Liebfrauenkirche ("Our Lady", literally "Dear Lady") is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-style Catholic parish church, located in the centre of Frankfurt, Germany. It was built in several phases from the 14th to the 16th century and serves today as a monastery church. Close to the shopping district, it serves as a place of rest even to visitors who are not religious. With an organ completed in 2008, it is a major venue for church music events.

History

Frankfurt Liebfrauenkirche Taufkapelle Tympanon

The first sacred building on the site began as a family chapel, which was made in 1325 a collegiate church by the archbishop of Mainz, , dedicated to Mary ("Unsere liebe Frau"). It was the third collegiate in the town, after that of St. Bartholomew attached to the Frankfurt Cathedral, and St. Leonhard, founded in 1317. In 1344 the chapel was expanded to a

hall church of three naves. A document about its consecration mentions two altars. From 1415, the south facade was transformed, including a tympanum showing the Adoration of the Magi made by the workshop of

Madern Gerthener Madern Gerthener (1360/1370 – 1430) was a German stonemason and late Gothic architect. Biography Gerthener was born in Frankfurt to Johann Gerthener, a stonemason whose business the younger Gerthener took over by 1391. In 1395 he entered the ...

. In 1453 the town council permitted to change an adjacent tower of the fortification to a bell tower. From 1506 to 1509 the church was once more expanded, by Jörg Östereicher. The church remained Catholic, part of the Diocese of Mainz, even when the Reformation was introduced in Frankfurt in 1533. The church was partly changed to Baroque style from 1763 to 1771. The helmet of the tower was replaced by the one still seen today. The interior was changed almost completely, installing five new altars and a chancel from Mainz workshops. An organ by the Frankfurt organ builder Ernst Weegmann was built at around the same time, installed in 1763. With the secularisation in 1803, Frankfurt became the owner of the church. Friedrich Rumpf built in 1824 a new entrance protecting the tympanum. A Walcker organ was installed in 1864. From 1923, Capuchins became the spiritual leaders, who built a convent north of the church. The church was completely destroyed by bombing in World War II in 1944. Only fragments of the high altar and statue of Mary could be saved. The church was restored in the 1950s, but in a simplified form, replacing the Gothic vaults by wooden ceilings.

Church music

A new organ was completed in 2008 by , with 57 stops (3,370 pipes) on three manuals and pedal. It is especially suited to play both works of the German Romantic period as the French symphonic style. It can be played also from a second keyboard close to the altar, serving music with choir. Peter Reulein has been the church musician from 2000, directing a vocal ensemble, the choir Collegium Vocale, the orchestra Collegium Musicum and the youth choir Capuccinis.

Spiritual life

Until 31 December 2013, the church was both a monastery church of Capuchin monks and a parish church. Then it became a "Kloster- und Rektoratskirche" without its own parish". It has developed to a spiritual centre of the Rhein-Main Region. It is open daily from 6 am to around 10 pm. The Capuchins offer breakfast to homeless people. Regular services are every day three masses,

lauds Lauds is a canonical hour of the Divine office. In the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours it is one of the major hours, usually held after Matins, in the early morning hours. Name The name is derived from the three last psalms of the psalter (148, ...

(morning praise), a prayer at noon (10 minutes of music, spiritual impulse and prayer) and vespers (evening praise), with additional masses on the weekend.

References

External links

*
Liebfrauen
Website of the Frankfurt Cathedral
Die Orgel
(in German) Fa. Karl Göckel, Münstersches Orgelmagazin
Festschrift
Inauguration of the Göckel organ on 9 August 2008
Die Baudenkmäler in Frankfurt am Main (Band 1): Kirchenbauten — Frankfurt a. M., 1896 / Die Liebfrauen-Kirche
Heidelberger historische Bestände – digital

Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Frankfurt
Liebfrauenkirche, Liebfrauenberg 56, Innenrenovierung, Objektplanung
competitionline.com 2015
Liebfrauenkirche: Our Lady’s Church, Has A Long History…
kiwidutch.wordpress.com 2015
Skulpturen an der Liebfrauenkirche / Sculptures at the Church of Our Lady
{{Authority control Roman Catholic churches in Frankfurt Churches in the Diocese of Limburg 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany Tourist attractions in Frankfurt Frankfurt