Water church

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The Wasserkirche on the altar panel by Hans Leu the Elder , end of the 15th century
The choir of the Wasserkirche with the Zwingli monument and the Helmhaus attached to the church
Grossmünster (burial place), Wasserkirche (place of execution) and Fraumünster (relics) formed a processional axis in the Middle Ages, starting from the Lindenhof in the heart of the city of Zurich. Murer plan from 1576.
View from the Karlsturm of the Grossmünster to the Wasserkirche and Helmhaus, in the background the Limmat , in the foreground the Limmatquai , on the right the Münsterbrücke

The Wasserkirche is a church on the right bank of the Limmat in the old town in the Swiss city ​​of Zurich .

Originally the church stood on a small island in the Limmat, from which the name comes. Today the church is only bordered on one side by the Limmat, as the island location was destroyed when the Limmatquais was filled up . Before the Reformation , the Wasserkirche played an important role in the veneration of the Zurich city saints Felix and Regula , as it marked their place of execution.

history

Before the Reformation

Archaeological finds in the crypt of the Wasserkirche suggest that there was already a religious cult facility on the small island in the Limmat in ancient times. According to legend, the later patron saints Felix and Regula from Zurich are said to have been executed on a boulder on the island around 300 AD . As members of the Theban Legion , they had converted to Christianity . As punishment for this, they were tortured and beheaded. According to legend, Felix and Regula got up again, carried their heads 40 paces up the hill and put them there. This is where they were buried, and the Grossmünster was later built there .

A small Romanesque church was built on the island around the year 1000 , which together with the Grossmünster and the Fraumünster formed a processional axis for the veneration of Saints Felix and Regula. The central place of worship in the Wasserkirche was the execution stone, which is still preserved in the crypt today. An ecclesia Aquatica Turicensi ( Latin , analogously: Wasserkirche Zurich) is mentioned in a document for the first time in 1250. The German name wazkreisilcha only appears in another document in 1256.

The early importance of the church is unclear. The assumption that it is the oldest church in Zurich seems to be refuted by its poor endowment, which was not even enough for a permanent priest. One thesis says that the place of jurisdiction in front of the church, the so-called pole or people's court , indicates that the Wasserkirche was originally the baptistery of the Great Minster. A similar situation existed in Basel with the St. Johannes chapel. 1256 Wasserkirche reached in any event by Vergabung the counts of Kyburg and Ritter Hottingen to Provost of the Grossmünster.

In the 13th century the Romanesque Wasserkirche was rebuilt in the Gothic style. Only a few remains of the previous Romanesque building have survived. As early as 1477, the city council of Zurich decided to demolish the Wasserkirche and to rebuild it in a more pompous style appropriate to its importance. Today's late Gothic building, which was consecrated around 1486, was built under the master builder Hans Felder . The interiors were decorated with precious frescoes and decorations that have only survived as fragments. During the construction, a sulfur-containing spring was discovered, to which healing powers were attributed. As a "fountain of health", the spring then served pilgrims to heal illnesses and ailments. Since it was rebuilt, the church has also served as a repository for the banners captured from Zurich in the Swabian War and the Milan Wars .

During the Reformation in 1524, the pictures, altars and the organ were removed from the Wasserkirche. The captured banners ended up in the armory and the healing spring was filled in. The building then served as a warehouse and was therefore provided with two intermediate floors - the long, high lancet windows divided into two smaller windows. A market was held at times on the ground floor.

  • Grossmünster, Helmhaus and Wasserkirche seen from the Fraumünster

  • Wasserkirche and Helmhaus, in the background the Grossmünster

  • Interior of the Wasserkirche

library

In 1634 the Wasserkirche was again used. It was redesigned as the “Common Citizens Library”, the first city ​​library in Zurich. In 1717 the city council had the intermediate floors removed and the interior provided with a baroque wooden gallery . This restored the building's height effect. In 1791 the source was found again. In 1839, when the Limmatquais was rebuilt, the moat between the island and the city was finally filled in. The city library only moved out of the church in 1917, when the building of the new central library on Zähringerplatz was inaugurated. Individual objects of the library furniture of the Wasserkirche can still be seen there.

