The church of St. Christoph in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, known in German as St. Christoph zu Mainz, is an example of early

gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

. St. Christoph was originally built between 1240 and 1330. The church is associated with

Johannes Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg ( – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who invented the movable type, movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's inven ...

, who may have been baptised there. It had been erected in Christofstraße in the historic city centre of Mainz and adjacent to the Karmeliterplatz. Its ruins represent the central

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

in the city of Mainz, in memory of the victims and the destruction of the city in World War II, such as the bombing of Mainz on 27 February 1945.

History

The former parish church was mentioned for the first time in documents of 893. In a document by

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II (; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as Pope was controversial, and the first eight years o ...

in the year 1140 the patronage of

St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier Saint Maximin's Abbey () was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. History The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been founded by Saint Maximin of Tr ...

was laid down. Except for its Romanesque tower with pairings of two arched windows, dating from around 1240, the present building dates from the decades around 1280 until the 1330. In the 17th and 18th century, the church was renovated and redesigned in

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to ...

Peter Canisius Peter Canisius (; 8 May 1521 – 21 December 1597) was a Dutch Jesuit priest known for his strong support for the Catholic faith during the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland and the British Isles. The ...

joined the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

effective on 8 May 1543 as the eighth person and placed his vow in the rectory of St. Christopher. In 1762 the church was renovated.Christiane Reves: Bausteine zur Mainzer Stadtgeschichte: Mainzer Kolloquium 2000. Franz Steiner Verlag, Band 55 2002, . 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 ...

it was razed except for the external walls. During the great air raid on Mainz on 12 and 13 August 1942 St. Christopher burned down, whereas a renewed bombing on 27 February 1945 with tactical demolition bombs brought the vaults to collapse. The outer walls have been restored and protected on the north side by concrete columns. The new

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es have been provided with a relief by the Mainz sculptor Heinz Hemrich carrying symbolic representations of the city's history. The church now is designed as a

. A commemorative plaque in the floor tells the embedded text ″Den Toten zum Gedenken/ Den Lebenden zur Mahnung″ ″In memory of the dead / as a reminder for the Living". Right next to the church stands the most modern

Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg ( – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's invention of the printing ...

statue of the city. It was created to celebrate the year 2000 Gutenberg celebrations of Mainz by sculptor Karl Heinz Oswald. The iron sculpture displays the Gutenberg

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...

. Gutenberg used for printing a wooden press, reminiscent of construction, mechanics and operation of a

wine press A winepress is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during winemaking. There are a number of different styles of presses that are used by wine makers but their overall functionality is the same. Each style of press exerts control ...

. The windows in the chancel and the glass wall in the chancel were designed by Alois Plum. p. 11. In the eastern chancel, a chapel has been renovated, including a baptistry in the south transept, and a sacristy in the ground floor of the Romanesque tower. In this chapel, windows by the Mainz glass artist Alois Plum have been installed. The chapel is owned by the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz The Diocese of Mainz, (, ) historically known in English as Mentz as well as by its French name Mayence, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It was founded in 304, promoted in 780 to Metropol ...

, while the remaining ruins (including the tower above the sacristy) are owned and maintained by the City of Mainz. Beginning in 2020, weekly ecumenical prayers for peace in the tradition of the Coventry Cross of Nails are offered in the chapel on Fridays at 5 p.m. Additional worship services are conducted at various times by the Roman Catholic urban ministry ''Cityseelsorge'', as well as the

Old Catholic Church The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches, or Old Catholic movement, designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undiv ...

and Episcopal Church.

Preserved decorations

*The oldest organ in the

, surviving in parts, which was built in 1667 by Johann Peter Geissel for St. Christopher's Church in Mainz, was sold after 1773 to Gau-Bischofsheim, where it stands today in the parish church. * In the eastern part of the church is a Gothic baptismal font, which is supported by four lion heads, dating back to the time of Gutenberg. * A Rococo sculpture of St. Valentine was rescued in the chaos of the war and was taken to the Carmelite Church. The Valentines pilgrimage was translocated just as well.

Lost decorations

*Since 1792, a miracle cross from around 1300 had been kept at St. Christoph's.

References

External links

*http://www.mainz.de/tourismus/sehenswertes/st.-christoph.php St. Christoph] on the city website {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Christoph Mainz Buildings and structures completed in 1330 Churches completed in the 1330s 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany Ch Gothic hall churches in Germany