Stadtkirche Winterthur

Stadtkirche Winterthur

The town church with a flag on the occasion of August 1st
Basic data
Denomination	evangelical reformed
place	Winterthur , Switzerland
Regional church	Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Zurich
dedication	Lawrence of Rome , St. Alban , St. Pankratius
Building history
Construction year	13th century (choir), 1180–1362 (north tower), 1486–1490 (south tower), 1501–1518 (nave)
Building description
Architectural style	Gothic
Construction type	basilica
Coordinates 697 201  /  261 714 coordinates: 47 ° 29 '56.4 "  N , 8 ° 43' 43.3"  O ; CH1903:  697201  /  261 714

The Stadtkirche Winterthur is the Evangelical Reformed city ​​church of Winterthur and as such one of the landmarks of Winterthur. The city church is listed by the federal government in the list of cultural assets of national importance in the canton of Zurich .

The church is dedicated to the three city saints St. Laurentius , St. Alban and St. Pankratius .

history

The building history of the town church can be divided into seven main phases between the early Middle Ages and the Reformation . In the 7th / 8th In the 19th century, a simple wooden hall was built on a small elevation near the cemetery on Römerstrasse to the former Vitudurum fort . Posts surrounded a nine meter long and six meter wide nave , to which a narrow choir was added to the east . In the 9th century, the wooden church was replaced by a solid building, which had the same floor plan, but was a third longer. Around the year 1000 extensions were added in the north and south, probably as burial places for a local noble family, which cannot be identified due to a lack of written sources.

In the late 11th or 12th century the church was completely demolished in order to build a Romanesque hall church with an aisle-like extension in the south. In 1146 Bernhard von Clairvaux visited the church in Winterthur and preached there to the people, as the travelogue of his companions shows. The first documentary mention is in 1180, when the Bishop of Constance Berthold a dispute between the priests of Oberwinterthur and Count Hartmann III. von Kyburg arbitrated. To the north of the choir, the church was later given a tower and next to it an ossuary similar to a side aisle . From the 13th century onwards there were three naves.

The oldest part next to the tower that still exists today is the Romanesque- Early Gothic choir, built around the middle of the 13th century. It was created in the extension of the central nave, based on the model of the Fraumünster in Zurich. Severe damage in the town fire of 1313 made renovations necessary. When the two aisles were enlarged in the 14th century, the town church was given a new look. After the Laurentiuskirche was the Kyburger and Neu-Kyburger's own church until the beginning of the 14th century , the citizenship received more and more rights, right up to church sovereignty in the 15th century. The urban upper class donated side altars during this time.

The seventh and most recent construction phase is documented by sources. The number of church members increased, on the other hand, representation was an important concern of the council. From 1486 to 1490, a second tower was built on the south side of the choir. The nave was built between 1501 and 1518. It reached ten meters further to the west, but was a little narrower than before. After the Reformation, the interior was redesigned in several steps. The ossuary disappeared in 1792, the former sacristy north of the choir was cleared in 1852. The windows of the nave, for example, were replaced by neo-Gothic windows by Max Ainmiller in 1853–1856 . A cemetery belonging to the church was closed in 1826.

Towers, clocks and bells

The oldest traces of the north tower, which at that time still stood alone, can be traced from 1180 to 1362. From 1486 to 1490 the south tower was added, which received two bells in 1490/1494, which are no longer preserved today. The north tower received its present form in the 16th century, the older tower walls are still preserved in the foundation. In 1630 the smaller south tower received its first sundial, in 1659 it was raised to 55 m (although it was now larger), the previous Käsbissenturm was replaced by today's baroque dome. In addition, the tower received dragon gargoyles at the corners and a clock by the Winterthur watchmaker Tobias Liechti . The clock was given a Munich clockwork in 1842, which was replaced again in 1853 and finally replaced by today's electric clockwork in 1923. Almost a hundred years after the height of the south tower was increased, the north tower was adjusted to the level of the south tower in 1794 and a baroque hood was added to it, giving the towers their current appearance. In 1823 the south tower received its second, lower sundial. From 1868 to 1881 the south tower received a five-part bell from Johann Jakob Keller, the north tower also received three bells from Keller's workshop in 1868.

Furnishing

The wall paintings by Paul Zehnder, with a view of the choir

The nave originally contained rich furnishings that were removed along with the organ at that time during the Reformation . In 1644 the pulpit, which originally stood in the middle of a rood screen, was moved to the first south pillar. Today's pulpit comes from Ferdinand Stadler and was made in 1854 by a sculptor named Egger from Constance. One of the oldest relics in the church is the baptismal font by Hans Conrad Frei from 1656. In 1712, a wooden ceiling decorated with flat carvings was replaced by a plaster ceiling, which in 1913 was replaced by a coffered ceiling .

The Romanesque interior decoration of the church by Paul Zehnder was created between 1923 and 1930. Both prophets from the Old Testament are depicted on the walls of the aisles and scenes from the New Testament in the central nave. In the transfiguration scene above the choir arch, Christ stands on Mount Tabor between Elijah (with the book) and Moses (with the tablet of the law).

A grave slab of Elisabeth von Bach († 1519), a southern German aristocrat and patroness of the city, has been preserved from the pre-Reformation period . Another grave slab of Magdalena von Fulach (1587–1650), which was discovered during the renovation in 1923, is considered lost. When visiting, you can still see the remains of the buildings that have been preserved since the 9th century, as well as the coat of arms painting by Hans Haggenberg from 1493.

