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The ''Wasserkirche'' ("Water Church") of
The Helmhaus is an extension of the church to the north, first mentioned in 1253 as a court of criminal justice, at which time it was a simple wooden structure covering the eastern end of the bridge. It was extended to a larger wooden structure in 1563, and replaced with a stonework hall in 1791.
ISBN 978-3-85782-435-7 .
* E. Vogt und H. Herter: ''Wasserkirche und Helmhaus in Zürich. Baugeschichte im Auftrag der Stadt Zürich verfasst von E. Vogt und H. Herter.'' Zürich 1943.
* Ulrich Helfenstein: ''Geschichte der Wasserkirche und der Stadtbibliothek in Zürich.'' Mit Wiedergabe des Originaltitels von Salomon Vögelin aus dem Jahre 1848. Zürich 1961.
* Manuel Maissen:
Vaults on the Water: A systematic analysis of the vault construction in the Wasserkirche Zurich.
' In: Mascarenhas-Mateus, J., et. al. (Eds.): History of Construction Cultures: Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Construction History, 2021, Lisbon, Portugal. London: CRC Press, 2021, Vol. II, pp. 349–355.
The ''Wasserkirche'' ("Water Church") of Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, first mentioned as ''ecclesia Aquatica Turicensi'' around 1250 and as ''wazzirkilcha'' in 1256, is a church built on a small island in the Limmat, situated between the two main churches of medieval Zürich, the Grossmünster
The Grossmünster (; "great minster") is a Romanesque-style Protestant church in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the four major churches in the city (the others being the Fraumünster, Predigerkirche and St. Peterskirche). Its congregation f ...
and the Fraumünster
The Fraumünster (; lit. in en, Women's Minster, but often wrongly translated to urLady Minster) is a church in Zürich which was built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women which was founded in 853 by Louis the German for h ...
, at the Limmatquai
''Limmatquai'' is a street in the Swiss city of Zürich. It is named after the Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the '' Altstadt'', or historical core, of the city. The street was once important ...
and the Münsterbrücke.
Overview
It seems likely that the original building was used for cult meetings. The meetings were centred on astone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
now located in the crypt of the church. According to medieval tradition, the site was used for the execution of Saints Felix and Regula
Felix and Regula are Coptic Orthodox and Roman Catholic saints, together with their servant Exuperantius, and are the patron saints of Zürich, their feast day being 11 September in the Gregorian calendar, celebrated on the same day using th ...
. The church was built in the 10th century and modified at various points, culminating in a complete reconstruction that was completed in 1486. During the course of the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, the Wasserkirche was identified as a place of idolatry. Eventually it was secularised, becoming the first public library of Zürich in 1634, when it became a seat of learning that greatly contributed to the foundation of University of Zürich
The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...
in the 19th century. The island was connected with the right bank of the Limmat in 1839 with the construction of the ''Limmatquai''. The library was merged into the Zentralbibliothek in 1917, and the church was used as a storage room for crops for some time, until reconstruction work and archaeological excavations were undertaken in 1940. Following this the building was again used for services by the Evangelical-Reformed State Church of the Canton of Zürich.
The Helmhaus is an extension of the church to the north, first mentioned in 1253 as a court of criminal justice, at which time it was a simple wooden structure covering the eastern end of the bridge. It was extended to a larger wooden structure in 1563, and replaced with a stonework hall in 1791.
Cultural heritage of national importance
The building ''Helmhaus und Wasserkirche'' is listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as a ''Class A'' object of national importance.Literature
* Konrad Escher, ''Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Zürich'', vol. IV, "Die Stadt Zürich", Basel 1939, pp. 300–310. * Dieter Nievergelt, Jürg E. Schneider: ''Wasserkirche und Helmhaus zu Zürich.'' (Schweizerischer Kunstführer, Serie 44, Nr. 435/436). Ed. by the Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte GSK. Bern 2003,Vaults on the Water: A systematic analysis of the vault construction in the Wasserkirche Zurich.
' In: Mascarenhas-Mateus, J., et. al. (Eds.): History of Construction Cultures: Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Construction History, 2021, Lisbon, Portugal. London: CRC Press, 2021, Vol. II, pp. 349–355.
References
{{Authority control Reformed churches in Zürich Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zürich