Restoration as a church

In 1928 and 1940, after a long dispute, the Wasserkirche was thoroughly renovated, trying to restore the original condition. The original window layout was reconstructed, the intermediate floors removed and the so-called "water house" attached to the north torn down. The library's baroque wooden galleries were destroyed. Three windows in the choir were designed by Augusto Giacometti . Since then the church has been used again as an Evangelical Reformed house of God.

Furnishing

Bell jar

In the roof turret hangs a bell in the tone c ″.

organ

View of the organ

The organ was built in 1943 by Orgelbau Kuhn . The slider chest instrument has 28 stops on two manuals and a pedal . The action actions are mechanical, the stop actions are pneumatic. The organists at the Wasserkirche since 1943 were: Viktor Schlatter, Max Schindler, Hans Vollenweider (1985–1993) and Claudia Hinden (1993–2010).

I Rückpositiv C – g 3
Salicet 8th'
Dumped 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Super octave 2 ′
Forest flute 2 ′
Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Cimbel III-IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
shelf 16 ′
Schalmey 8th'
Tremulant
I Hauptwerk C – g 3
Quintatön 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Gemshorn 8th'
Hollow flute 8th'
Octave 4 ′
Night horn 4 ′
Octave 2 ′
Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Trumpet 8th'
Pedals C – f 1
Sub bass 16 ′
Dumped 16 ′
Praestant 8th'
Reed flute 8th'
Choral bass 4 ′
Mixture V 4 ′
bassoon 16 ′
prong 8th'

crypt

The crypt of the first water church, built in the 10th century, was built as a lower church around a boulder that was venerated as an execution stone by Felix and Regula. After renovation work in the crypt due to the ingress of water and extensions to the upper church, the venerated stone was soon only accessible via a shaft. There are also graves of noblemen from the early 11th century in the crypt.

From 1940 excavations were carried out in the crypt for the first time. The crypt of the Wasserkirche has been open to the public since 1988. In 2004 and 2005 archaeological investigations were carried out again. In 2006 the archaeological exhibition in the crypt was reopened.

  • General view of the martyr stone in the crypt

  • Close up of the boulder

Helmhaus

View from the Wühre to the Helmhaus, in the foreground the Münsterbrücke

The Helmhaus is attached to the Wasserkirche on the northern side. It was first mentioned in documents in 1253 as a place of jurisdiction. The location on an island, near a spring and a place of worship that was probably pre-Christian already suggests that the place of justice has a long tradition.

Originally, the Helmhaus was just a covered extension of the cathedral bridge in front of the Wasserkirche. In 1563/1564 a larger wooden building was built by Conrad Bodmer in order to create more space for the canvas market that was also held here. In the market hall on the ground floor there was the original size of the Zurich Elle and a statue of the builder, which can be seen today in the Swiss National Museum . The stone building that still exists today was built by Hans Conrad Bluntschli the Elder. Ä. 1791-1794. The situation of the building changed drastically in 1838 with the new construction of the Münsterbrücke, since since then the traffic route over the Limmat has run in front of the Helmhaus and no longer through the ground floor. The still visible wider arch on the Limmat side was the original passage for the street.

Today the Helmhaus is an important museum for contemporary art, which mainly shows works by Swiss artists or by artists who live in Switzerland.

Water house

That was until 1940 on the east side of the Wasserkirche water home grown. Originally there was a weighing store on the site , which is known to have been replaced by a department store in 1570. The name "water house" comes from its location above the water between the church on the island and the former Reichsstrasse (today Limmatquai ). In 1794 the building was demolished and a new extension for the citizens' library was built, which was removed in 1940 to expose the east side of the Wasserkirche and to expand the Limmatquai.

