Grossmünster

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The Grossmünster
The Grossmünster

The Grossmünster ("great minster") is a Romanesque-style church that played an important role in the history of the Protestant Reformation. It is one of the three major churches of Zürich (the others being the Fraumünster and St. Peterskirche). The core of the present building near the banks of the Limmat River was constructed on the site of a Carolingian church originally commissioned by Charles the Fat[1]. Construction of the present structure commenced around 1100 and it was inaugurated around 1220.

The Grossmünster was a monastery church, vying for precedence with the Fraumünster across the Limmat throughout the Middle Ages. According to legend, the Grossmünster was founded by Charlemagne, whose horse fell to its knees over the tombs of Felix and Regula, Zürich's patron saints. The legend helps support a claim of seniority over the Fraumünster, which was founded by Louis the German, Charlemagne's grandson. Recent archaeological evidence confirms the presence of a Roman burial ground at the site.

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[edit] Historical significance

Zwingli on the bronze doors by Otto Münch (1935)
Zwingli on the bronze doors by Otto Münch (1935)

Huldrych Zwingli initiated the Swiss-German Reformation in Switzerland from his pastoral office at the Grossmünster, starting in 1520. Zwingli won a series of debates presided over by the magistrate in 1523 which ultimately led local civil authorities to sanction the severance of the church from the papacy. The reforms initiated by Zwingli and continued by his successor, Heinrich Bullinger, account for the plain interior of the church. The iconoclastic reformers removed the organ and religious statuary in 1524[2]. These changes, accompanied by abandonment of Lent, replacement of the Mass, disavowal of celibacy, eating meat on fast days, replacement of the lectionary with a seven-year New Testament cycle, a ban on church music, and other significant reforms make this church one of the most important sites in the history of the reformation and the birthplace of the Swiss-German reformation.[3] [4] [5]

[edit] Architecture

Capitals with grotesques in the grand south portal
Capitals with grotesques in the grand south portal

The twin towers of the Grossmünster are regarded as perhaps the most recognized landmark in Zurich. [6] Architecturally, the church is considered Romanesque in style and thus a part of the first pan-European architectural trend since Imperial Roman architecture. In keeping with the Romanesque architectural style, Grossmünster offers a great carved portal featuring medieval columns with grotesques adorning the capitals. A Romanesque crypt dates to the 11th and 13th centuries. The two towers were first erected between 1487 and 1492. Originally, they had high wooden steeples, which were destroyed by fire in 1781, following which the present neo-Gothic tops were added. Richard Wagner is known to have mocked the church's appearance as that of two pepper dispensers. The church now features modern stained-glass windows by Swiss artist Augusto Giacometti added in 1932. Ornate bronze doors in the north and south portals by Otto Münch were added in 1935 and 1950. [7]

The church houses a reformation museum in the cloister. The annex to the cloister houses the theological school of the University of Zurich.

[edit] Gallery

Statuary relief of Heinrich Bullinger on the southern exterior wall

Charlemagne on the bronze doors by Münch (1935)

Facade of the monastery building, now housing the theological faculty of the University of Zurich

Stained Glass from inside the church by Swiss artist Augusto Giacometti added in 1932

[edit] References

  1. ^ Zurich Relocation website, accessed September 10, 2006
  2. ^ BELIEVE, accessed September 10, 2006
  3. ^ Reformation Tours, accessed September 10, 2006
  4. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, accessed September 10, 2006
  5. ^ "The Successor's Successor", Ruedi Reich, interview by Stephan Landis, ANNEX, Magazine of the Reformierte Presse 2004, accessed September 10, 2006
  6. ^ TripAdvisor review, accessed September 10, 2006
  7. ^ Global Hotel Index, accessed September 10, 2006

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 47°22′12″N, 8°32′39″E