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St. Fronleichnam, Aachen: Altar(s)

Posted by
MadScientist (Düsseldorf, Germany) on 17 May 2010 in Architecture.

In his book "The Three Pillars of Zen", author Philip Kapleau mentions the fear of emptiness in Western Societies; something the (Zen) Buddhist is searching for on his way to enlightenment.

This delightful emptiness, the non-place where our imaginations lose their meaning, the place of the totaliter aliter, is symbolized in the bare wall behind the altar in Schwarz's design. Today you are looking at a modified version with a separate celebration altar in front of the original one; a concession to the change in liturgy as demanded in the Second Vatican Council (though already Schwarz's design paid tribute to the demands of the liturgical movement, where the priest was already celebrating while turning his face to the people - almost 40 years before the 2nd Vaticanum).

Coming from the bodily world, withstanding the horror vacui, and exceeding the verge (symbolized in the altar zone), man will find redemption. The transition from crowd to people to people of God; the joining of community and altar; the relationship of architecture and liturgy; the articulation of ecclesiastical architecture*; and finally overcoming the fear of emptiness is an important message of this church.

Steven from Chicagoland, United States

Informative narrative. A very minimalistic design in comparison to other churches that you have highlighted. It makes the color of the flowers really "pop."

17 May 2010 12:35pm

@Steven: Many churches from 1900-1950 are extremely interesting and look quite provocative to us now. I'll try to get more of these. Unfortunaley many were destroyed in the war or modified afterwards.

MARIANA from Waterloo, Canada

Wonderful . Love how whole image has a few colors only ;) Very elegant in colors and composition .

17 May 2010 12:52pm

@MARIANA: Original colours only - and the original design was even more reduced.

PD from Overland Park, Kansas, United States

Wow - very different looking than most of your posts

17 May 2010 3:17pm

@PD: It's a church that puts emphasis on the spirit and less on the son.

Ted from South Wales, United Kingdom

Interesting that in this monochrome order a portrait is considered important and someone with a floral, if not artistic eye has placed contrasting flowers that in their own way, merge sympathetically with the monochrome?
Great insight you've offered MS!

17 May 2010 8:06pm

@Ted: Thanks, Ted! I don't know who is displayed on that portrait photo in the background (it's not Schwarz), and these flowers are nice, but another quite interesting 'feature' was the sound installation happening there. A probably random series of sounds and noise was emitted from the gallery and collected in the circular disk (you can see it in Saturday's post), resulting in a very strange soundscape. A memorable visit, I can tell!

Christine Walsh from Astoria, NY, United States

The "emptiness" is exactly what I got when looking at this. The picture in the back looks a little like a young Springsteen...

18 May 2010 1:02am

@Christine Walsh: Boooo-ooorn in the Rhiiiiine-lahand....! :-D

Ronnie 2¢ from Atlantic Shores, United Kingdom

Such startling emptiness . . I think Elvis has left the building.

18 May 2010 8:04pm

@Ronnie 2¢: Give it a chance - when in Aachen, try a visit, you won't regret.

Evelyne Dubos from Le Mans, France

Yes, i prefer the inside. The black marble and white walls give a great solemnity feeling. And i like the touch of colors of flowers.

19 May 2010 12:54pm

@Evelyne Dubos: Yes, they break up the gray, sort of an anchor.

António Pires from Lisbon, Portugal

This point of view is even more surprising! Emptiness or the very essentials?

26 May 2010 6:36pm

@António Pires: This is even the extended version. In old shots you will only note the black altar in the background, separated from the nave by an altar rail. Having read Schwarz's book on church architecture I think I understood what motivated him; the altar is the verge between our world (nave) and heaven (the white wall), and had to be accentuated this way.