English Church (Bad Homburg)

The English Church (Englische Kirche) is a former Church of England[1] church building in the German city of Bad Homburg in Hesse. It is listed as a historic monument[2] and now houses a cultural centre.

The building's apse.

History

Homburg was once best known for its spa, whose guests included many tourists from England - 20% of its 8500 visitors in 1857 came from England. That percentage rose after 1876, when it became traditional for people to go to the spa after the end of the parliamentary session in Homburg.[3] An Anglican church was first requested in the town in 1859. Ferdinand, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg granted a site on Ferdinandsplatz (now Ferdinandstraße 16) in memory of the late Landgräfin Elizabeth, daughter of George III of the United Kingdom and Ferdinand's sister-in-law. The building was partly financed by the Blanc brothers, local hoteliers and casino-owners,[4] and designed by the English architect Ewan Christian.[5] as a two-storey hall church with a semi-enclosed choir and a saddleback slate roof. One of its original stained glass windows is now in the town museum at the Gothic House. It is reminiscent of an English parish church and could stylistically be called Gothic,[1][2] neo-Gothic,[4][5][6] Norman or Romanesque Revival.[7]

Construction began in 1861[8] and was completed in 1863[4][6] or 1865,[9] overseen by Christian Holler (1819–1903). Originally dedicated as Christ Church, it held its first services in 1866,[3][10] though the building was only officially consecrated on 2 September 1868 by Archibald Campbell Tait, bishop of London.[11] An organ was ordered from J W Walker in London in 1866.[12] A monument to Elizabeth was also erected in 1908 on the patch of grass along the east side of the church.[13]

There were two regular services on Sundays, along with baptisms, weddings and funerals for Anglican and Episcopalian tourists. The last service was held on 6 June 1914[3] and the building was seized by the town authorities and de-consecrated after the outbreak of World War One.[7][8][14] On 19 August 1916 it reopened as the town history museum (Städtische Heimatmuseum),[15] which remained there until moving to Bad Homburg Castle in 1925.[16] The building then remained empty until being turned into a concert hall in 1946.[4]

In 1953 the town transferred the building's organ to the new Roman Catholic Heilig-Kreuz Kirche in the Gonzenheim district of Bad Homburg - it is now the only surviving 19th century English organ in Germany.[17] The building was renovated in 1964 to host plays, lectures, conferences and exhibitions. From 1989 to 1990 a second restoration by the architect Reinhold Kargel[4] of Darmstadt added a new foyer outside the building's west door (connected to the original via a glass corridor), using materials which matched the original building.[5] It reopened on 14 September 1990 as a cultural centre, hosting jazz, cabaret, 'Kleinkunst' and classical concerts, lectures and exhibitions.[18]

  • From the south-east
  • Former main entrance
  • Main entrance
  • The glass corridor
  • From the north
  • Apse and memorial to Elizabeth

References (in German)
  1. Siegfried Rudolf Carl Theodor Enders. "Kultbauten ausländischer Gäste in europäischen Kur- und Badestädten – ein vernachlässigtes, gemeinsames Erbe ?". ICOMOS, Hefte des Deutschen Nationalkomitees, Nr.52, Stuttgart, 2012, S. 201 - 210, hier S. 207 (PDF; 2,9 MB) (in German). ISBN 978-3-8062-2729-1. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  2. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (Hrsg.): Englische Kirche. In: DenkXweb, online edition of Kulturdenkmäler in Hessen. Accessed 2016-03-16.
  3. Die Englische Kolonie und ihre "Christ Church" in: Verlagsbeilage "150 Jahre Heilbad" des Taunus-Kurier aus Juli 1984
  4. Englische Kirche findet bundesweite Beachtung in: Taunuszeitung vom 10. Oktober 1991
  5. Projektbeschreibung 311 Englische Kirche. "Sanierung und Erweiterung einer neugotischen Kirche zum Konzert- und Ausstellungshaus (PDF 1,0 MB)" (PDF). KKS ARCHITEKTEN, ehemals Architektenbüro Kargel (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-18. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  6. Heike Straesser: Umnutzung der ehemaligen "Englischen Kirche" in Bad Homburg In: db deutsche bauzeitung, Heft 10, 1991, S. 140-141
  7. Stadtarchiv Bad Homburg. "Ferdinandstraße 16, Englische Kirche". Digitales Gebäudebuch Bad Homburg (in German). Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  8. Heinrich Jacobi: Wem gehört die hiesige "Englische Kirche" in: Der Taunusbote vom 13. Januar 1920
  9. Heinrich Jacobi: Zur Geschichte der Homburger Mineralquellen In: Zur Hundertjahrfeier des Heilbades Homburg. Verein für Geschichte und Altertumskunde zu Bad Homburg v.d.H., XVII. Heft der Mitteilungen, 1935, S. 1 - 264, hier S. 248. Jacobi schreibt hierzu: "Seit 1865 gab es in Homburg schon eine größere englische Kirche."
  10. Peter Schiebel in: Taunuszeitung vom 5. Mai 2001
  11. Kleine Zeitung in: Der Taunusbote vom 6. September 1868
  12. Beschreibung des Denkmals Orgel in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library)
  13. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (Hrsg.): Denkmal Landgräfin Elizabeth. In: DenkXweb, online edition of Kulturdenkmäler in Hessen. Accessed 2016-03-19.
  14. Englische Kirche, Ferdinandstraße 16. Orte der Kur. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). (Stand: 17 March 2016)
  15. Stadt Bad Homburg. "Eine Stadt schreibt Geschichte - 100 Jahre Städtisches historisches Museum, Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe". Bad Homburg Tourismus (in German). Retrieved 2016-03-19. Taunus-Informationszentrum. "Eine Stadt schreibt Geschichte - 100 Jahre Städtisches historisches Museum, Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe". Taunus Touristik Service e.V. (in German). Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  16. Stadt Bad Homburg. "Geschichte des Museums". Städtisches historisches Museum (in German). Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  17. "Walker-Orgel (1867) Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche - Orgellandschaft - Orgelfestival Fugato - Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe". orgelfestival-fugato.de. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  18. Stadt Bad Homburg. "Die Englische Kirche als Veranstaltungszentrum". Bad Homburg Tourismus (in German). Retrieved 2016-03-16.

Bibliography
  • (in German) Siegfried Rudolf Carl Theodor Enders: Kultbauten ausländischer Gäste in europäischen Kur- und Badestädten – ein vernachlässigtes, gemeinsames Erbe ? In: ICOMOS, Hefte des Deutschen Nationalkomitees, Nr.52, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-8062-2729-1, S. 201 - 210, hier S. 207
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