St. Bonifatius 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 ...

, Germany, is the central

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 ...

parish and church in the capital of

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

. The present building was designed by architect Philipp Hoffmann in

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and built from 1844 to 1849. Its twin steeples of 68 m (223 ft.) dominate the Luisenplatz. The parish is part of 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

The first church St. Bonifatius

As Wiesbaden was Protestant after 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 first Catholic parish after the Reformation was founded in 1800. The congregation first met in a ''Bethaus'' (oratory) in the Marktstraße. It soon became too small for the growing number of Catholics in the town, which prospered as a spa and ''Residenz'' of

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

. The parish received grounds adjacent to the from the

Duke of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...

, and from 1829 to 1831 built a rigidly Neoclassical church, in keeping with the buildings around the square. Soon after the building was completed, it collapsed on 11 February 1831. A likely reason is insufficient foundation on ground which had previously been ponds.

The second church St. Bonifatius

On 24 May 1843, the young Philipp Hoffmann received the commission to build a church. He had already participated in building the town castle. His design is reminiscent of Gothic architecture, but also includes elements of

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

and naturalistic ornaments to be found later in the

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

. The foundation was laid on the day of the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

St. Bonifatius, on 5 June 1845. The interior was consecrated by the Bishop of Limburg Peter Josef Blum on 19 June 1849. A

rib vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islami ...

is supported by 22 columns. The facade was completed in 1856, and the towers in 1866. In World War II the church suffered severe damage. An air raid on 2 February 1945 destroyed all the windows, the roof, and part of the vault. Repairs made in 1949 replaced the vault with a simple construction. The vault was re-built in a general restoration in 1965, which also took into account the changes of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

. A new altar by

Elmar Hillebrand Elmar Hillebrand (11 October 1925, Cologne8 January 2016, Cologne) was a German sculptor., WDR, 11. Januar 2016 Life and education After graduating from high school at Apostelgymnasium (1943) and then doing military service and being a prisoner ...

was added in 1967. The new windows are

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

in mainly white, red and blue, designed by Johannes Beeck. Sculptor Karl Hoffmann created a crucifixion scene and a sculpture of both St. Francis and

Teresa of Ávila Teresa of Ávila, OCD (born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada; 28 March 15154 or 15 October 1582), also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Spanish Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer. Active during t ...

Church music

An organ was built in 1954 by . In 1985 the instrument was expanded by Hugo Mayer Orgelbau; in 1995 three electronic bass stops were added. The Kantor was

Gabriel Dessauer Gabriel Dessauer (born 4 December 1955) is a German cantor, concert organist, and academic. He was responsible for the church music at St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden from 1981 to 2021, conducting the Chor von St. Bonifatius until 2018. He is an inte ...

from 1981, the conductor of the 120-member Chor von St. Bonifatius, founded in 1862, the children's choir ''Kinderchor von St. Bonifatius'', and the Schola for

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe dur ...

. He was succeeded by Roman Twardy. The church choir sings at services, including regular orchestral

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

es of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert for Christmas and Easter. Every year, typically on 3 October, a choral concert is performed. Other annual features are choral and organ concerts organised around a theme, called ''Boni-Musikwochen'', including concerts of organists such as Kent Tritle and

Ignace Michiels Ignace Michiels (born 7 December 1963) is a Belgian organist, choral conductor and organ teacher. He is internationally known as a concert organist. Career Michiels studied the organ, the piano and the harpsichord at the music academy of Bruge ...

, and the project choir

Reger-Chor The Reger-Chor is a German-Belgian choir. It was founded in Wiesbaden in 1985 and has been conducted by Gabriel Dessauer in Wiesbaden. Since 2001 it has grown to Regerchor-International in a collaboration with the organist Ignace Michiels of the ...

. On 7 November 2015, as part of the 21st festival Wiesbadener Bachwochen, the church presented a concert dedicated to French church music, Gabriel Fauré's ''

Cantique de Jean Racine ''Cantique de Jean Racine'' (Chant by Jean Racine), Op. 11, is a composition for mixed choir and piano or organ by Gabriel Fauré. The text, "Verbe égal au Très-Haut" ("Word, one with the Highest"), is a French paraphrase by Jean Racine of a La ...

'' and

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

and Olivier Latry's ''

Salve Regina The "Salve Regina" (, ; meaning 'Hail Queen'), also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina ...

''. A project choir of 150 singers performed, led by three conductors of the Diocese of Limburg, with soloists and members of the orchestra of the

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden ('Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden') is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, ballets, musicals and concerts on four stages. Known also as ...

. Dessauer ended conducting the choir in 2019, succeeded by interim conductor Roman Twardy. His term as church musician ended with 2021. He was succeeded by Johannes Schröder.

Priests

The priests of St. Bonifatius were at the same time ''Stadtdekan'' (

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

) of Wiesbaden, including: *

Joseph Weyland Joseph Weyland (born 24 April 1943) is a Luxembourgian diplomat and was Luxembourg's Ambassador to the United States from 2 March 2005 to 2008. In addition, he was concurrently accredited to Canada, Mexico, and the Organization of American S ...

(1863–1887) *

Antonius Hilfrich Antonius Hilfrich (also Anton Hilfrich; 3 October 1873 – 5 February 1947) was a German priest and Roman Catholic Bishop of Limburg, Germany. Ordained in 1898, in March 1930 he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Limburg and Titular Bishop of Se ...

(1927–1930) * (1954–1968) * Werner Bardenhewer (1974–1996) * (1996–2006) * Johannes zu Eltz (2006–2010) * Wolfgang Rösch (2010–2013) * Klaus Nebel (from 2015)

Chaplains

* Lothar Zenetti (1926–2019)

Literature

: ''Architekturführer Wiesbaden – Durch die Stadt des Historismus'', 2006, , pp. 75 (in German)

Gallery

Wiesbaden Luftbild Luisenplatz St. Bonifatius-Kirche Foto 2008 Wolfgang Pehlemann Wiesbaden IMG 0172.jpg, Aerial view of the Luisenplatz Luthmer V - 213 - Wiesbaden katholische Kirche Grundriss.jpg, Ground plan St. Bonifatius (Westseite).jpg, The church from the west St. Bonifatius Church, Wiesbaden, Germany.jpg, Interior from the organ loft Christmas St. Bonifatius 2018 Twardy Dessauer.jpg , Christmas 2018 Stabat Mater (Dvořák) St. Bonifatius Wiesbaden.jpg , Dvořák's Stabat Mater, 2019 Chor von St. Bonifatius, Oratorio de Noël.jpg, Oratorio de Noël, 2022

References

External links

St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden
website (in German) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Bonifatius, Wiesbaden Religious buildings and structures completed in 1849 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany Roman Catholic churches in Hesse Churches in Wiesbaden Gothic Revival church buildings in Germany Hall churches 1849 establishments in the Duchy of Nassau Churches in the Diocese of Limburg