Temple of the Dutch-German Congregation

Temple of the Dutch-German Congregation

The temple of the Dutch-German Congregation ( Italian Congregazione Olandese-Alemanna ), more commonly known as the Dutch Church , is located in Livorno on Fosso Reale in the section between Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza Cavour.

It is a place for Protestant worship, a parish of Protestant , German , Dutch and French-speaking foreigners in Livorno with a Lutheran , Reformed or Calvinist creed , and a testimony to the early intercultural climate in the city of Livorno. However, the church has been closed to the general public since the second half of the 20th century and has basically been abandoned as important restoration work would be required.

The danger that this building could collapse with dire consequences was already emphasized in 2005 by the Vice-President of the Consistory , Ennio Weatherford.

history

Interior view with a view of the apse

The presence of Flemings and Germans in Livorno since the city was founded is documented when the Dutch-German Congregation was founded in the early 17th century . This association still exists today, even if its own activities were only resumed after the re-establishment in 1997. This congregation was initially Catholic and had an altar in the Chiesa della Madonna, along with those of other nations . As a result, the Calvinist Reformed portion predominated, and new rooms for the burial of one's own deceased and for church services became necessary. The latter took place in a hall in Via del Consigli.

After the unification of Italy , a competition for the design of a real and own temple was announced, in which Giuseppe Cappellini also took part. However, the design by Dario Giacomelli was chosen. Construction began in 1862 and ended in 1864. A few years later, an economic crisis caused the Congregation to decline with the abolition of the free port . But she did not hesitate to equip the church with a remarkable organ made by Agati-Tronci, Pistoia , which was considered to be unparalleled in Tuscany .

The building survived the bombing in the Second World War , but the organ was robbed. In the post-war period it was used for numerous concerts because of its very good acoustics , and at the end of the 1960s it was rented to the Christian Free Church of the Seventh-day Adventists for five years .

The death of the last members of the congregation in the second half of the 20th century brought the temple into slow and unstoppable decline. The construction of an unsuitable block of flats was even approved on the property behind the apse , where the parish school and pastor's apartment used to stand. At the same time, the ornamental jewelry came loose, beginning with the elegant pinnacles above the facade.

At the beginning of the new millennium, with the re-establishment of the Congregation as the owner of the church, some repairs were carried out on the roofing and the windows, but these did not bring any particular improvements to the building fabric. Today the ceiling has partially collapsed and the debris has spilled the old wooden pews (many from the 19th century ). The wooden floor is perforated in various places and many pieces of stone have loosened from the facade. Incidentally, the severe damage to the entire structure is exacerbated by the lack of repair of the dam leading to the Fosso Reale, which collapsed at the end of the 20th century and has been left in exposed concrete to this day.

architecture

Ceiling of the nave

The temple of the Dutch-German Congregation is a slender neo-Gothic building, one of the few works of this 19th century architectural style in Livorno and certainly the largest and most characteristic. The facade, which is in danger of collapsing, shows three rosettes with pronounced geometry. The middle one, above the entrance, is flower-shaped and flanked by two rosettes with flame motifs.

The interior is a wide, rectangular hall that begins with a gallery above the vestibule and closes with a large, semicircular apse. Here Giacomelli combined elements of the Gothic with those of Classicism . One can see how classicist pilaster strips alternate along the nave , over which pointed arches open, which in turn frame the pointed arched windows.

literature

• S. Ceccarini: Il tempio della Congregazione Olandese-Alemanna, espressione della presenza northern Europe e riformata nella Livorno delle Nazioni. In: Il Pentagono , December 2010, pp. 8-11.
• G. Panessa, M. Del Nista (a cura di): La Congregazione Olandese-Alemanna. Intercultura e protestantesimo nella Livorno delle Nazioni. Livorno 2002.
• G. Piombanti: Guida storica ed artistica della città e dei dintorni di Livorno. Livorno 1903.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gunther Seibold: Livorno: Protestant Church (beg. 1862). August 15, 2011, accessed on August 15, 2011 : "Address Scali degli Olandesi, 57125 Livorno <Province of Livorno <Region Tuscany <Italy" 
2. ↑ The Guidelines for the Restoration of the Church were introduced in 1997, but little has happened since then. See: “Città ritrovata. Le linee del progetto per recuperare la chiesa olandese e il cimitero "in" Il Tirreno "of April 5, 1997.
3. ↑ “La chiesa rischia di crollare” in “Il Tirreno” of November 28, 2005.
4. ↑ G. Piombanti: Guida storica ed artistica della città e dei dintorni di Livorno. Livorno 1903, p. 250.
5. ↑ During the Second World War, services for American Protestant soldiers were held in the church. A plaque inside reminds of this.
6. ↑ A photo from 1952 shows the church still with the pinnacles, they were removed during the construction of the neighboring house. See: F.Cagianelli, D.Matteoni: “Livorno, la costruzione di un'immagine. Tradizione e modernità nel Novecento “Cinisello Balsamo 2003, p. 94.
7. ↑ "Crolli dalla facciata della Chiesa sugli scali Olandesi. Colpita un`auto con due persone, edificio transennato “in Il Tirreno on July 10, 2002; "Chiesa degli Olandesi.Grosso masso precipita a due passi dalle auto" in Il Tirreno on June 10, 2011.

Coordinates: 43 ° 32 ′ 55.1 ″  N , 10 ° 18 ′ 44.9 ″  E