Paulinerkirche (Leipzig)

The St. Paul's Church ( the official name of university church, popular name " Unikirche ", " St. Paul's Church " in accordance with the " Pauline " Dominican monks ) was a Protestant church in downtown Leipzig on Augustus Square. The 1240, the building was a monastery church of St. Pauli church of a Dominican monastery. After its dissolution in 1543 all the buildings of the monastery were suitable in the course of the secularization of the University of Leipzig.

Although the university church had the Second World War, survived almost undamaged, it was blown up in 1968 at the instigation of the university and decided upon by the SED -led city administration.

History

Monastery Church of the Dominicans

After the settlement of monks of the Dominican mendicant order within the Leipzig city wall began in 1231 on the square next to the Grimmaischen gate of the building as a monastery church of the Convention. The consecration of St. Paul's Church was 1240.

Typical of the architecture of the mendicant orders in the 13th century, the monastery church was carried out with einschiffigem choir and three-aisled nave. Until the 18th century, several extensions and alterations in the style of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods have been made. The ensemble thus created a variety of architectural forms has since been alive in the consciousness of the city.

University Church

Since the founding of the University of Leipzig in 1409, the history of St. Paul's Church is closely associated with the university. The monastery church was for centuries a favorite burial place for members of the university, the need for representation was expressed in artistically sophisticated epitaphs. Among the persons buried here include the jurist Johann Christoph Marci, the historian and philologist Friedrich Christian Franckenstein and the lawyer Benedict Carpzov the Younger, whose epitaph was restored in 2011 as the first completely. Another epitaph, which the physician Johannes Hoppe was made ​​in January 2014 again

After spreading of the Reformation there were 1539 resolution of the Dominican convent: The monastery was secularized in 1543 and the University of Leipzig is. Thus, these had a large, contiguous building complex, which was used for teaching as well as for residential and commercial purposes. 1545 St. Paul's Church by Martin Luther was ordained as a Protestant university church. The church served as a place of worship since then both as well as an auditorium for academic ceremonies. In 1717, was an organ examination of the newly built by the Saxon organ builder Johann disc organ by Johann Sebastian Bach.

• 1749

University ( " the Pauline " ) and St Paul's Church around 1800.

View from the East before 1830.

View in 1890, left the church Augusteum.

Interior of the Church around 1900.

Redesign in the 19th century

During the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, the church served as a prison camp and hospital. After 1785 the demolition of the fortifications and the formerly the city walls facing gable church was later Augustus was the place to go free. In order to establish the Augusteum by Albert Geutebrück as the new main building of the University from 1831 to 1836, the former convent adjacent to the church buildings were demolished, which had been used until then almost without modification by the University. The exhibition facade of the church to Augustus square, in 1836 adapted the classical facade of the Augusteum. With the transformation of the Augusteum 1897 in Neo-Renaissance style by Arwed Rossbach also the church got a new show facade, this time in neo-Gothic style. As the transition of the church at its western gable to the newly built Albertinum a campanileähnlicher tower was built. The unlikely but harmonious architectural ensemble of St. Paul's Church and certain Augusteum from 1836 until its destruction in the west side of the Augustus square.

DDR city planning and demolition of the church

When air raid on Leipzig on December 4, 1943, the St. Paul's Church was only slightly damaged. From 1946 until the breakup in 1968 it was also used by the Catholic church provost. The place was renamed Augustus immediately after the war in " Karl -Marx -Platz", the university in 1953 in " Karl Marx University ". Plans of the city administration to redesign the university complex foresaw the establishment of a political and cultural center, the Leipzig should present itself as a socialist city. By the early 1960s, the decision was taken to a task, ie demolition, the old university complex. The new year has been delayed for years. It was only in January 1968 we had a major architectural competition. The new complex was a compromise plan from the work of a Dresdner Office and the Berlin office of the Bauhaus student and DDR architect Hermann Henselmann.

