Luxembourg, Église Saint-Joseph Limpertsberg (1)

St Joseph's Church in the

Limpertsberg Limpertsberg ( lb, Lampertsbierg) is a quarter in north-western Luxembourg City, in the centre of Luxembourg. In the south, on the border with the main city is the Glacis, a large open air parking lot which hosts the annual Schueberfouer fair, ...

district of

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the G ...

is a Roman Catholic church in the

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style. Designed by the Luxembourg architect

Nicolas Petit Nicolas Petit is a French and American dog musher. He competes in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and has finished in the top ten a number of times, including in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 (when he finished in second place). He won the C ...

(1876–1953), it was completed in 1913 and consecrated the same year on 30 April. The interior was substantially renovated in 1976 by the German architect Willy Hahn who added a tabernacle column symbolizing the

tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A Histo ...

History

In 1909, the city council of Luxembourg decided a church with an adjoining rectory should be built in Limpertsberg, given the district's growing population (then some 3,000) and its considerable distance from the city's

Notre-Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

. Planned by Luxembourg City's architect Nicolas Petit, construction of the church was undertaken by Achille Giorgetti from 1910 to 1913, reflecting the growing prosperity of the Limpersberg district. It was consecrated in 1913. In 1976, the city and parochial authorities sought to enhance the interior by improving the furnishings, calling on the services of the architect Willy Hahn from nearby

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

. At the same time, with a view to improving the lighting, new windows illuminating the nave were created by the Luxembourg architect and artist André Haagen (born 1938).

Architecture and furnishings

The church is one of Luxembourg's main examples of Romanesque Revival architecture. In addition to an imposing exterior making it one of Limpertsberg's most outstanding buildings, the well-proportioned interior is reminiscent of the 13th-century Romanesque churches of the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhineland ...

. The style is similar to that of

Clervaux Abbey The Abbey of St. Maurice and St. Maurus of Clervaux ( lb, Benediktinerabtei hellege Moritz) (french: Abbaye Saint-Maurice et Saint-Maur de Clervaux), founded in 1890, is a Benedictine monastery in Clervaux, Luxembourg. It is a member of the Solesm ...

which had been designed by the Dutch-German architect

Johannes Franziskus Klomp Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

(1865–1946) a few years earlier. St Joseph's holds a special place in Luxembourg architecture as it is the last church to have been built in the Neo-Romanesque style. As for the furnishings, the tabernacle column behind the altar is of special note. Symbolizing the tree of life, it rises to a height of and is topped by a

calvary Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early me ...

. The church also houses a 17th-century statue of the Immaculate Conception enhanced with a sculpture of

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

created by the Luxembourger

Albert Hames Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert C ...

(1910–89). The original organ was replaced in 1955 by a larger instrument manufactured by

Kemper & Sohn Kemper may refer to: Buildings * Kemper Arena, in Kansas City, Missouri * Kemper Building (Chicago), a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois * Kemper Hall, a 1911 mansion in Kenosha, Wisconsin * Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, in Kansas City, Misso ...

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's Church, Limpertsberg Roman Catholic churches in Luxembourg Architecture in Luxembourg Roman Catholic churches completed in 1913 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings Religious buildings and structures in Luxembourg City Romanesque Revival church buildings