St. Bonifatius in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

, Germany, is the central

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parish and church in the capital of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. The present building was designed by architect Philipp Hoffmann in

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

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.

History

The first church St. Bonifatius

As Wiesbaden was Protestant after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, 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 A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

and ''Residenz'' of Nassau. The parish received grounds adjacent to the from the

Duke of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German language, German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what became the Germany, German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a States of the Confederation of th ...

, 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 that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

and naturalistic ornaments to be found later in the

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

. 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, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

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, Islamic a ...

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 and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. 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 refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

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

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 (church), cantor, concert organist, and academic teacher. After studies with Diethard Hellmann and Franz Lehrndorfer, he was responsible for the church music at St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden ...

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 plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

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

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

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, 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'' and

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

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), also known as the Staatstheater Wiesbaden or Theater Wiesbaden, is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state of Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, b ...

. 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) of Wiesbaden, including: * Joseph Weyland (1863–1887) * Antonius Hilfrich (1927–1930) * (1954–1968) *

Werner Bardenhewer Joseph Werner Bardenhewer (30 January 1929 – 10 April 2019) was a German Catholic Church, Catholic priest. He was Dean (Christianity), Dean of Wiesbaden, the state capital of Hesse, at the central parish St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden, St. Bonifatius ...

(1974–1996) * (1996–2006) *

Johannes zu Eltz Johannes zu Eltz (born 2 October 1957) is a German Priesthood in the Catholic Church, Catholic priest, who has served as Dean (Christianity), Dean of Frankfurt, and a member of the cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Limburg. Trained as a jurist, ...

(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