St. Hubertus, Catholic church in Aachen, Germany.
St. Hubertus is a Catholic church in Aachen-Hanbruch, designed by Gottfried Böhm and completed in 1964. Its folded concrete shell rises from a broad exposed-concrete base; the exterior was originally clad in slate, later in shingles. Inside, rough-board exposed concrete walls are lit by large windows, with glazing by Ludwig Schaffrath added in 1987–88.
St. Hubertus was designed by Gottfried Böhm and completed in 1964 for the new Hanbruch housing estate built in the 1960s on the Kronenberg in western Aachen. It belongs to Böhm's series of folded-concrete churches, like the Neviges pilgrimage cathedral begun in 1966. Its outer shell was originally clad in slate, later in shingles.
Locals call the church "Backenzahn" (molar) or "St. Backenzahn" because of its folded concrete form. In 2022 students of the RWTH Aachen chair of architectural history presented the exhibition "Vorstadtikone – St. Hubertus von Gottfried Böhm", shown among others on the Tag des offenen Denkmals under the motto "Zu Besuch im Backenzahn", with panels, installations and short films on its history and architecture.
St. Hubertus stands on a large plot on the Kronenberg in the Hanbruch district, west of Aachen's centre, between low residential buildings of the 1960s estate. The church belongs to the Pastoraler Raum Aachen-West/Nordwest. Since the early 2020s the RWTH Aachen has been planning a possible conversion or extended use, so opening times may change; the 2022 exhibition "Vorstadtikone" was shown, among other occasions, on the Tag des offenen Denkmals.
The nickname "Backenzahn" (molar tooth) comes from the folded concrete shell, which locals liken to a tooth. In 2022 RWTH Aachen students built the exhibition "Vorstadtikone – St. Hubertus von Gottfried Böhm", shown at Tag des offenen Denkmals under the motto "Zu Besuch im Backenzahn", with panels, installations and short films on the church's history and architecture.
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