Zwingli monument

Inauguration of the Zwingli monument in 1885

In 1881 a competition for a memorial in honor of the reformer Huldrych Zwingli was announced, but the jury was unable to decide on any of the numerous designs submitted. After two further, closer competitions, the jury finally gave preference in 1883 to the model by the Austrian sculptor Heinrich Natter over that of the Basler Ferdinand Schlöth . In 1885 the monument was inaugurated outside the Wasserkirche in the extension of the choir; the anniversary of Zwingli's 400th birthday was just missed. Zwingli was portrayed larger than life as a warrior and reformer, holding a sword and a Bible in his hands, which also reminds of his death in war. In addition to the memorial, which only announced the name and dates of life, an information board was installed in 2005 with some additional information about the Zurich reformer and his importance for the city.

The place of the Zwingli monument behind the church was also proposed as the location for a memorial plaque for the 75 women and four men who were sentenced to death as witches in Zurich between 1478 and 1701. From this place - which at that time was still in the middle of the Limmat - they were transferred like other defendants to the Wellenberg , where they were locked up and tortured before they were burned.

photos

  • Water church around 1700, depiction by Gerold Escher

  • Grossmünster, Helmhaus and Wasserkirche, 1770 on an etching by Johann Balthasar Bullinger

  • Helmhaus and Wasserkirche, excerpt from the Murer plan

  • Wasserkirche 1661; Etching by Conrad Meyer (1618–1689)

See also

literature

  • Konrad Escher: The art monuments of the canton of Zurich. Tape. IV, The City of Zurich, Part One. Basel 1939, pp. 300-310.
  • Dieter Nievergelt, Jürg E. Schneider: Wasserkirche and Helmhaus zu Zurich. (Swiss Art Guide, Series 44, No. 435/436). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 2003, ISBN 978-3-85782-435-7 .
  • E. Vogt and H. Herter: Wasserkirche and Helmhaus in Zurich. Building history written by E. Vogt and H. Herter on behalf of the City of Zurich. Zurich 1943.
  • Ulrich Helfenstein: History of the water church and the city library in Zurich. With a reproduction of the original title by Salomon Vögelin from 1848. Zurich 1961.

Web links

Commons : Wasserkirche  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ City of Zurich (ed.): Information brochure from the City of Zurich on their naturalization interview . Zurich 2016, p. 26/27 .
  2. ↑ More information on the organ can be found in the Zurich organ directory.
  3. ^ Organ portrait on the website of the builder company, accessed on May 6, 2014.
  4. ↑ Wasserkirche - place of execution. In: A city and its martyrs. University of Zurich, Philosophical Faculty, accessed on November 6, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Wasserkirche Archaeological Crypt. (PDF; 394 kB) In: Stadtarchäologie. Retrieved November 6, 2013 .
  6. ↑ Wasserkirche crypt. In: Urban Archeology. Retrieved November 6, 2013 .
  7. ↑ Stefan Hess , Tomas Lochman (ed.): Classical beauty and patriotic heroism. The Basel sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth (1818–1891). Catalog for the exhibition of the same name in the Skulpturhalle Basel. Basel 2004, pp. 71, 112. ISBN 3-905057-20-4 .
  8. ^ Regine Schindler: Alexander Schweizer and the Zurich literary circles . In: Emidio Campi, Ralph Kunz, Christian Moser (eds.): Alexander Schweizer (1808–1888) and his time . Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-290-17493-4 , pp. 317–346 ( excerpts on Google Books ).
  9. ↑ Birthday present for Zwingli. Press release. In: Reformed Church in the Canton of Zurich. December 2004, accessed November 5, 2013 .
  10. ^ Hélène Arnet: Memorial for the Zurich victims of witch hunts. In: Tages-Anzeiger. November 5, 2013, accessed November 5, 2013 .
  11. ^ Otto Sigg : witch trials with death sentence: judicial murders of the guild city of Zurich . 2nd Edition. Self-published, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-907496-79-4 .
  12. ↑ Martin Germann: Arte et Marte: through science and weapons: the founding idea of ​​the Zurich Citizens' Library (1629). In: Zürcher Taschenbuch on the year 1981. pp. 25–45.

Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '10.7 "  N , 8 ° 32' 35.5"  E ; CH1903:  683,428  /  247120