Organs

View of the historic main organ

The choir organ with the church windows in the background

Main organ

The city church was the first church in the canton of Zurich to have an organ again in 1809 . This was given to the church by the Musikkollegium and originally comes from the Salem Monastery and was built by Karl Joseph Riepp from 1766 to 1768 . The prospectus for this comes from Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer . Since 1888, a Walcker organ with 56 registers , 3 manuals and pedal keyboard has been in the case of the original organ , in which registers from the previous instrument were reused.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 Principal 16 ′ Bourdon 16 ′ Principal 8th' Bourdon 8th' Viola di gamba 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Dolce 8th' Fifth 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Octav 4 ′ Reed flute 4 ′ Gemshorn 4 ′ Fifth IV Octave 2 ′ Mixture V 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Cornett III-V 8th' Trumpet 8th'

II Positive C-g 3 Bourdon 16 ′ Principal 8th' Bourdon 8th' Double flute 8th' Salicional 8th' Aeoline 8th' Voix céleste 8th' Principal 4 ′ Transverse flute 4 ′ Flute d'amour 4 ′ Forest flute 2 ′ Mixture IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Clarinet 8th' Trumpet 8th'

III Swell C – g 3 Lovely covered 16 ′ Principal 8th' viola 8th' Lovely covered 8th' Pointed flute 8th' harmonica 8th' Fugara 4 ′ Dolce flute 4 ′ Harmonia aetherea IV 4 ′ Trompette harmonique 8th' Basson-Hautbois 8th' Clairon 4 ′ Echowork C – g 3 Bourdon d'écho 8th' Vox humana 8th' tremolo

Pedal C – f 1 Principal bass 32 ′ Principal bass 16 ′ Violon bass 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Covered bass 16 ′ Flute bass 8th' violoncello 8th' Octav 4 ′ trombone 16 ′ Trumpet 8th' Clairon 4 ′

Choir organ

The choir organ was built in 1983 by the organ builder Metzler (Dietikon) and has 18 stops on two manuals and a pedal. The actions are mechanical.

I main work C – f 3 1. Bourdon 16 ′ 2. Principal 8th' 3. Hollow flute 8th' 4th octave 4 ′ 5. Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ 6th Super octave 2 ′ 7th Mixture III 8th. Cornet III D 9. Dulcian 8th'

II breastwork C – f 3 10. Dumped 8th' 11. Reed flute 4 ′ 12. Principal 2 ′ 13. Sesquialtera II 14th Sif flute 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ 15th Vox humana 8th'

Pedals C – d 1 16. Subbass (= No. 1) 16 ′ 17th Octave (= No. 2) 8th' 18th Trumpet 8th'

As opus 135 by Orgelbau Armin Hauser (Kleindöttingen) there is also a positive organ built in 2012 with nine registers.

gallery

• 

  Main entrance to the church

• 

  The south tower

• 

  Detail view of one of the dragon gargoyles on the south tower

• 

  The pulpit of the town church

• 

  The font from 1656

literature

• Karl Keller: Winterthur town church . Society for Swiss Art History, Bern 1988, p. 27 .
• Martin Illi, Renata Windler: Stadtkirche Winterthur. Archeology and history . Chronos Verlag, Zurich 1994, ISBN 3-905311-43-7 , p. 95 .
• Zurich Monument Preservation (Ed.): The St. Laurentius town church in Winterthur. Results of archaeological and historical research . Fotorotar AG, Druck-Kommunikation-Verlag, Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-905647-59-1 , p. 318 .
• Alfred Ziegler: History of the Laurenzen or Stadtkirche Winterthur . No. 1 . to 3 (1934-1951). Winterthur.
• Hermann Walser: History of the Stadtkirche Winterthur . Winterthur 1951.
• Sibyl Kraft: The City Church of Winterthur. (= Swiss Art Guide. No. 924, Series 93). Ed. Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 2013, ISBN 978-3-03797-089-8 .

Web links

Commons : Stadtkirche Winterthur  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Stadtkirche im Winterthur glossary.
• Stadtkirche Winterthur on the website of the Reformed parish
• Site of the organ music Stadtkirche Winterthur
• Side of the choir of the city church
• Information about the church at zh-kirchenspots.ch
• Website for the Walcker organ at Orgelbau Kuhn AG
• Movable panorama picture of the church interior

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A-Objects ZH 2018 . Swiss inventory of cultural assets of national importance. In: babs.admin.ch / kulturgueterschutz.ch. Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP - Department of Cultural Property Protection, January 1, 2018, accessed on December 26, 2017 (PDF; 163 kB, 32 pages, updated annually, no changes for 2018).
2. ↑ Carola Jäggi , Hans-Rudolf Meier: Description of the findings and reconstruction of the individual building phases , in: Die Stadtkirche St. Laurentius in Winterthur , Zurich 1993, p. 18 ff.
3. ↑ Illi, Windler 1994, p. 15 ff.
4. ↑ Kraft 2013, p. 4.
5. ↑ Illi, Windler 1994, p. 29.
6. ↑ Illi, Windler 1994, p. 29.
7. ↑ Kraft 2013, pp. 4–7.
8. ↑ Kraft 2013, p. 8.
9. ↑ Kraft 2013, pp. 30–32.
10. ↑ More information about the organ
11. ^ Concert organ for the city church in Winterthur. ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the builder, accessed January 5, 2014.