A church whose master builder ran away and gave up his wages
Architectural structure
My work led me to discover this extraordinary church. Situated in a small German village named Hillgertshausen-Tandern, the church captivated me from the moment I laid eyes on it.
I started working in Germany roughly half a year ago but until work in Pfaffehofen, a town near this village, each time returning to Germany was to a different city. Village Hillgertshausen-Tandern was where I and my co-working friends found the apartment for the best price given the conditions. We worked six days a week so Sunday was our only free day to spend how we liked. For me, it was common to go on a photographic trip on this free day and once when I walked down the village I noticed the uniqueness of this church. It's a cliche that I passed around this church many times but never noted its singularity.
The first thing that grabbed my attention was this church's unique architectural structure. I can't help but think that one half resembles the late Gothic style while the other resembles some kind of Brutalism. You can see this when you look at the architecture of the tower and the architecture of the new building right next to it (see gallery below). I believe it is more than obvious which half resembles what style. The old building (tower) is made primarily from stone, whereas on the other hand, the new building is a colossal structure made just from concrete and steel. The massive roof of a new building, thanks to its ingenious construction, eliminated the need for any pillar in the church interior, which offers exceptional acoustics (you can see this in the gallery of the Interior section).
The church's surrounding area is well preserved, eye-pleasing, and makes you feel comfort and peace of mind. Behind the church is a graveyard which stays on the church land which seemed peculiar to me because in my country it is not common for the cemetery to be based on the church land. After inspecting the other nearby villages I found that it is common for this region to have burial grounds based on the church's lands. In the front of the church is a memorial monument serving as obeisance to fallen soldiers.
Memorial monument
In front of the church entrance stands a memorial monument dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the two world wars. The focal point of the monument is a stone statue of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus in her arms. Surrounding the statue of the Virgin Mary are two other stone figures, whose identities are unknown to me; I speculate they may represent St. Peter and St. Paul but that is uncertain. The monument comprises two stone slabs and a central stone pillar. The inscription on the middle stone pillar, translated, reads 'in memory of our fallen soldiers of the two world wars'. The first stone slab commemorates those who died in the First World War, while the second stone slab honours those who perished in the Second World War. The monument is well-crafted, symbolizing the respect deserving of the fallen soldiers.
History
Near the entrance to the church, there is a sign in German language which was my only source of information about this church. After translating the sign (please note that I do not have someone who would translate it for me so I used the Google Image translator, so I apologize if there are any incorrectly translated passages), my guess for late Gothic style was confirmed, but there wasn't a single reference to the Brutalism (but that is no surprise because brutalism is a style of different period).
The plaque indicates that the church tower was constructed in 1730, partly in the Baroque style, but its origins date back to the late Gothic period, as evidenced by the present-day presbytery. The Baroque nave suffered structural damage from its inception, likely due to poor building materials, such as stones from the old castle tower. Additionally, the master builder of the time abandoned the project before completion, foregoing his wages, as the supporting walls were already leaning due to the high pressure of the barrel vault.
Construction on the new building commenced in November 1970, following the Epiphany (the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi), and the inauguration ceremony (the ceremonial induction into a position) took place on June 16, 1974. The resulting church structure is remarkable, characterized by concrete, steel, and glass. Its design allows for sweeping views of the surrounding landscape, including hills, fields, meadows, and forests, through its expansive windows.
The structure is also referred to as a 'Tent of God,' constructed in a style known as 'reinforced concrete Gothic.' The church accommodates 400 seats and has an additional 350 standing places. The construction cost totalled approximately 2.6 million DM (Deutsche Mark, the official currency of Germany before the adoption of the euro, with an exchange rate of 1 euro = 1.95583 DM).
Main Hall
When you enter the church, the huge, open space with many saint images and statues grabs your attention. The entrance hall has a high ceiling, and the whole room is composed mainly of concrete and wooden materials. On the right side are stairs, but I don't know where they lead because I did not want to end up somewhere I should not. Straight in front of the entrance are the second big doors to enter the church itself.
After entering the main church hall, the even bigger open space will truly amaze you. This church hall is like no other, and I must say I have never visited a church like this before. I have visited many larger churches, but the uniqueness of this one is peerless.
First, you will notice the big wooden cross hanging from the ceiling. The ceiling itself is panelled with wood, and although the walls look panelled with wood too, they are just concrete with a wood-like texture. Maybe this texture is the signature of the wooden formwork for the concrete, or it was intentionally done to look like wood. This wooden texture on the walls looks splendid and very uncommon.
There are a lot of saint images and paintings on the surrounding walls. The ceiling sits on the windows (of roughly 2 meters high) around the entire main hall circuit. The church has many seats and standing places and can accommodate a large number of people.
Finally, you can see the new presbytery with the palms and the statue of the Virgin Mary behind it.
On the left side of the entrance to the main hall is an entrance to the old building of the church. Before the entrance, you can see two magnificent altars of breathtaking beauty. The altars are huge, and their allure will make you stop for a minute to appreciate their exquisiteness.
Old presbytery
After entering the old building, there is so much to see that you need to experience it for yourself (see gallery below). The main attraction is the chancel of indescribable magnificence. When my eyes rested on this chancel, I felt great respect for the people who put their hearts into this work of art. The old chancel still corresponds completely to the baroque condition from around 1730. On the magnificent old high altar, supported by four columns, St. Johannes Nepomuk can be seen in the picture, along with the church patrons Peter and Paul, as well as figures of St. Christopher and John the Baptist.
In the old choir room, the former pulpit stands in magnificent baroque style with stucco decoration. Two beautiful red marble baptismal fonts from the Gothic and Baroque periods adorn the church interior. Of the approximately 1000 Catholics in the parish Tandern, around 515.00 DM (Deutsche mark) were spent in the form of work. We can see that the enthusiasm of the community members and Pastor Johann Baptist Pürner were remarkable.
This church is unique in many different ways and it is not a vanity to visit this church. Especially, I was amazed by the chancel the old presbytery and its magnificent statues, reliefs, and paintings.
This church is a decoration of Christianity and God itself.
Glorify God
Addendum
I have found some information about this church also being called the "women's church," but I have not been able to find any details about the name. If anyone has more information about this naming, please contact me via email.
Opmerkingen