Church of the Redeemer, Bad Homburg
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The Church of the Redeemer (German: Erlöserkirche) of Bad Homburg belongs to the
Protestant Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in Germany, ...
. Finished in 1908, the building is outwardly of a heavy,
Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
appearance, while its interior is in a neo-
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
style, with rich marble wall decorations and gold
mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s covering the domed ceiling, leading to the church sometimes being called 'Bad Homburg's
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
'.Churches - Erlöserkirche
(from the official Bad Homburg website. Accessed 2008-02-23.)


History

The church was built to serve Bad Homburg's Lutheran Christians, who around the start of the 20th century suffered from lack of a sufficient congregation space. Its construction was paid for and the design supervised by
Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
, the German Emperor, who had by then made Bad Homburg a summer residence town, and later often came to worship in the church, sitting in his own imperial box with a private entrance. Empress Auguste-Viktoria also provided the jewel-studded altar cross which was originally intended for the Church of the Redeemer in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. In 1901, the Berlin architect Max Spitta was entrusted with the construction plans for the church. However, as Spitta died in December 1902, architect
Franz Schwechten Franz Heinrich Schwechten (12 August 1841 – 11 August 1924) was one of the most famous German architects of the Wilhelmine era, and contributed to the development of historicist architecture. Life Schwechten was born in Cologne, the son of a ...
finished the design in late Romanesque style. The foundation was laid in 1903 and the new church was inaugurated in the presence of the imperial couple on 17 May 1908. The building was primarily constructed by the
Philipp Holzmann Philipp Holzmann AG was a German construction company based in Frankfurt am Main. History Early years The company was founded in 1849 by Johann Philipp Holzmann (1805-1870) at Sprendlingen in present-day Dreieich near Frankfurt am Main as Phil ...
Company from
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
. The numerous artisan works inside the building were the work of local craft shops.


Architecture

The church is a cross-shaped structure
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
with four towers, with
blind arcade A blind arcade or blank arcade is an arcade (a series of arches) that has no actual openings and that is applied to the surface of a wall as a decorative element: i.e., the arches are not windows or openings but are part of the masonry face. It is ...
s and a high two-door portal arch for the tympanum. The towers on the
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
side are larger and higher than those on the entrance side, which gives the building a noticeable shift in perspective, especially from afar. The exterior façade was designed by Professor Gotthold Riegelmann and is reminiscent of Rhenish Imperial cathedrals. The interior design and decoration however are reminiscent of the
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
. The interior consists of a mixture of
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and Art Nouveau. The theme of Christ the Redeemer is ubiquitous throughout the church, and culminates in the
Christ Pantocrator In Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator ( grc-gre, Χριστὸς Παντοκράτωρ) is a specific depiction of Christ. ''Pantocrator'' or ''Pantokrator'', literally ''ruler of all'', but usually translated as "Almighty" or "all-po ...
mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
of the
apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
vault.


Organs

Two large
church organ Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. ...
s are installed in the Erlöserkirche. A turn-of-the-20th-century Sauer organ and a new Bach organ based on a 1742 Thuringian model.


Sauer-Organ (1908)

The Sauer organ whose sound outlet is located above the altar was built in 1908 by
Wilhelm Sauer Wilhelm Carl Friedrich Sauer (23 March 1831 – 9 April 1916) was a German pipe organ builder. One of the famous organ builders of the Romantic period, Sauer and his company W. Sauer Orgelbau built over 1,100 organs during his lifetime, amongst ...
( Frankfurt / Oder).


Woehl-Organ (1990)

Gerald Woehl created the Bach organ in 1990, implementing a design of
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
. The organ is located on the gallery balustrade and forms a compositional unit with the Sauer organ.


Church Bells

The
church bell A church bell in Christian architecture is a bell which is rung in a church for a variety of religious purposes, and can be heard outside the building. Traditionally they are used to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, and to ...
s consist of five different bells. The largest weighs approximately 6,400 kg. The first four bells were cast in 1905 by the Andreas Hamm
bell foundry Bellfounding is the casting and tuning of large bronze bells in a foundry for use such as in churches, clock towers and public buildings, either to signify the time or an event, or as a musical carillon or chime. Large bells are made by casting ...
in
Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, af ...
. In the 1920s, the Zwingli bell ('Zwingliglocke') was transferred from the neighboring village, Kirdorf, to serve as hour bell. Bells 1, 3 and 4 survived the First and Second World War. Although the second bell, the Landgraf bell ('Landgrafenglocke'), survived the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, it was damaged during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.Jürgen Krüger: ''Die Erlöserkirche in Bad Homburg v. d. H. – Schlüssel zum Kirchbauprogramm Kaiser Wilhelms II.'' Langewiesche „Die Blauen Bücher“, Königstein 2008, pages 72–73. From the shards of the second bell a new bell was cast by the Schilling bell foundry.


Notes and references


External links


Erlöserkirche Bad Homburg
(official church website) {{Authority control Bad Homburg Church buildings with domes Churches completed in 1908 20th-century Protestant churches Redeemer 1908 establishments in Germany Protestant churches in Hesse