In May 1968, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED confirmed chaired by Walter Ulbricht, the development plan of the Leipzig Karl -Marx -Platz including the demolition of St. Paul's Church. The Senate of the University agreed on 23 May, the transformation on May 16, the Leipzig city council. The only dissenting vote in the city council came from Hans -Georg Rausch, CDU member, pastor and IM of the MfS. However, opposition, especially in the Faculty of Theology suggested. The former theology student Nicholas Krause was convicted in a row even because of " internal protest " against the demolition to 22 months in prison. The demolition of St. Paul's Church took place on Thursday, May 30th, 1968 at 9:58 clock. The debris was tilted in the sequence in which Etzoldsche sand pit in Leipzig- Probstheida. Partly protests, led to several arrests and some multi-year investigation by the State Security.

On June 20, 1968 uncoiled as a protest against the demolition in the Congress Hall Leipzig before the audience of the III. International Bach Competition automatically a large yellow poster with an outline drawing of the church, the year 1968 with a cross behind it and the words " We demand reconstruction". It involved the young physicist Stefan Welzk, Harald Fritzsch, Dietrich Koch and Eckhard Koch. The Potsdamer Rudolf Treumann painted the banner. This poster protest reached the only international attention. The investigation by the State Security continued into the 1970s, of which the population mitbekam nothing more. Only after the turn of the fate of Dietrich Koch was known, was arrested after being denounced. He was the only one on the poster protest party who has been convicted of.

Where there was the gable wall of St Paul's Church, which until 1974 realized new university was awarded a bronze relief entitled departure that dominated the head of Karl Marx, the new patron of the university.

Discussion on the reconstruction

To commemorate the destruction of the Paulinerkirche the artist Axel Guhlmann brought in 1998 on the wall of the university 's main building installation at St Paul's Church, a 34 -meter-high steel structure, which traces the church gable in original size.

In the late 1990s were drawn up proposals for the redesign of the site on the occasion of the upcoming 600 - year anniversary of the University of Leipzig in 2009. The university administration suggested this to the construction of a new auditorium instead of the earlier church. Proponents of a sympathetic restoration of then joined together in a citizens' initiative. In particular, the Pauli Nerve Net pursued this interest. An after several years of discussion proposed by the Saxon government compromise, according to which the construction site is to be initially released and the University compensated by an equivalent area, in 2003 led to the resignation of the rector of the university, Volker Bigl, and all pro-rectors. 2004 won a building design of the Rotterdam architect Erick van Egeraat, which provides an architecturally modern and reminiscent of the Paulinerkirche university building in the second contest.

The emerging Paulinum is a university building of its own and financed as such with university construction funded by the Free State of Saxony. It unites under its umbrella, both scientific institutes, the auditorium of the University as well as their prayer room. Hall and prayer room can be joined together for larger events via a variable and transparent room divider. In memory of the Church, in which until then took place, the University of worship, the new prayer room in the Pauline will be named " University Church of St. Pauli " wear.

Was controversial initially planned separation of the auditorium and prayer room. Critics from the church environment turned against the transparent room divider (the " glass wall " ) as a symbol of a misunderstood separation of science and religion; others feared acoustic disadvantages. Unclear was which and how many art treasures from the former University Church will be transferred to the new prayer room ( can ).

After lengthy discussions, the final compromise to build the Paulinum have been confirmed in two interviews under the direction of the Attorney General Prof. Monika Harms. Until the recent past there have been attempts to overturn this compromise. For compliance with this compromise, the citizens' initiative uses for a cosmopolitan, secular and autonomous University of Leipzig:

The completion of the building was originally scheduled for late 2009, could be up to that point but realized only in part. Thus, only the auditorium and the foyer to the 600 - year celebrations were accessible. The entire building should be inaugurated in 2010, but prevailed due to the bankruptcy of a construction company until the end of that year a building freeze. Proponents of an ecclesiastical use of this new building, which is reminiscent of the church " University Church of St. Pauli ", have until recently tried to obtain an undivided space which serves as an auditorium and as a church at the same time.

Builder and university but have only recently reaffirmed that there will be no changes to the proposed land use strategy, according to the school hall and prayer room with a variable and transparent room divider can be connected together.

On 6 December 2009, the first service was held in the new building to overcrowded place .. On Reformation of 2010, on 31 October, was held a second service. This time were allowed to enter the church only about 400 worshipers, but sang in the courtyard in front of it and prayed several hundred other worshipers. On December 5, 2010, a third service was held.