Decorative Panel in Schierstein Church

Per Wikipedia: Schierstein is a southwestern borough of Wiesbaden, capital of state of Hesse, Germany. First mentioned in historical records in 860,... more

by Sarah Loft

Title

Decorative Panel in Schierstein Church

Artist

Sarah Loft

Medium

Photograph - Digitally Painted Photograph

Description

Per Wikipedia: Schierstein is a southwestern borough of Wiesbaden, capital of state of Hesse, Germany. First mentioned in historical records in 860, Schierstein was incorporated into Wiesbaden in 1926. Today the borough has about 10,000 residents. Situated on the Rhine River, Schierstein is known as the "Gateway to the Rheingau."

Per Wikipedia: The Christophoruskirche is a Protestant church in the borough of Schierstein, Wiesbaden, Germany. It was built in 1752 to 1754 in the style of the late Baroque and Rococo.

In 1752, part of the tower of the old Schierstein church collapsed. Building plans for a new church had already been discussed in previous years and suddenly became urgent. Since 1748, the former Mayor of Frankfurt, merchant and banker Johann Georg Schweitzer Edler von Wiederhold, a member of the Frauenstein Gesellschaft, had allowed the Schierstein curate a collection of 604 guilders in the Free imperial city, which provided the financial basis for the construction of the church. The Chamberlain of Electoral Mainz, privy counsellor and chief architect of Electoral Mainz Anselm Franz von Ritter zu Groenesteyn made the vegetable garden of his country estate available as building terrain.

The exterior of the church anticipates the upcoming neoclassical architecture, emphasizing the planar qualities of the walls. The one-nave hall type church was constructed in an east- west direction with the choir in the east wing as an aisleless church. The exterior dimensions (length 79 ft, width 49 ft) correspond to the golden ratio. The excellent acoustics of the interior may be attributed to it.

While the exterior is kept rather simple, the interior expresses the rococo spirit in colours and vitality. The design of the sanctuary is typical for the Protestant view of the equivalence of the altar (sacrament), pulpit (sermon and exegesis) and organ (worship / community involvement). The four Corinthian columns in the sanctuary symbolize the four Gospels. Three putti symbolize the theological virtues, faith (with the cup), hope (the anchor) and - in the center - charity, according to 1 Corinthians 13:13. Charity holds the law, the Ten Commandments. A realistic representation of the crucifixion is surrounded by a golden halo. Twelve Doric columns support the galleries along the nave, representing the Twelve Apostles, the Twelve tribes of Israel and the community of the congregation. All wood carvings originate from the Frankfurt wood sculptor Johann Daniel Schnorr.

The church is a concert venue of the choir Schiersteiner Kantorei, founded here in 1962, and of the Rheingau Musik Festival. In 2011, countertenor Andreas Scholl and harpsichordist Tamar Halperin appeared in concert there.

Note: The watermark will not appear in the print you purchase.

Featured in the Greeting Cards for All Occasions group, December 2016.

Featured in the Premium FAA Artists group, January 2017.

Uploaded

December 15th, 2016