St. Sebastian (Rebstein)

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St. Sebastian Rebstein Church
View from the southeast
View from the northwest

The Church of St. Sebastian is the Roman Catholic parish church of Rebstein in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley . It was built according to plans by the church architect Fritz Metzger in the years 1959–1960.

history

History and naming

Today's Rebstein community emerged from an insignificant medieval hamlet. Documents prove that the St. Gallen monastery built a small church dedicated to St. George in the 9th century in Marbach. The residents of Rebstein, Balgach and Lüchingen also stayed there for centuries. In the 15th century, the residents of Rebstein wanted to have a chapel in the village . They built a small church on the village square and dedicated it to St. Sebastian as thanks for being saved from the plague . Marbach, however, resisted the construction of the chapel, but finally had to give in in 1487. The Rebsteiners were only allowed to celebrate four weekly masses as well as one holy mass each on Sebastianstag and on Kirchweihtag. On Sunday they still had to attend church services in Marbach. Kaplaneipfründe could not be built for the Sebastian chapel until 1522, but these were lost again in the turmoil of the Reformation . The Reformed were also forbidden to use the chapel, so that part of the chapel fund had to be paid back to them. In the so-called Akkordata from 1713 it was finally regulated that the Chapel of St. Sebastian could henceforth be used by both denominations . In 1782 the Reformed church built the church it is today, so that the chapel remained with the Catholic population. The structure of the chapel deteriorated over time, so that in the 1870s it was decided to demolish the chapel and build a new church on the castle hill. on March 30, 1880, the last mass was celebrated in the old chapel, which was then removed. A neo-Gothic church was built on the site of today's church between 1885 and 1886. The consecration of St. Sebastian Church took place on 29 September 1886 by the Bishop of St. Gallen , Augustin Egger . However, Rebstein still belonged to the parish of Marbach, which is why the new church initially only held two weekly masses; The fair in Marbach still had to be visited on Sundays. The displeasure of the population was finally heard by the bishop. In 1898 he raised Rebstein to his own parish and separated it from Marbach.

Development and construction history

On December 8, 1956, the old church of St. Sebastian was destroyed by a fire caused by a short circuit . The Reformed parish and the Progymnasium Rebstein spontaneously offered help: Immediately after the fire, part of the Catholic services took place in the Reformed Church, the other in the chapel of the Progymnasium, built in 1954. Since a gymnasium was built south of the Progymnasium in 1956, it could be used as an emergency church from June 15, 1957 until the construction of the new Catholic Church in 1960, instead of initially serving as a gymnasium .

The fire had destroyed the church to the ground, but not the tower. An appraisal showed that its building structure had not suffered from the fire, so that it could be reused in the construction of a new church. On January 30, 1957, the parish decided to build a new church at the previous location and to advertise a competition among five architects. The two best-placed projects by Fritz Metzger and Ernest Brantschen were further processed. On June 25, 1958, the jury selected Fritz Metzger's construction project as the winner. The new St. Sebastian's Church was built according to his plans in a modern style. On April 16, 1959 , the foundations of the burned down old church were blown up and the area was prepared. The construction of the new church lasted from 1959 to 1960. On July 12, 1959, the cathedral dean Büchel consecrated the foundation stone on behalf of the bishop . The Bishop of St. Gallen, Joseph Hasler , then consecrated the completed church on August 14, 1960. Like its predecessor, the church was given St. Sebastian as patron .

In 1970 the new rectory was moved into. The castle has belonged to the Catholic parish since 1977 and has been used as a parish home since then. In 2010 the outside of the church was renovated.

In 1995 Rebstein merged with Marbach and Lüchingen to form a pastoral care association due to the shortage of priests. Today the parish of St. Sebastian belongs to the pastoral care unit Altstätten. This includes a total of five Catholic parishes, in addition to Rebstein also Altstätten , Hinterforst-Eichberg , Lüchingen and Marbach.

Building description

Church tower and exterior

The St. Sebastian Church is located in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley a little west of the center of Rebstein on the vine-covered castle hill. From the forecourt of the church there is a view of Lake Constance and across the Rhine to neighboring Vorarlberg . The church consists of a church tower to which the church adjoins to the west. The eastern front, made up of straight shapes, gives the impression that the church was built on the plan of a rectangle . In fact, the floor plan of the church is determined by the shape of the church, which basically follows the shape of a trapezoid , but has round shapes instead of corners. The choir has the shape of an oval.

