St. Jakobus is a Catholic church and a former parish in
Rüdesheim am Rhein,
Hesse, Germany. It dates back to the 10th century, was expanded around 1400, and again in 1913/14. The church was severely damaged by bombing in World War II, and rebuilt from 1947 to 1956. It is a listed historic monument and serves also as a concert venue.
History
The oldest parts of the building from the 10th century are found in the basement of the northern tower. An early-Romanesque chapel dates back to the 11th century.
The present church was founded c. 1400 by . It was first an
aisleless church
An aisleless church (german: Saalkirche) is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways on either side of the nave and separated fro ...
, dedicated to
James, son of Zebedee. In 1489, it was expanded by a northern nave and vaulted.
Baroque changes were a new helmet for the steeple from 1766 and a
high altar.
The building was expanded further in 1913/24 to the east and south. The church burnt down by bombing on 25 November 1944. The only surviving features are the western facade, the northern nave and the tower. The church was rebuilt, in modified form and again with a flat ceiling, from 1947 to 1956.
The foundation of the rebuilding was laid on 25 July 1947, the feast day of the
patron saint that year.
It was celebrated in 2017 with services, an exhibition,
and concerts.
The parish was merged as to a larger parish on 1 January 2015. It is now part (Kirchort) of the parish Heilig Kreuz Rheingau, with the central church in
Geisenheim
Geisenheim is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany, and is known as ''Weinstadt'' (“Wine Town”), ''Schulstadt'' (“School Town”), ''Domstadt'' (“Cathedral Town”) and ''Lindenstad ...
.
The church is also a venue for concerts of sacred music,
including
a venue of the
Rheingau Musik Festival
The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...
which held a concert of chamber music with organ in 2017.
Organ
The
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
was built in 1964 by the company Wagenbach from Limburg, first with 40 stops on three manuals and pedal.
It was renovated and expanded in 1996 to 44 stops by Oberlinger (Windesheim).
In 2014, another stop was added, Contraposaune (contra trombone), a low stop rare in the state of Hesse, making the organ the largest organ in the
Rheingau
The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part of the Rheing ...
, used for the liturgy and for concerts.
References
Further reading
* Reclams Kunstführer Deutschland III, Denkmäler, Rheinlande und Westfalen, 1975,
* Werner Schäfke: ''Der Rhein von Mainz bis Köln'', Dumont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern, 4. Auflage 2006, S. 297f,
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudesheim, St. Jakobus
14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany
Roman Catholic churches in Hesse
Rebuilt churches in Germany
Buildings and structures in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis