City church Glarus

Side view

Nave of the town church

The Stadtkirche Glarus is the main Reformed church in the town of Glarus in the canton of Glarus , Switzerland .

It was built between 1863 and 1866 according to plans by Ferdinand Stadler in neo-Romanesque style as a replacement for the previous church that was destroyed in the town fire in May 1861 and served as a simultaneous church for the Reformed and the Roman Catholic denominations for around a hundred years , until the Catholics in 1964 With the Fridolinskirche , they got their own town church in addition to the castle chapel .

Planning and construction

Ferdinand Stadler was the only one who received the order to draft the plans for a church. He submitted it to the church council in February 1862, with an estimate of CHF 380,000–400,000. Since this amount seemed too high for the people of Glarn, they commissioned Stadler's main competitor in church building, Joseph Caspar Jeuch (1811–1895), with an alternative , which should not cost more than CHF 300,000. Under this cost pressure, Jeuch designed a neo-Gothic building with elongated columns and ribs made of cast iron .

This economy version was found to be unworthy, especially because cast iron was then used as a building material for industrial halls. Jeuch did not get a second chance, Stadler was the only one able to complete his plans. He developed a variant with a central tower and one with a double tower. Cost estimate: around 600,000 CHF.

Main facade with double tower

In an expert report, Professor Wilhelm Lübke from the ETH spoke out in favor of a double tower and said that "the building - executed in this form - would be an ornament and joy for the community for centuries".

Architect and contractor Bernhard Simon proved to Stadler that the foundations for the towers had to be built more massive and that this would result in additional costs. The municipal council awarded the construction work to Simon as general contractor for a sum of 560,000 CHF without clock, bells, organ and altars, which he barely exceeded. Stadler received CHF 20,000 from the community for drawing up the plans and monitoring the construction. The total church construction costs amounted to CHF 724,542.51.

The construction proceeded without major incidents, in the spring of 1866 the work was completed.

Bells

The town church has five bells ringing . They were cast by Jakob Keller in Zurich in 1865/66 and sound in the striking notes g ⁰ , h ⁰ , d ¹ , g ¹ and h ¹ .

Renovation in 1927/1928

Nave and choir, as in 2005

The renovation of 1927/1928 was the work of Karl Moser . Moser, who made a name for himself with the construction of the first exposed concrete church ( Antoniuskirche in Basel) in Switzerland, wanted to adapt the church to the zeitgeist and make major changes. The main facade with the rose window and the gable was to be replaced by a smooth wall with a mosaic of St. Fridolins. Historicism had fallen into disrepute among contemporary architects - especially among the representatives of the Bauhaus style .

The Glarus art historian Hans Jenny campaigned for the preservation of the church in its original style, he argued that in another 60 years historicism would be rediscovered and then regretted the renovation. Jenny's words were heard, and a large majority rejected the rebuilding of the Eastern Front. On the other hand, the renovation including the installation of the large organ gallery was decided.

The biggest change concerned the color concept inside: the church was painted extensively in rich colors. The intended pictorial representations on the walls of the aisles and the upper aisle were not implemented. The fire brigade's request to install a riser in one of the two towers for fire protection reasons met with little approval .

On April 7, 1940, the church was massively damaged by fire. Daniel Aebli and Albert Affentranger rebuilt it without any major changes. The fire protection measures were now given more attention: The riser was installed and the previously open roof space was divided into fire compartments.

The greatest change was again experienced inside. The color concept was in accordance with New Objectivity , in light gray tones, wooden parts were left in their natural tone.

Further renovations

Another gentle renovation took place in 1964 when Catholics got their own church.

Wheel window in the transept with protective glazing

In the major exterior and interior renovation in two stages from August 1995 to April 1999, the church (with a few exceptions) was returned to its initial state of construction. The two central Swiss artists Godi Hirschi , painter, and Kurt Sigrist , sculptor, were responsible for the design of the entrance (vestibule) and the choir. The painting inside is based on the original, as is the artificial stone flooring . The windows in the nave were triple glazed, the windows in the rosettes a protective glazing. The electorate approved a loan of CHF 9.5 million for this purpose. For this last renovation, the City Church of Glarus received the Europa Nostra Medal in 2001 .