The Church of St. Andreas () is a Roman Catholic

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

situated in the center of the German city of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. It is the

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

church of the local community of

Dominican Friars The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius I ...

, who also administer the much older .

History

The church, dedicated to

St. Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

, was constructed between 1622 and 1629 in the South German

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style. It was originally built for the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s, who arrived in Düsseldorf in 1619, and served as the "court church" for the

Counts palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German language, German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank abo ...

of Neuburg ( House of Palatinate-Neuburg) from 1708.Engel, U., O.P. (2000), ''Short Guide to the Church (English Version)'', available within the church After the dissolution of the Jesuit order in August 1773, it served as a parish church until 2005, when it became the monastery church of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

. The building itself is now owned by the ''

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

'' of

North Rhine Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. The church is furnished with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

by Johannes Kuhn from

Strassburg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and life-size sculptures of the apostles and of saints of the Society of Jesus. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the church was an important center of musical culture in Düsseldorf. The composer Johann Hugo von Wilderer served as its organist. The mausoleum, designed by Venetian architect Simone del Sarto, contains the tombs of several Electors Palatine, including that of Johann Wilhelm.McLachlan, Gordon (2004
''The Rough Guide to Germany''
p. 537. Rough Guides The high altar of the church was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The new altar, designed by

Ewald Mataré Ewald Wilhelm Hubert Mataré (25 February 1887 in Burtscheid, Aachen – 28 March 1965 in Büderich) was a German painter and sculptor, who dealt with, among other things, the figures of men and animals in a stylized form. Career Mataré began ...

was built in 1960. Paintings by

Ernst Deger Ernst Deger (15 April 1809, Bockenem – 27 January 1885, Düsseldorf) was a German religious artist, in the style of the Nazarene movement. He is considered to be the main representative of Christian art in the Düsseldorfer Malerschule. Lif ...

can be found in the church's two side altars which are dedicated to the Virgin Mary.Official website of the Dominican Church of St. Andreas
In 1972 the church came under the pastoral care of the local community of

and became their priory church.

Organ

The organ dates back to an instrument built in 1782 by Peter Kemper, in a casing by Bernhard Orlinski and Josef Zimmermann. In World War II the organ was damaged. In 1953 it was restored and expanded by 18 stops by the organ builder Fabritius. In 1970/71 and again in 2003, the organ was restored by Rudolf von Beckerath Orgelbau.

References

External links

*
St. Andreas
entry in the database of the (Institute for Monument Protection and Preservation) {{DEFAULTSORT:Andreas Roman Catholic churches in North Rhine-Westphalia 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany Roman Catholic churches completed in 1629 1629 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Churches in Düsseldorf

History

Organ

See also

References

External links