Within the current church tower, its predecessor tower and the old wooden stairs remained under the bell house. The new tower was built around it, including a bell house and a modern tower end including a cross, so that nothing of this special feature can be seen from the outside. The tower has a height of 37.43 meters.

The church has a five-part chime consisting of two older bells from the H. Rüetschi company , which were manufactured for the previous church in 1886, and three new bells that were cast by Emil Eschmann in Rickenbach on July 23, 1959. The two smaller bells were made from the same material as the two previous bells, the largest bell of today's bell was added thanks to a donation. After it was consecrated on August 29, 1959 by Bishop Joseph Hasler, the bells were raised in the newly designed church tower. In addition, the bell of the medieval chapel is located in the tower. This bell only sounds on special occasions and is pulled by hand.

number Weight diameter volume Caster dedication inscription
1 2500 kg 163 cm C. Emil Eschmann St. Sebastian Sancte Sebastiane, Patronae Parrochiae, omnes tibi commendatos, protege fide et caritate! (= "Saint Sebastian, patron of our church, everyone is recommended to you, protect faith and mercy!")
2 1500 kg 133 cm it H. Rüetschi Trinity «Praise the Lord, you human beings, all you works of his hands, praise the Lord, for he is mighty, good is he without end!"
3 700 kg 104 cm f Emil Eschmann Mother of God with the baby Jesus Salve Regina , mater misericordiae! (= "Greetings, O Queen, Mother of Mercy!")
4th 420 kg 87 cm as Emil Eschmann apostle "The sound emanates from it over the whole earth!"
5 250 kg 78 cm c H. Rüetschi Guardian Angel «Glory to God, protect us!»
inside view
Organ loft

Interior and artistic equipment

The interior of the church can be reached under an elongated canopy . The church service space is determined by the complex roof structure, which is typical of the more recent church buildings by Fritz Metzger from the Church of St. Felix and Regula Zurich-Hard , as the churches of St. Maria Königin Sitterdorf or St. Mauritius Oberengstringen are also designed by theirs complex roof. The main room of St. Sebastian's Church is roofed over by a broad, column- free concrete shell. The elevated choir adjoins the main room . Between the main room and the choir, a single column is placed on the right-hand side , which carries a good part of the eastern roof load and causes the room symmetry to be broken.

The benches are lined up in a semicircle in four segments around the sanctuary, which is based on the shape of a transverse oval. Three steps lead to the altar , which was carved as a solid block from Nabresina stone and weighs over seven tons. Right in front of the altar is Ambo placed left of the altar in the chancel wall of the tabernacle are shown on the five angels, as well as a modernly designed crucifix with a bronze figure of Christ , the less the suffering of Good Friday is as already the Risen One of Easter morning , the with his left hand he blesses the congregation , with his right hand, which is nailed to the cross, but refers to the event at the altar. The baptismal font , which was set up in the weekday chapel until the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council , is based on the floor plan of a triangle , which refers to the Trinity , but instead of the corners has a shorter side so that a hexagon is created. The lid of the baptismal font is made of bronze and shows a representation of the baptism of Jesus by St. John . The liturgical furnishings of the choir room were created according to designs by the artist Hugo Imfeld from Zumikon .

The daylight penetrates into the church mainly through a ribbon of windows that is let between the roof of the church and the raised roof of the choir, so that the altar area is illuminated by daylight, which in turn underlines its importance. A second, narrower strip of light is embedded at the transition between the church roof and the eastern wall, which is why the column of the interior was necessary. Finally, a third concrete shell forms the roof over the organ gallery . In addition to the southern rear wall, this roof rests essentially on two pillars , which also bear part of the load of the gallery. Curved lines give the organ loft its characteristic character. In the south wall there are various high rectangular windows which contain glass paintings by Ferdinand Gehr . The largest glass painting by Gehr is located at the transition from the foyer to the canopy, in the form of an inverted "U" around the church portal . Dark blue, rectangular glass surfaces are loosened up by red curved panes reminiscent of hearts. A mounted figure of the church patron Sebastian was created by an unknown artist in the 17th or 18th century. Around 1680, the baroque Madonna and Child was carved in the choir on the left.

Kuhn organ from 1960

organ

The previous church already had an organ . This was rebuilt in 1933 by the Kuhn company from Männedorf so that it had 24 registers on two manuals and a pedal . This organ was lost in the fire of the old church in 1956.

