Mariä Heimsuchung (

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

's Visitation) in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

, Germany, is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in Kohlheck, part of Wiesbaden's suburb of Dotzheim, consecrated in 1966. It is dedicated to the Visitation (''Heimsuchung''). The tall concrete building is a landmark of Wiesbaden. It features two large

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...

s by the Wiesbaden painter Otto Ritschl. The parish Mariä Heimsuchung is now part of a larger parish, in the

Diocese of Limburg The Diocese of Limburg (Latin: ''Dioecesis Limburgensis'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Cologne, with metropolitan see being the Archdiocese of Cologne. Its territory encompasses ...

History

After World War II, Catholics who came from further east settled in Wiesbaden. Bishop Wilhelm Kempf installed a new parish, Mariä Heimsuchung, in Wiesbaden-Dotzheim in 1960. The church was built on a design by the Berlin architect Johannes Lackel. It was consecrated on 3 July 1966, dedicated to the Visitation. The shape of the building is a stylised letter "M" as a symbol for

Mary, the mother of Jesus Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

, and the floor is the

Star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

, indicating that she was Jewish. The materials are predominantly concrete as the common material at the time, also slate and glass. Light comes from the west and illuminates the high wall behind the altar in the east. The interior features two large

s by from Wiesbaden. The artist created the works in 1973 and 1976 as abstract paintings with large shapes in bold colours, intended to invite to prayer and meditation. The church is a landmark of Wiesbaden, nicknamed ''Fingerzeig Gottes'' (God's finger) or ''Seelenabschußrampe'' (launching ramp for souls). Since 1 January 2013, the parish has been part (''Kirchort'', church location) of the larger parish St. Peter und Paul in Wiesbaden-Schierstein, together with six other parishes in Wiesbaden's west.

References

External links

*
Den Fingerzeig Gottes erhalten / Wiesbadener Kirchen beim Tag des offenen Denkmals
St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden, 11 September 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Heimsuchung (Wiesbaden) Roman Catholic churches completed in 1966 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany Roman Catholic churches in Hesse Churches in Wiesbaden 1966 establishments in Germany Churches in the Diocese of Limburg