Elisabethenkirche (Basel)
The Elisabeth Church in Basel is located in the center of town right next to the Theater Basel. It is considered the most important neo-Gothic church in Switzerland and handed in architecture and interior testimony of historicism.
Architectural History
The donated by Christoph Merian Merian and Margarethe Burckhardt church was built according to plans by Ferdinand Stadler from 1857 to 1864. This sat in an architectural competition in the second round against Joseph Caspar Jeuch by. Jeuch succeeded after the first round to take a certain influence on the construction. The donor should see his church never finished, because he died in 1858 shortly before the groundbreaking ceremony. Christoph Merian financed the construction of the church with the intention of a " memorial against the evil spirit of the time ", ie to build against the de-Christianization of the state and society. It was the first church to be built in the inner city of Basel after the Reformation.
Under the supervision of Christopher Riggenbach a Münsterbauhütte was established supply their labor in the service of a great community work after the Cologne model in which artisans and architects for construction. This in accordance with the religious ideals of the founder Merian ( → Religious Basel). The Bauhütte served many budding Swiss architects as practical training center.
On June 6, 1864, the opening service was held. At this time, however, still lacked the chancel window. These were used a year later. The interior is a historic organ, which was built by the organ builder Joseph Merklin 1862 and expanded in 1949. 1866, the Church of Merian widow of Church and School Commission was passed. The donor couple is buried in the crypt under the church.
While climbing the tower riveted or bolted steel beams are variously seen as they were also used in the Eiffel Tower. At the time of Classical Gothic such technology was of course not available. Only Thanks to these innovations, it was possible to complete in a period of only seven years, with a limited budget the church.
Architecture
The interior is characterized by the type of building a three-aisled vaulted church hall. This is the west bounded by the five-sided polygon choir and east by the porch under the tower. The galleries are accessed directly through additions to the side facades, as well as the former private box of the Donors pair against the stone pulpit. The publicly accessible tower dominates with its 72 meters, the towers of the Basel Cathedral.
Especially at the Elisabeth Church is the ribbed vault of brick, which can be seen in the aisles. In the 19th century bricks were scarce and expensive in Switzerland; the Elisabeth Church is the only building in Stadler's work where sufficient financial resources for such a design were available. Elsewhere, you had to resort to wooden structures that were painted like stones. The Elisabeth Church is not completely without such austerity measures: The canopy of stone pulpit is in fact made of wood. Such constructions were derisively called carpenter Gothic. Compared with other written around the same time buildings - eg Votive Church of Vienna - is the Elisabeth Church rather sparse decorated and kept closed. Extent and dimensions of the typical Gothic gables and pinnacles was kept to a minimum.
Renovation and new use
In the 1980s the church was to be demolished, but this was prevented by interested citizens. The new building of the theater was in 1975 affected the solitary character of the Church massive. Meanwhile, however, a change in thinking has taken place and historicist buildings are valued once again. This has made it possible for the church between 1990 and 1994 to renovate comprehensively. This was done in a gentle way: Many of the details of the construction period are still preserved. So at the ornate door lock emblazoned the side portal ( in the room behind a bar is now run ) the year 1863. Since the renovation of the St. Elisabeth's Church is run by an ecumenical association as " open church ". In addition to worship services, the church is also used commercially for concerts and weddings.
Organ
The organ was built in 1861 -1864 by the organ builder Joseph Merklin ( Paris / Brussels). The instrument initially had 29 stops on two manuals and pedal, and had a Balgtretanlage, which was operated by Calcanten. It was not until 1899, the instrument with an electric winch system was equipped, extended by four registers and converted to pneumatic cone chests. Over time, the organ was rebuilt several times and the zeitgeist. 1913 a third manual movement with 11 registers has been added. 1934, a new blower was added and the Tretanlage finally shut down. The instrument has 42 registers on three manuals and pedal today. The tracker action are pneumatic.
- Couplers: II / I, I / P, II / P