Maria Himmelfahrt, Modern parish church in Asterstein, Koblenz, Germany.
Maria Himmelfahrt is a 1959 parish church in Koblenz-Asterstein, built to a design by Max Christens on the floor plan of the Holy Robe of Trier Cathedral. The reinforced-concrete shell structure has a trapezoidal nave with nine round-arched steel trusses carrying a roof of standing concrete half-barrels. High narrow concrete frames on the facade and west transept sides hold coloured concrete-glass windows made by Walter Bettendorf in 1969.
Construction was completed in 1959 under architect Max Christens during a period when Koblenz was expanding rapidly with new residential areas developing throughout the city. The church served as part of the urban infrastructure needed to support the growing population in the postwar years.
The interior layout was intentionally designed to echo the shape of the Holy Robe, a sacred cloth venerated in Trier Cathedral that holds deep meaning for Catholic communities in the region. Visitors walking through the nave can sense how the architectural form subtly references this religious connection.
The church stands at Lehrhohl in Koblenz-Asterstein, on the right bank of the Rhine, a district that only took its name after the church was built. The entrance front faces west, with the baptismal chapel on a hexagonal plan standing free at the northwest side. The floor slopes down eastward toward the altar, which rests on a four-step podium.
The organ installed in 1975 is one of the building's distinctive features and underwent complete restoration work between 2014 and 2015 to preserve its sound and function. This careful renovation ensures that visitors today can appreciate the instrument in its intended condition.
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