St. Francis' Church, Parish church in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
St. Franziskus is an octagonal Brutalist church of grey cast concrete in Koblenz's Goldgrube district, consecrated in 1969. A thin white cross rises from the centre of its flat roof, and a band of square concrete grilles runs below the roofline. Inside are a sacrament chapel, a baptismal chapel, a sacristy, an organ loft and a crypt; much of the artwork is by Linz sculptor Günther Oellers.
The Goldgrube area first belonged to the Herz-Jesu parish; as the population grew, a separate community of St. Franziskus was set up on 1 October 1963, raised to parish on 14 June 1968. Heribert Kraus, formerly chaplain at Herz-Jesu, became its first pastor on 2 February 1964. Services began on 4 October 1964 in an emergency church at Overbergplatz; the foundation stone of the new church was laid on 3 June 1968 and Weihbischof Karl Heinz Jacoby consecrated it on 4 October 1969.
The parish community was established on 1 October 1963 and raised to a parish on 14 June 1968; Heribert Kraus, formerly a chaplain at Herz-Jesu, became its first pastor on 2 February 1964. The adjoining community centre is also used by the Goldgrube Evangelical congregation, the Croatian mission and the Syrian-Aramaic community for the Koblenz area.
The octagonal church stands in the Goldgrube district, with the parish house next door and a community centre, hall and kindergarten beside it. The building is used not only by the Catholic parish but also by the district's Evangelical congregation, the Croatian mission and the Syrian-Aramaic community for the Koblenz area, so service times vary between groups. Check the parish's current notices before travelling to Goldgrube.
The parish centre next to the church is shared by several communities: the Protestant congregation of the Goldgrube, a Croatian mission and a Syriac-Aramaic community for the Koblenz area. The church itself is an octagonal concrete building with a crypt and an organ loft; much of its artistic fittings come from the Linz sculptor Günther Oellers.
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