haegele from Aalen. The various colors of the glass elements arranged in geometric shapes symbolically represent the Pentecostal mystery with the enlightenment of the disciples by the Holy Spirit.
crypt
The stairs to the right and left of the altar lead to the crypt , which is dedicated to St. Elisabeth. The room is supported by four pillars. They symbolize the four evangelists . In the center of the crypt there is a simple altar made of red sandstone. The relics of St. Boniface (patron saint of the diocese) and St. Flora (Roman martyr) are embedded in the altar plate . The crypt is illuminated by a row of windows made of glass concrete, designed and executed by Rudolf Haegele . The windows tell of the life of St. Elisabeth. In the middle we find the saint with the Marburg Church of the Holy Sepulcher in her left hand. In the other windows the seven works of mercy can be seen: the hungry to eat, the thirsty to drink, to clothe the naked, to take in strangers and the homeless, to free the prisoners, to care for the sick and to bury the dead.
An Elisabeth reliquary is located in a niche in the base of the altar. It contains a bone particle of the saint, which was given by the Archbishop of Vienna at the time to St. Peter and Paul on the occasion of the church inauguration, as well as a piece of the hem of their Tertiary robes (from Oberwalluf , Rheingau). The reliquary and the altar cross with the two candlesticks are the work of Sister Lioba Munz , OSB, from Fulda.
Liturgy and church space
The room designed by Otto Linder as a Wegekirche welcomes visitors in the low entrance area under the organ gallery with the Way of the Cross at the back. He can stand for the imperfections and hardships of earthly life. The baptismal font as a symbol for the beginning of a life in faith opens the way through the church with a view to the sculpture of the risen Christ as the goal. The room is carried by the quarry stone wall on the right as a symbol for the Apostle Peter and the church as an institution and community of believers. The row of windows on the left is with its lighting in the direction of the choir area for the apostle Paul as a messenger of faith. With these two sides, the architects have implemented the patronage of the church in the architectural language of the room. The left aisle is supported by four round supports, which stand as symbols for the four evangelists, and leads to a sculpture next to the altar area with Mary as intercessor and mediator to God. The room concept and the furnishings complement each other to form a harmonious whole, which - typical for Otto Linder - emphasizes the choir area as the spiritual center of the church.
literature
- The catholic churches in Marburg. 200th anniversary of the re-approval of the Catholic Church in Marburg . Marburg 1988.
- Ursula Dorn, Elisabeth Voss, Albert Köchling: Catholic parish church of St. Peter and Paul Marburg . Fink, Lindenberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89870-327-7 .
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 48 ′ 40.5 ″ N , 8 ° 46 ′ 27.2 ″ E