Red Baron's Blog: St. Johann

The architectural ensemble with St Johann, the Trade School in the background,
and on the right, the Schiller Gymnasium (high school) (©Taxiarchos228/Wikipedia)

This imposing church in my part of town, Wiehre, is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and was consecrated on October 15, 1899. A festive service celebrated the 125th anniversary one day before St. John's Day on Sunday, June 23.

St. Johann, believing in a contemporary way

Festively illuminated sanctuary with an empty monstrance on the altar

Red Baron attended the festive service, which was celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Dr. Peter Birkhofer. He has a very personal relationship with Sankt Johann, for he had worked as an assistant priest in the parish from 1984 to 1997 during his doctoral studies in Freiburg.

Throughout the High Mass, the sonority of Louis Vierne's Messe solennelle in C sharp minor op.16 was overwhelming. The choir of St. Johann, winds, drums, and organ gave their best. Vierne composed the mass in 1899, the year of St. Johann's consecration, with echoes of Wagner's romantic style. As a Frenchman, he was undoubtedly one of the great admirers of the father of the leitmotif, as many of his compatriots still are today.

Bishop Birkhofer preached on the naming of the later Caller in the Desert, the evangelist Lucas describes in verses 59 to 64 of the first book: ⁵⁹When voiceless Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John." ⁶¹But they answered her, "No one among your relatives has this name." ⁶²So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. ⁶³ He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed. ⁶⁴Immediately, his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke, blessing God.

The sermon was too long, contributing to the fact that, including the remarkable music, the Mass was the longest Red Baron has ever experienced, with one and three quarters of an hour.

In the run-up to the anniversary, Peter Kalchthaler gave a lecture on the history of the church. Unfortunately, I couldn't listen to him, but at my request, Peter sent me his slides and notes from his presentation, From Gasworks to a Parish Church.

St. Johann in der Wiehre symbolizes Freiburg's rapid growth, which grew from 16,000 (1850) to over 60,000 (1900) people in just 50 years.

The city took this growth into account and developed the infrastructure in the Wiehre area. The Lerch Plan of 1852 shows the bridge over the Dreisam, built in 1846.

The plan also shows the gasworks (the white building) in the center of the picture, which was opened on December 1, 1850, the site where St. John's Church was later built.

With its two round gas tanks, the Badische Gesellschaft für Gasbeleuchtung Spreng & Sonntag constructed the factory as a city tenant. Here, town gas was produced from coal, which mainly fed the gas lanterns on the streets. The factory was closed in 1884 after the new, more efficient municipal gasworks in Stühlinger were completed.

Much of Freiburg's growth occurred in the Wiehre district, whose population had expanded eastwards into the Mittel- and Oberwiehre. This also increased the need for church buildings for the now larger parishes of both denominations. The Protestant Christuskirche's foundation stone was laid on June 29, 1889, and the church was consecrated in 1891.

In 1889, at the instigation of Mayor Otto Winterer, the city made the site of the former gasworks available as a building site free of charge for a new Catholic parish church for the southern districts of the city. As the site was handed over on St. John's Day (June 24), the new building was to be dedicated to John the Baptist.

St. Johann seen from Kaiserbrücke.
Note the bronze statues of German emperors at the four corners.
They were collected during the Second World War to be melted down
but never returned to their pedestals.

Architect Baurat Joseph Durm from Karlsruhe deliberately chose the late Romanesque cathedral of Bamberg as a model, turning away from the Minster Church, whose appearance was not to be impaired.

Thank you, Peter.

Here are two other views: