Herz-Jesu-Kirche, Parish church in Schildgen district, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany.
Herz-Jesu-Kirche is a modern parish church in Schildgen distinguished by tall concrete walls standing 5 meters (16 feet) high with tracery windows and decorative friezes. Six conical roofs define different sections of the building and give it a distinctive silhouette.
Architect Gottfried Böhm designed this innovative modern church building, constructed between 1959 and 1960 and consecrated on October 1, 1960. The project emerged during post-war reconstruction when new religious centers were needed for expanding residential areas.
The 13 leaded-glass windows by Robert Rexhausen, all made in 1961, form a cycle on Psalm 103: seven sit in the side aisle wall and six in the rear wall. The atrium and altar-band windows are by Gottfried Böhm himself, also 1961.
The church is open to visitors during services and often at other times; checking opening hours in advance is helpful. The interior is best explored in daylight when natural light streams through the large openings and roof opening.
The architect said the six conical roofs were inspired by his children's sandcastles, not by oriental architecture, though the ornamental frieze and tracery windows often prompt that comparison. The tallest cone sits on a perforated concrete block above the choir, carried by four concrete columns.
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