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Herz-Jesu-Kirche

Herz-Jesu-Kirche
Herz-Jesu-Kirche / Photo by Satake Kunihiko
A community church - a neighborhood church
Herz-Jesu-Kirche (direct translation "Heart of Jesus Church") is located in a quiet residential area a few subway stations from the heart of Munich. The surroundings of the church consist of medium-rise condominiums four to five stories tall. Although the buildings were built in different eras such as wartime to postwar, a consistent slant in the roofs creates a virtually uniform line of eaves, giving the neighborhood a harmonious feel. Within this community, the church, along with its belltower - enclosed in a facade of layered metal mesh - that slightly towers over its surroundings, stands as a friendly and receptive figure that is in sync with the neighborhood in which it exists.
Resurrected from the ashes
At the property in which the church now stands, a wooden church was originally built in 1889 as a diversion for the construction of a firing range hall; but in 1944, the church was destroyed by fire caused by the war. Following this, a second church was built by dismantling and reconstructing a wooden structure also used as a movie theater for troops during the war. People grew to love this church, but it too fell victim to a fire and burned down on November 26, 1994.
For the purpose of reconstructing the church, the parishes of Munich and Freising held an open design competition from 1995 to 1996. Architects from the Oberbayern and Niederbayern districts as well as invitees from other districts (including renowned architects Godfried Böhm of Köln and Peter Zumthor of Switzerland) participated in the competition. Of the 158 total design proposals submitted, this Allman Sattler Wappner Architekten design was selected as the winner.
Established in 1987 as a partnership between three young architects, all of whom were born in the late 1950's, Allman Sattler Wappner Architekten (herein referred to as ASW), is a design firm with experience in public structures such as schools and recycling centers as well as office buildings. One of their recent works is the Südwestmetall Reutlingen (built in 2002) that employs the use of a stainless steel facade.
Construction of the church began in 1997, and on November 26, 2000, exactly six years after the fire, its inauguration ceremony took place complete with the presentation of the church's original mass hymn.
(written by editor)

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