In 1960, the Kuhn company created an instrument with a free pipe prospect for the new St. Sebastian's Church . The organ has 30 registers.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
Pointed 16 ′
Praestant 8th'
Double flute 8th'
octave 4 ′
Coupling flute 4 ′
Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
octave 2 ′
Mixture III-V 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
shawm 8th'
Dulcian 8th'
II Swell C – g 3
Night horn 8th'
Quintatön 8th'
Black viola 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Flute 4 ′
Salicet 4 ′
Reed flute 2 ′
third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
Pointed fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Oktavlein 1'
Scharff IV – VI 2 ⁄ 3 ′
Trumpet 8th'
oboe 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedal C – f 1
Sub bass 16 ′
Flute bass 16 ′
Subtle bass (transmission) 16 ′
octave 8th'
Gedackt (transmission) 8th'
octave 4 ′
Rauschpfeife II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
bassoon 16 ′
Pommer 8th'

Baptistery

The baptistery, which has a rounded choir area and is built on the shape of an oval, is built into an adjoining room. The daylight streams through a small round window through the roof directly onto the altar. In the window openings there are glass windows by the Zurich artist Jean Bünter from 1960. A dark wall cross with six squares compliments the simple furnishings of the chapel. The chapel was designed by Hugo Imfeld from Zumikon. Until the liturgical reform, the baptismal font had been in the chapel. Today it is in the church chancel to the left of the altar.

Monument protection

In addition to the castle and the reformed church, the Catholic St. Sebastian's Church is the third property from Rebstein that is included on the list of cultural assets of the canton of St. Gallen (category B).

literature

  • Parish Rebstein (Ed.): Festschrift for the anniversary of the Catholic parish Rebstein 1898-1948 . Rebstein 1948.
  • Parish Rebstein (ed.): A house full of glory looks. Festschrift for the inauguration of the newly built Catholic Church in Rebstein, Sunday, August 14, 1960. Rebstein 1960.
  • 75 years of the Catholic parish Rebstein , in: Rheintalische Volkszeitung No. 13 of January 20, 1973.
  • Catholic parish St. Sebastian Rebstein (Ed.): Brief history of our parish.

Web links

Commons : St. Sebastian (Rebstein)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brief history of our parish. Retrieved on August 12, 2019 (German).
  2. ↑ 75 years of the Catholic parish Rebstein , in: Rheintalische Volkszeitung No. 13 of January 20, 1973, see: 3
  3. ^ Parish Rebstein (ed.): A house full of glory looks. Festschrift for the inauguration of the newly built Catholic Church in Rebstein, Sunday, August 14, 1960 , pp. 21–22.
  4. ^ Parish Rebstein (ed.): A house full of glory looks. Festschrift for the inauguration of the newly built Catholic Church in Rebstein, Sunday, August 14, 1960 , pp. 35–42.
  5. ^ Parish Rebstein (ed.): A house full of glory looks. Festschrift for the inauguration of the newly built Catholic Church in Rebstein, Sunday, August 14, 1960 , pp. 40–47.
  6. ↑ Catholic Rebstein celebrates 50 years of the Church of St. Sebastian. St. Galler Tagblatt dated August 14, 2010. Accessed August 10, 2019.
  7. ↑ Information from YouTube. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  8. ↑ Rebstein Parish website. Accessed August 10, 2019.
  9. ^ Website of the pastoral care unit Altstätten. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  10. ^ Parish Rebstein (ed.): A house full of glory looks. Festschrift for the inauguration of the newly built Catholic Church in Rebstein, Sunday, August 14, 1960 , p. 45.
  11. ↑ Information from YouTube. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  12. ^ Parish Rebstein (ed.): A house full of glory looks. Festschrift for the inauguration of the newly built Catholic Church in Rebstein, Sunday, August 14, 1960 , p. 51.
  13. ^ Archives of the parish of St. Sebastian Rebstein.
  14. ^ Parish Rebstein (ed.): A house full of glory looks. Festschrift for the inauguration of the newly built Catholic Church in Rebstein, Sunday, August 14, 1960 , pp. 47 and 63.
  15. ^ Website of the parish. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  16. ^ Parish Rebstein (ed.): A house full of glory looks. Festschrift for the inauguration of the newly built Catholic Church in Rebstein, Sunday, August 14, 1960 , p. 34.
  17. ^ Catholic Church Rebstein SG. Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  18. ^ Parish Rebstein (ed.): A house full of glory looks. Festschrift for the inauguration of the newly built Catholic Church in Rebstein, Sunday, August 14, 1960 , p. 34.
  19. ↑ List of the cultural assets of the Canton of St. Gallen.

Coordinates: 47 ° 23  '53.5 " N , 9 ° 34' 49.5"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred sixty-one thousand six hundred and sixty-eight  /  251916